EXPLORING FAKE NEWS AND ALTERNATIVE FACTS

JCCCRA Presentation by Jonathan Bacon

What’s the Problem?

“The fictions and fabrications that comprise fake news are but a subset of the larger bad news phenomenon, which also encompasses many forms of shoddy, unresearched, error-filled, and deliberately misleading reporting that do a disservice to everyone….”

from “We Have a Bad News Problem, Not a Fake News Problem” by David Mikkelson, Snopes.com founder

“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” 

John Adams

FACT: a specific detail that is true based on objective proof such as physical evidence, an eyewitness account, or the result of an accepted scientific method.

Source: Broward College, College Readiness Course, see https://goo.gl/IdF8cg.

OPINION: an interpretation, value judgment, or belief that cannot be proved or disproved. Opinions often include biased words (beautiful, great, best, miserable, exciting). 

Source: Broward College, College Readiness Course, see https://goo.gl/IdF8cg.

How to Prove a Fact

To test whether a statement is a fact, ask these three questions:

Can the statement be proved or demonstrated to be true? 

Can the statement be observed in practice or operation?

Can the statement by verified by witnesses, manuscripts, or documents?

Fact Opinion

Is objective Is subjectiveIs discovered

Is Created

States reality

Interprets reality

Can be verified

Cannot be verified

Presented with unbiased words

Presented using biased words

Source: Broward College, College Readiness Course, see https://goo.gl/IdF8cg.

Opinionated and Biased Words Created at

http://www.wordclouds.com/

Watch out for Qualifiers!

allalwaysappearbelievecouldeveryhas/have toI feelit is believedlikelymaymightmustnever

oftenought topossiblyprobablyseemshouldonlysometimesthinkusually

“The book is always better than the film adaption.”

It is believed that Vice President Pence was involved in a secret meeting that resulted in Comey’s firing.

"The founding fathers, in their genius, created a system of three co-equal branches of government and a built-in system of checks and balances," Clapper said on "State of the Union. I feel as though that is under assault and is eroding.“ – James Clapper

Way Back in 2008

“I have come to the conclusion that especially where political rumors are concerned, most people are so locked into a particular world view that they tend to reject any information, no matter how well supported, that contradicts their cherished assumptions…. It’s scary, actually how polarized we have become.”

from David Emery, author of About.com’s Urban Legends page

Philosophical “Spectrum of Change”What is meant by terms like conservative, liberal, moderate…

MODERATE: willing to embrace change rather evenly, accepting some, rejecting others in balanced measure

REVOLUTIONARY: finds little to preserve, wants radical change, “start all over”

LIBERAL: searches for consistent change, optimistic that forward movement is positive and brings progress

CONSERVATIVE: change only makes things worse, thus change itself becomes a threat

REACTIONARY: wants change, “turn back the clock” to the way things were in an earlier day

“The paradigm does not assume that a person is always in the same position on virtually every issue….” –Mark Scherer, Historian

How Would You Evaluate This?

“Print and electronic media is full of false claims that the State has borrowed money from the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS).  Hearing this caused some retirees to wonder if their pensions are safe.  Some payments were delayed but not a penny has been borrowed according to KPERS Executive Director Alan Conroy.  Once money is deposited into KPERS, the State cannot remove it.”

Source: kansaspolicy.org/fake-news-kansas/  

How Would You Evaluate This?

“Print and electronic media is full of false claims that the State has borrowed money from the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS).  Hearing this caused some retirees to wonder if their pensions are safe.  Some payments were delayed but not a penny has been borrowed according to KPERS Executive Director Alan Conroy.  Once money is deposited into KPERS, the State cannot remove it.”

Source: kansaspolicy.org/fake-news-kansas/  

Fake News Story about Fake News?

But hey, who cares if some retirees get scared; media wants to paint the worst possible picture so the consequences be damned.  (For the record, the Kansas Division of Budget confirms that scheduled KPERS payments will total $2.8 billion between 2012 and 2019; that’s an even $1 billion increase over the previous eight years – and more perspective hidden from citizens.)

Source: kansaspolicy.org/fake-news-kansas/  

Fake News Story about Fake News?

But hey, who cares if some retirees get scared; media wants to paint the worst possible picture so the consequences be damned.  (For the record, the Kansas Division of Budget confirms that scheduled KPERS payments will total $2.8 billion between 2012 and 2019; that’s an even $1 billion increase over the previous eight years – and more perspective hidden from citizens.)

Source: kansaspolicy.org/fake-news-kansas/  

Kansas Policy Institute

Vision: We envision every Kansan having the opportunities provided through personal freedom to achieve prosperity and overall well-being, and the State of Kansas being a model of economic freedom and student-focused education to be emulated across the country

Mission: Kansas Policy Institute is an independent think tank guided by the constitutional principles of limited government and personal freedom. We specialize in student-focused education and tax and fiscal policy at the state and local level, empowering citizens, legislators, and other government officials with objective research and creative ideas to promote a low-tax, pro-growth environment that preserves the ability of governments to provide high quality services.

Kansas Policy Institute

Vision: We envision every Kansan having the opportunities provided through personal freedom to achieve prosperity and overall well-being, and the State of Kansas being a model of economic freedom and student-focused education to be emulated across the country

Mission: Kansas Policy Institute is an independent think tank guided by the constitutional principles of limited government and personal freedom. We specialize in student-focused education and tax and fiscal policy at the state and local level, empowering citizens, legislators, and other government officials with objective research and creative ideas to promote a low-tax, pro-growth environment that preserves the ability of governments to provide high quality services.

Underlining added by the presenter.

Source: Internet meme

Meme (pronounced Mee-m)

1. an idea that is passed from one member of society to another, not in the genes but often by people copying it

2. an image, a video, a piece of text, etc. that is passed very quickly from one Internet user to another, often with slight changes that make it humorous

Source:

Think Carefully about Supposed Facts

Read critically.

Everything in print is not necessarily true.

Effective readers question what they read.

Note whether each paragraph or statement is fact or opinion.

Evaluate the author and the source.

Understand if a natural bias exists (Heritage Foundation vs Occupy Democrats).

Understand the difference between an informed opinion and an expert opinion (well-informed person vs. expert in their field).

Observe juxtaposition of headings/headlines, graphics and text; does each element conflict or confirm?

“Hear ye my fellow citizens, to believe all prose posted on the Internet is to court folly.”

Indications of Bogusness!

Anonymous author

Author supposedly

famous

Message riddled with

spelling errors

Quotes legitimate

source but not substantiated

1 2

3 4

Source: “That Chain E-mail Your Friend Sent to You Is (Likely) Bogus. Seriously.” by Lori Robertson, FactCheck.org, posted on March 18, 2008.

Indications of Bogusness!

Author loves all caps and

exclamation points

The message argues that it is

NOT false

Do the Facts support the conclusion?

There’s math involved, “Do

the Math!”

5 6

78

Source: “That Chain E-mail Your Friend Sent to You Is (Likely) Bogus. Seriously.” by Lori Robertson, FactCheck.org, posted on March 18, 2008.

• Is it a fair comparison; was the economic setting the same in the two months mentioned?

• Did media outlets report this news?• Can the decrease in the National Debt be attributed to the

new president?

Source: www.aol.com/article/news/2017/02/25/trump-tweets-wildly-misleading-comparison-of-the-national-debt-i/21721587/

Resources to Check

www.snopes.com - founded by David Mikkelson, begun in 1994 based on interest in researching urban legends. Now oldest and largest fact-checking site on the Internet, widely regarded by journalists, folklorists, and laypersons as an essential resource. 

http://www.factcheck.org/ a project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center, does not seek or accepted, directly or indirectly, funds from corporations, unions, partisan organizations or advocacy groups. Funded by Annenberg grants and individuals, donors of $1,000 or more listed on website.

http://www.politifact.com/  a fact-checking website that rates the accuracy of claims by elected officials and others on its Truth-O-Meter.

Fake News Sites

www.theonion.com Satire and other shenanigans

www.infowars.com Has previously claimed that millions of people have voted illegally in the 2016 presidential election, that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax, that the Boston Marathon bombing was a hoax, and that the Democratic Party was hosting a child sex slave ring out of a pizza restaurant.

thenewyorkevening.com This fake news website has spread numerous false claims, including a fake story claiming that Malia Obama had been expelled from Harvard.

Questions?

Comments?