TABLEOFCONTENTSOpinion:Media’sNextChallenge:OvercomingtheThreatofFakeNews

TheHoaxes,FakeNewsandMisinformationWeSawonElectionDay

GoogleandFacebookTakeAimatFakeNewsSites

FakeNewsinU.S.Election?Elsewhere,That’sNothingNew

Opinion: Fixation on Fake News Overshadows Waning Trust in RealReporting

FacebookConsideringWaystoCombatFakeNews,MarkZuckerbergSays

Editorial:FacebookandtheDigitalVirusCalledFakeNews

Opinion:MarkZuckerbergandFacebookMustDefendtheTruth

FakeNewsOnslaughtTargetsPizzeriaasNestofChild-Trafficking

InsideaFakeNewsSausageFactory:‘ThisIsAllAboutIncome’

ManMotivated by ‘Pizzagate’ ConspiracyTheory Arrested inWashingtonGunfire

Opinion:FakeNewsBringsaGunmantoWashington

TrumpFiresAdviser’sSonFromTransitionforSpreadingFakeNews

AsFakeNewsSpreadsLies,MoreReadersShrugattheTruth

Roberta’s,PopularBrooklynRestaurant,IsPulledIntoPizzagateHoax

FacebookMountsEffortstoLimitTideofFakeNews

Opinion:Facebook’sProblemIsn’tFakeNews—It’stheRestoftheInternet

Wielding Claims of ‘Fake News,’ Conservatives Take Aim at MainstreamMedia

ForFact-CheckingWebsiteSnopes,aBiggerRoleBringsMoreAttacks

Opinion:TheAgeofFakePolicy

TheUpshot:TheRealStoryAboutFakeNewsIsPartisanship

Opinion: ‘Kompromat’ and the Danger of Doubt and Confusion in aDemocracy

FromHeadlinetoPhotograph,aFakeNewsMasterpiece

10TimesTrumpSpreadFakeNews

TheUpshot:ResearchersCreatedFakeNews.Here’sWhatTheyFound.

WhiteHousePushes‘AlternativeFacts.’HereAretheRealOnes

Opinion:‘AlternativeFacts’andtheCostofTrump-BrandedReality

NewsAnalysis:InaSwirlof‘Untruths’and‘Falsehoods,’CallingaLieaLie

KellyanneConwayAdmits‘BowlingGreenMassacre’Error

Opinion:TheMassacreThatWasn’t,andaTurningPointfor‘FakeNews’

Opinion:AmIImaginingThis?

20thCenturyFoxUsedFakeNewstoPublicize‘ACureforWellness’

EuropeCombatsaNewFoeofPoliticalStability:FakeNews

Opinion:Media’sNextChallenge:OvercomingtheThreatofFakeNews

ByJIMRUTENBERGNovember6,2016

THE LAST YEAR HAS turned the United States into a country of informationaddicts who compulsively check the television, the smartphone and the good old-fashionednewspaperwithaburningquestion:What fresh twist couldournationalelectiondramaanditsexecutiveproducer,DonaldJ.Trump,possiblyhaveinstoreforusnow?

Nodoubtaboutit:Campaign2016hasbeenasmashhit.Andtothenewsmediahavegonethespoils.WithMr.Trumpprovidingmust-

seeTVtheatrics,cablenewshasdrawnrecordaudiences.Newspapershavereachedonlinereadershiphighsthatwouldhavebeenunimaginablejustafewyearsago.

OnWednesdaycomesthereckoning.Theelectionnewsbubble that’s about topophasblocked fromplain view the

expandingfinancial sinkholeat thecenterof thepaper-and-inkbranchof thenewsindustry,which has recently seen a print advertising plunge thatwas “muchmoreprecipitous,tobehonestwithyou,thananybodyexpectedayearorsoago,”asTheWallStreetJournaleditorinchiefGerardBakertoldmeonFriday.

Papers including The Journal, The New York Times, The Guardian, theGannettpublicationsandothershaverespondedwithplanstoreorganize,shedstaff,killoffwholesections,oralloftheabove.

Taken together, it means another rapid depletion in the nation’s ranks oftraditionally trained journalistswhosemainmission is to rootoutcorruption,holdthepowerfulaccountableandsortfactfromfictionforvoters.

It couldn’t be happening at a worse moment in American public life. Theinternet-borneforcesthatareeatingawayatprintadvertisingareenablingahostoffaux-journalisticplayerstopollutethedemocracywithdangerouslyfakenewsitems.

In the last couple of weeks, Facebook, Twitter and other socialmedia outletshave exposed millions of Americans to false stories asserting that: the Clintoncampaign’spollster,JoelBenenson,wroteasecretmemodetailingplansto“salvage”HillaryClinton’scandidacybylaunchingaradiologicalattacktohaltvoting(merrilysharedonTwitterbyRogerStone,aninformaladvisertotheTrumpcampaign);the

ClintoncampaignseniorstrategistJohnPodestapracticedanoccultritualinvolvingvariousbodilyfluids;Mrs.Clintonispayingpublicpollsterstoskewresults(sharedonTwitterbyDonaldTrumpJr.);thereisatrailofsupposedlysuspiciousdeathsofmyriad Clinton foes (which The Times’s Frank Bruni heard repeated in a hotellobbyinOhio).

AsMikeCernovich,aTwitterstar,alt-rightnewsprovocateurandpromoterofClintonhealthconspiracies,boastedinlastweek’sNewYorker,“Someonelikemeisperceived as the new Fourth Estate.” His content can live alongside that of TheTimesorTheBostonGlobeorTheWashingtonPost on theFacebooknewsfeedandbejustaswellread,ifnotmoreso.OnSaturdayhecalledonaPresidentTrumptodisbandtheWhiteHousepresscorps.

Hemaynothaveto.AllyouhavetodoislookattheeffectoftheGannettcutsonitsWashingtonstaff,whichPoliticorecentlylikenedtoa“bloodbath.”

Evenbeforethisyear’sadrevenuedrop,thenumberoffull-timedailyjournalists—nearly33,000accordingtothe2015censusconductedbytheAmericanSocietyofNews Editors and the School of Journalism andMass Communication at FloridaInternationalUniversity—wasonthewaytobeinghalfwhatitwasin2000.

That contraction in the reporting corps, combined with the success ofdisinformationthisyear,ismakingforsomesleeplessnightsforthoseinWashingtonwhowillhavetogoverninthisbifurcated,real-news-fake-newsenvironment.

“It’s the biggest crisis facingour democracy, the failingbusinessmodel of realjournalism,”SenatorClaireMcCaskill,DemocratofMissourianda longtimecriticoffakenews,toldmeonSaturday.

Ms.McCaskillsaidthat“journalismispartlytoblame”forbeingslowtoadjustasthe internet turned its business model upside down and social media opened thecompetitivefloodgates.“Fakenewsgotwayoutaheadofthem,”shesaid.

It does not augur well for the future. Martin Baron, the Washington Postexecutiveeditor,saidwhenwespokelastweek,“Ifyouhaveasocietywherepeoplecan’tagreeonbasicfacts,howdoyouhaveafunctioningdemocracy?”

Thecureforfake journalismisanoverwhelmingdoseofgoodjournalism.AndhowwellthenewsmediagetsthroughitspostelectionhangoverwillhavealottodowithhowthenextchapterintheAmericanpoliticalstoryistold.

That’swhythedirefinancialreportsfromAmericannewsroomsaresotroubling.If the national reporting corps is going to be reduced evenmore during such anelection-drivenreadershipboom,whatarethingsgoingtolooklikewhenthecircusleavestown?

Isurveyedthehigherprecinctsoftheindustrylastweek,andwhatIfoundwasn’tentirelygloomy;therewasevensomecauseforoptimism.Butthere’sgoingtobealotofnail-bitingandsomebloodlettingonthewaytodeliverance.

It’sprettymuchtakenasagiventhatthenewsaudiencewilllargelyshrinknextyear,despitewhatisexpectedtobeacompellingnewsenvironment.

“Isanythingin2017,politicallyspeaking,goingtobeassexyasitwasin2016?I’mnotgoingtoplaypokeratthattable,”AndrewLack,thechairmanofNBCNewsandMSNBC,toldmeonFriday.

Still,thoughhe’spredictingaratingsfallof30percentorperhaps“muchmore”atMSNBC,hesaid,“Idon’thavefinancialpressureonmybottomline.”

That’snotonlybecauseMSNBCanditscompetitorsearnedtensofmillionsofunexpected election-related dollars this year, but also because they still drawsubstantialincomefromcablesubscriberfees.

Newspapers are the originators of that subscriber-advertising setup. But aslucrative print ads dwindle, and Facebook andGoogle gobble upmore than two-thirdsoftheonlineadvertisingmarket,affectingdigital-onlyoutlets,too,newspapersare scrambling tobuildup their subscriberbases andbreak their relianceonprintads.

Mr.BakerofTheJournalsaidhewasconfidentthatnewspaperscouldmakethetransitionbutacknowledgedaroughinterimperiodthatwillrequirecutsandwillbeevenhardertonavigateorsurviveforsmaller,regionalpapers(apracticalinvitationtomunicipalcorruption).

The cause for relative optimism comes from the performance of some of themoreambitious,well-reportednewspaperarticlesofthelastyear.

TheTimesarticlerevealingMr.Trump’snearly$1billiontaxlossin1995drewsome5.5millionpage views.That’s huge.TheWashingtonPost doesn’t share itsnumbers,butbeholdthemorethan13,000onlinecommentsattachedtojustoneofDavidA.Fahrenthold’sarticlesabouthowMr.Trumpranhischarity inways thatclashedwithphilanthropicmoralconventions.

But in this new era, subscriber numbers aremore important than fly-by-nightreadership.

ArthurGreggSulzberger,TheTimes’snewlynameddeputypublisher,pointedtoabright spot in lastweek’searningsreport.Mixed inwitha19-percentdrop inprint advertising revenue (!) was a 21 percent increase in digital advertising and,moreimportant,theadditionof116,000newdigital-onlysubscriptions.TheTimesnowhasnearly1.6millionsubscriberstoitsdigital-onlyofferings.

“Itshowspeoplearewillingtopayforgreat,original,deeplyreportedandexpertjournalism,”Mr.Sulzbergersaid.“Thatwillallowgreatjournalismtothrive.”

ItcouldbePollyannaishtothinkso,butmaybethisyear’sexplosioninfakenewswillservetoraisethevalueofrealnews.Ifso,itwillbegreatjournalismthatsavesjournalism.

“People will ultimately gravitate toward sources of information that are trulyreliable,andhaveanallegiancetotellingthetruth,”Mr.Baronsaid.“Peoplewillpayforthatbecausethey’llrealizethey’llneedtohavethatinoursociety.”

As The Times’s national political correspondent Jonathan Martin wrote onTwitterlastweek,“Folks,subscribetoapaper.Democracydemandsit.”

Ordon’t.You’llgetwhatyoupayfor.

TheHoaxes,FakeNewsandMisinformationWeSawonElectionDay

ByKATIEROGERSandJONAHENGELBROMWICHNovember8,2016

FAKESTORIESANDMEMES thatcropupduring livenewseventshavebeenaproblem on socialmedia for years, but a wild election season has highlighted thenewsmedia’sslowresponsetothem.

OnElectionDay,weaskedourreaderstosendinsomeexamplesofwhattheywereseeing.Here’swhatweheard.

HoaxesHoaxesoftengurgleup fromthebowelsofFacebook,as shares fromsites that

claimtomixsatirewiththetruth,likeTheRightists,orsitesthatdon’tseemtoexistforanyparticularreasonbuttofoolpeople,likeonecalledTheDenverGuardian.

Here’ssomeofwhatwesawasElectionDayunfolded:• People behind hoax Twitter accounts were busy. This post about exit poll

numbers inFlorida did not come from anofficialCNNaccount.One fastway torootoutimpostorsistochecktheaccount’shistory.Acursoryglanceshowsthatthisaccount’shistorycontainsamessagethatsays,“Let’sgetbanned.”

BREAKING:ThefirstFloridaexitpollnumbershavebeenreleased.Trump55%Clinton39%Johnson6%

—CNN(@CNN_PoIitics)Nov.8,2016

Another account purporting to belong to Rudolph W. Giuliani, the formermayorofNewYorkCityandasupporterofDonaldJ.Trump,isafake.

WecannotletBlacksandHispanicsalonedecidethiselectionforHillary!Everyonedeservesasay.

Allothers,headtopollsNOW!#Trump16—RudolphGiuliani(@rudygiulianiGOP)Nov.8,2016

• Fake sites were going into overdrive. Here’s a recent example from TheDenverGuardian.OnSaturday,thatsiteclaimedthatanF.B.I.agentconnectedtoHillary Clinton’s email disclosures had murdered his wife and shot himself. Thestory was fabricated, andTheDenver Post published a detailed report explainingthatTheDenverGuardianwasahoax.

OnTuesday,severalreadersnotifiedusthatasitecalledtheConservativeDailyPost had published a number of false stories, including a report that PresidentObama and Hillary Clinton had both promised amnesty to undocumentedimmigrants who vote on the Democratic ticket. Neither person has made thispromisetoimmigrants.ThesitehasalsopostedastorythatdeclaresWordWarIIIisdaysaway.AccordingtothewebsitePolitifact.com,theConservativeDailyPostisrated“PantsonFire,”attheoppositeendofthespectrumfromsitesrated“True.”

• Fliers were distributed to trick college students. The Bangor Daily Newsreports that were fliers left on the campus of Bates College, in Maine, tellingstudentsthatiftheywantedtovoteinLewiston,theywouldhavetopaytochangetheirdriver’slicensesandre-registeranyvehicleinthecity.Thesesortsofhoaxesarecommononcollegecampuses.

SteveCollins@SteveCollinsSJSomebodyspreadthisfake“legaladvisory”aroundat#batescollegetotrytokeep

studentsfromheadingtothepollsTuesday.#mepolitics

2:34PM-6Nov2016

•Amayorpostedamessagewithan incorrectdate forElectionDay. JeffersonRiley, theRepublicanmayorofMansfield,Ga.,postedamessageonhisFacebookpage: “Remember the voting days: Republicans vote on Tuesday, 11/8 andDemocratsvoteonWednesday,11/9.”

Hesoondeletedthepost.JeanaHyde, thecityclerk inMansfield,confirmedthatMayorRileyhadmade

the post on his personal account. She said that while she couldn’t speak for the

mayor,shebelievedthattheposthadbeenajoke,“butIreallydon’tknow.”“He’sagoodman;he’sagoodmayor,”shesaid.“Andgoodpeopledocrazystuff

sometimes.”Needless to say,Tuesday isElectingDay for allAmericans, regardlessof their

politicalaffiliations.MisinformationOther falsehoods are spread by seemingly well-meaning entities — corporate

accountsandmisinformedindividuals—whotrumpetclaimsthatturnoutnottobetrue.

HereweresomeElectionDayexamples:• An inaccurate guide was distributed to voters.UrbanOutfitters onMonday

tweetedanElectionDayguidethatcontainedwronginformation,tellingvotersthatthey needed a “voter’s registration card” along with their identification to vote.Thereisnotasinglestatethatrequiressuchacard.

Theretailerhassincecorrecteditsguide.• Incorrect information was circulating at the polls. Anni O’Connor, 53, of

ParadiseValley,Ariz.,reportedonTheNewYorkTimes’sFacebookpagethatsheoverheard a woman in line at her polling place say that all her friends had votedonlinealready.Ms.O’Connor,whohadbeenanindependentvoterformanyyearsbutregisteredasaDemocrattosupportHillaryClintoninthisyear’sprimary,saidshetoldthewomantoalertherfriendsthattheyhadnotvoted.

There is no state inwhich votes can be submitted online, though a few statesmakeexceptionsformilitaryandoverseasvoters.

•Amuch-shared tweetaboutelectionworkersbeing fired inFloridagot somethingsright,butgotkeydetailswrong.Evenwhenpeopleseemeagertohelpspreadthe truth, there’s oftenmisinformation given out. For instance, look at this tweetfromAdamD.Brown,aRepublicanpolitician:

AdamD.Brown@aduanebrownBreaking:TwoFloridaelectionclerkshavebeenfiredandremovedfromMiami-

Dadecounty.LookslikeFraud....#ElectionDay

12:57PM-8Nov2016

WhileMr.BrowniscorrectthattwoFloridaelectionclerkswereremovedfrom

theirdutiesonTuesday,itwasinBrowardCounty,notMiami-Dade.TonyaEdwards, a spokeswoman for theBrowardCounty elections supervisor,

confirmedthattwoclerkshadbeenremovedfromtheirdutiesbeforenoon,andhadbeenreplacedbyotherpollworkers.

Theclerkswereremoved,Ms.Edwardssaid,because“theywerenotadheringtoourelectionpoliciesandproceduresastheyweretrained.”

Asked toelaborate, she said that theyhad“obstructedand interfered”with thevotingprocessbut couldnotgiveanymore information.She said that theepisodehadnotendedupaffectinganyone’sabilitytovote.

•CNNcorrecteda tweet fromMr.Trump.TheRepublicannominee tweetedonTuesdaythatUtahofficialshadreportedproblemswithvotingmachinesacrossthecountry.

DonaldJ.Trump@realDonaldTrump

Justoutaccordingto@CNN:“Utahofficialsreportvotingmachineproblemsacrossentirecountry”4:28PM-8Nov2016

Later,JakeTapper,aCNNanchor,addressedMr.Trump’stweetduringalivebroadcast.

“CNNisnotreportingthat,”Mr.Tappersaid.“Theproblemis,theproblem’sacrossthecounty.Acounty.Notacountry,asMr.Trumptweeted.”

•Atweetabouta“rigged”votingmachineinPhiladelphiawassharedmorethan11,000times.Butitwasusererror,accordingtoProPublica’sElectionlandproject.

AFewTipsforSpottingaFakeOn Election Day and in the days afterward, Snopes and BuzzFeed, two

operationsthatvigilantlydebunkfakenewssites,willbeuseful.First, a note: A growing tendency to dive into our own echo chambers and

constructourpersonalversionsofthetruthonsocialmediahasbeendestructivetothe ability to call outmisinformation online. A post that contains an opinion youdisagreewithisn’tnecessarily“fake”or“inaccurate.”We’relookingforstoriesthatseemdesignedtomisinformthereader.

Here’saquickprimerforspottingfakenews:

•Checktheaccounthistoryofthesource.Oneredflagisusuallythenumberofpostsandthespanoftimetheaccounthasbeenactive.Isthestoryoneof50comingfromaFacebookaccountthatwascreatedjustlastweek?Itwarrantsadeeperlook.

•Imagesareoftenreusedfromoneliveeventtoanothertodeceivepeople.Doareverse-imagesearchwithaservicelikeTinEye.Thesiteshouldtellyouifthephotohasbeenusedelsewhere.

• Check for context. Distortion is a powerful tactic used by sites designed tomislead the public. Images, videos and text snippets will be chopped, twisted andstuffedintoanewheadlinetofitaninflammatorynewnarrative.

In one example cited in a recentBuzzFeed study, a site called FreedomDailywrote fakedetails aroundamonths-old video tomake it seem like twowhitemenhadbeenbeatenandsetonfirebysupportersoftheBlackLivesMatterMovement.Thestorywas,infact,adisputebetweentwoco-workers,andBuzzFeedfoundthatithadnothingtodowithraciallymotivatedviolence.

Butitgotalotofshares.

GoogleandFacebookTakeAimatFakeNewsSites

ByNICKWINGFIELD,MIKEISAACandKATIEBENNERNovember14,2016

OVERTHELASTWEEK,twooftheworld’sbiggestinternetcompanieshavefacedmounting criticism over how fake news on their sites may have influenced thepresidentialelection’soutcome.

OnMonday,thosecompaniesrespondedbymakingitclearthattheywouldnottolerate such misinformation by taking pointed aim at fake news sites’ revenuesources.

Google kicked off the action on Monday afternoon when the Silicon Valleysearchgiantsaid itwouldbanwebsites thatpeddlefakenewsfromusing itsonlineadvertisingservice.Hourslater,Facebook,thesocialnetwork,updatedthelanguageinitsFacebookAudienceNetworkpolicy,whichalreadysaysitwillnotdisplayadsinsitesthatshowmisleadingorillegalcontent,toincludefakenewssites.

“Wehaveupdatedthepolicytoexplicitlyclarifythatthisappliestofakenews,”aFacebookspokesmansaidinastatement.“Ourteamwillcontinuetocloselyvetallprospectivepublishersandmonitorexistingonestoensurecompliance.”

Takentogether,thedecisionswereaclearsignalthatthetechbehemothscouldnolongerignorethegrowingoutcryovertheirpowerindistributinginformationtotheAmericanelectorate.

Facebook has been at the epicenter of that debate, accused by somecommentatorsofswingingsomevotersinfavorofPresident-electDonaldJ.Trumpthrough misleading and outright wrong stories that spread quickly via the socialnetwork.OnesuchfalsestoryclaimedthatPopeFrancishadendorsedMr.Trump.

Googledidnotescapetheglare,withcriticssayingthecompanygavetoomuchprominencetofalsenewsstories.OnSunday,thesiteMediaitereportedthatthetopresultonaGooglesearchfor“finalelectionvotecount2016”wasalinktoastoryonawebsitecalled70NewsthatwronglystatedthatMr.Trump,whowontheElectoralCollege, was ahead of his Democratic challenger,Hillary Clinton, in the popularvote.

ByMonday evening, the fake story had fallen to No. 2 in a search for thoseterms.Google says softwarealgorithms thatusehundredsof factorsdetermine therankingofnewsstories.

“The goal of search is to provide themost relevant and useful results for ourusers,”AndreaFaville,aGooglespokeswoman,saidinastatement.“Inthiscase,weclearly didn’t get it right, but we are continually working to improve ouralgorithms.”

Facebook’s decision to clarify its ad policy language is notable because MarkZuckerberg,thesocialnetwork’schiefexecutive,hasrepeatedlyfobbedoffcriticismthatthecompanyhadaneffectonhowpeoplevoted.InapostonhisFacebookpageovertheweekend,hesaidthat99percentofwhatpeopleseeonthesiteisauthentic,andonlyatinyamountisfakenewsandhoaxes.

“Overall, thismakes it extremelyunlikelyhoaxeschanged theoutcomeof thiselectioninonedirectionortheother,”Mr.Zuckerbergwrote.

Yet within Facebook, employees and executives have been increasinglyquestioning their responsibilities and role in influencing the electorate, TheNewYorkTimesreportedonSaturday.

Facebook’s ad policy update will not stem the flow of fake news stories thatspreadthroughthenewsfeedsthatpeopleseewhentheyvisitthesocialnetwork.

Facebook has long spoken of how it helped influence and stoke democraticmovementsinplacesliketheMiddleEast,andittellsitsadvertisersthatitcanhelpsway itsuserswithads.Facebook reaches1.8billionpeoplearound theglobe, andthecompanyisoneofthelargestdistributorsofnewsonline.APewResearchCenterstudysaidthatnearlyhalfofAmericanadultsrelyonFacebookasanewssource.

Google’s decision on Monday relates to the Google AdSense system thatindependent web publishers use to display advertising on their sites, generatingrevenuewhenadsareseenorclickedon.TheadvertiserspayGoogle,andGooglepaysaportionofthoseproceedstothepublishers.MorethantwomillionpublishersuseGoogle’sadvertisingnetwork.

For some time, Google has had policies in place prohibiting misleadingadvertisements from its system, including promotions for counterfeit goods andweight-loss scams. Google’s new policy, which it said would go into effect“imminently,” will extend its ban onmisrepresentative content to the websites itsadvertisementsrunon.

“Movingforward,wewillrestrictadservingonpagesthatmisrepresent,misstateorconceal informationabout thepublisher, thepublisher’s contentor theprimarypurposeofthewebproperty,”Ms.Favillesaid.

Ms.Favillesaidthatthepolicychangehadbeenintheworksforawhileandwasnotinreactiontotheelection.

ItremainstobeseenhoweffectiveGoogle’snewpolicyonfakenewswillbeinpractice.Thepolicywillrelyonacombinationofautomatedandhumanreviewstohelpdeterminewhatisfake.AlthoughsatiresiteslikeTheOnionarenotthetargetofthepolicy,itisnotclearwhethersomeofthem,whichoftenrunfakenewsstorieswrittenforhumorouseffect,willbeinadvertentlyaffectedbyGoogle’schange.

FakeNewsinU.S.Election?Elsewhere,That’sNothingNew

ByPAULMOZURandMARKSCOTTNovember17,2016

HONGKONG— FACEBOOK rumors force a well-known politician to publishproofofhisheritage.Fake imagesshowaprominent female leader inahangman’snoose. A politician’s aide decries violent crime with a Facebook photo of a girl’scorpse—animagethatturnsouttocomefromanothercountry.

Anotherdayonsocialmedia forBarackObama,HillaryClintonandDonaldJ.Trump?Thinkagain.

ThoseincidentstookplaceinIndonesiaandthePhilippines,wheresocialmedia’soutsizeplace inpolitics iswidely acknowledged, even as that role is comingundersharpercriticismintheUnitedStates.

Wellbeforelastweek’sAmericanelectionthrewFacebook’sstatusasadigital-eranews source into the spotlight, leaders, advocacy groups andminoritiesworldwidehavecontendedwithanonslaughtofonlinemisinformationandabusethathashadreal-world political repercussions. And for years, the social network did little toclampdownonthefalsenews.

NowFacebook,Googleandothershavebeguntotakestepstocurbthetrend,butsomeoutsidetheUnitedStatessaythemoveistoolate.

“They should have done this way earlier,” said RichardHeydarian, a politicalanalyst in thePhilippines,oneofFacebook’s fastest-growingmarkets.“Wealreadysawthewarningsignsofthisyearsago.”

On Thursday, President Obama, speaking in Berlin and standing alongsideChancellor Angela Merkel, criticized Facebook and other social media fordisseminatingfakenews.Hebecamesoimpassionedthatatonepointhelosttrackofthequestionhewasanswering.

“Ifeverythingseemstobethesameandnodistinctionsaremade,thenwewon’tknowwhattoprotect,”Mr.Obamasaid.

The impact of Facebook and other social media platforms on internationalelectionsisdifficulttoquantify.ButFacebook’sglobalreach—roughlyaquarteroftheworld’spopulationnowhas an account— isdifficult todeny,political expertsandacademicssay.

Some governments are pushing back, sometimes with undemocraticconsequences.Ms.Merkelhassaidsheisconsideringplanstoforcesocialnetworkstomakepublichowtheyranknewsonline.SomeAfricancountrieshavebannedtheuse ofFacebook,WhatsApp andTwitter before elections. Indonesia’s governmenthasclosedsitesthatitsayspromotefakenews,thoughexpertssaysomeportalswerealsotargetedforpoliticalreasons.

FacebooksaidonThursdaythatthesocialnetworkwasaplaceforpeopletostayinformedandthatwhatpeoplesawintheirnewsfeedwasoverwhelminglyauthentic.The Silicon Valley company previously denied that it failed to deal withmisinformationandsaiditcontinuestomonitorthesocialnetworksothatitmeetsexistingstandards.

“IthinktheideathatfakenewsonFacebook,whichisaverysmallamountofthecontent, influencedtheelectioninanyway—Ithinkisaprettycrazyidea,”MarkZuckerberg, the company’s chief executive, told a tech conference days after theAmerican presidential election. “Voters make decisions based on their livedexperience.”

Facebook’s power is often stronger overseas than it is in theUnitedStates. Inmany developing countries with populations new to both democracy and socialmedia,expertssaid,fakestoriescanbemorewidelybelieved.Andinsomeofthesecountries, Facebook even offers free smartphone data connections to basic publiconlineservices,somenewssitesandFacebookitself—but limitsaccesstobroadersourcesthatcouldhelpdebunkfakenews.

OnesuchplaceisthePhilippines,whereaspokesmanforitspopulistpresident,RodrigoDuterte,sharedonFacebookanimageofacorpseofayounggirlbelievedtohavebeenrapedandkilledbyadrugdealer.Factcheckerslaterrevealedthatthephotohad come fromBrazil.Despite thedebunking,proponentsofMr.Duterte’sbloody crackdown on reported drug dealers and addicts still cite the image in hisdefense,accordingtopoliticalanalysts.

Tens of thousands of Philippine Facebook users also recently shared a storyclaimingthatNASAhadvotedMr.Duterte“thebestpresidentinthesolarsystem.”WhilemanycommentersontheFacebookposttookitasa joke,someappearedtotakeitseriously.AndanimageofLeiladeLima,alocallawmakerandacriticofMr.Duterte,depictedherfacingahangman’snoose.

“Facebookhasn’tledtoempowermentoftheaveragecitizen,butempowermentof professional propagandists, fringe elements and conspiracy theorists,” saidMr.Heydarian,thePhilippinespoliticalanalyst.“Voicesthatwerelurkingintheshadows

arenowatthecenterofthepublicdiscourse.”InIndonesia,whereFacebookissopopularthatsomepeopleconfuseitwiththe

broaderinternet,theservicehasconsiderablesway.When JokoWidodo, Indonesia’s president,was running for office in 2014, he

wasaccusedthroughsocialmediaofbeingaChineseChristianandacommunist—severecriticisminthedeeplyIslamiccountry.TheIndonesianpoliticianreleasedhismarriagecertificatetoprovehewasn’tChineseandmadeapilgrimagetoMeccajustbeforevoting.

“The fake news had a very big impact in our campaign,” said TubagusRamadhan, who helped Mr. Widodo run his social media campaign during theelection.

The online misinformation has not been limited to elections. In Colombia,Facebook users widely shared a crudely altered photo of a pop singer, Juanes,wearingaT-shirtsuggestingheopposedapeacedealwiththecountry’slargestrebelgroup.OnTwitter,Juanesdeniedit.Colombia’svotersnarrowlyrejectedthedealinareferendumlastmonth.

Sitúmeconocierasbien,sabríasquejamásapoyaríaalgocomoesto.Estaimagenesunmontajedescarado.pic.twitter.com/BYUooR1vhS

—JUANES(@juanes)July26,2016

While Facebook haswon plaudits for allowing people in disaster zones to tellfriendsandfamiliestheyaresafe,ithasalsobeenaconduitfordangerousrumorsinthosesituations.AttheheightoftheEbolaoutbreakin2014,afalsemessagewidelydistributed in Sierra Leone on Facebook andWhatsApp, which is owned by thesocialnetwork,saidbathinginhotwaterwithsaltwouldcureandpreventthespreadofthevirus.

Eveninlong-establisheddemocracieslikeGermany,SpainandItaly,falsenewsreports and hate speech on social media have whipped up grass-roots populistmovements,whichhaveoftentargetedtherecentinfluxofMiddleEasternrefugees,togarnerwiderelectoralsupport.

Now,manyEuropeanpoliticiansarequestioningwhatrolesocialmediahashadindecidingwhatvoterscanandcannot see.Theyalsohave forced socialnetworkslikeFacebook,TwitterandGoogletosignupforvoluntary—sofar—standardstopolicehatespeechonline.

InGermany,Ms.Merkel’spush torequireAmericansocialnetworkcompanies

topublishhowtheyranknewsis intendedtogivevotersgreatercontroloverwhattheyreadonline.

“Algorithmsmustbemoretransparent,”Ms.Merkelhassaid,“sothatinterestedcitizensarealsoawareofwhatactuallyhappenswiththeirownmediabehaviorandthatofothers.”

Other politicians, often inmore recently established democracies, are going astepfurther.

In some African countries, including Chad and Uganda, officials citeuncorroboratedsecuritythreatsandfearsthatfalseresultscouldbesharedonlineasreasonsforshuttingdownsocialmediaaheadofelections.

Christian Echle, director of the Sub-Sahara Africamedia program atKonrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, a German political foundation, said such actions were heavy-handedandthatsocialmediahadplayedaroleinhelpingvoters—manylocatedfarfromurbancenters—togainaccesstomuch-neededinformationandinteractwithpoliticalcandidates.

But,headded,agrowingamountofnewssharedthroughsocialmediawaseitherfalseorbiased,makingitdifficultforpeopleintheseoftenfledglingdemocraciestoknowwhichnewsoutletstotrust.

“There’sabig,bigthreat—thatsocialmediawilldeepenexistinggapsinthesesocieties,” saidMr.Echle,who isbased in Johannesburg. “Peopleare still learninghowtousesocialmedia,somanycaneasilyfallforhoaxes.”

PaulMozurreportedfromHongKongandMarkScottfromLondon.

Opinion:FixationonFakeNewsOvershadowsWaningTrustinRealReporting

ByJOHNHERRMANNovember18,2016

SOMETHING IS DEEPLY WRONG when the pope’s voice, reputation andinfluencecanbeborrowedbyasourcethatdescribesitselfas“afantasynewssite”toclaim that he has endorsed a presidential candidate, and then be amplified,unchallenged,throughamillionindividualshares.

The attention paid to fake news since the election has focused largely onfabrications and outright lies, because they are indefensible, easy to identify andextraordinarilyviral.Fakenews iscreatedbythekindsofpeoplewho,whenasked,mightcalltheirworksatire,oradmitthatthey’reinitforthemoneyorforthethrillofdeception.Theirsisabehaviorthatcanandshouldbeshunned,andthatFacebookisequipped,andmaybewilling,todealwith.

Formanypeople,andespeciallyopponentsofPresident-electDonaldJ.Trump,theattentionpaidtofakenewsanditsroleintheelectionhasprovidedasmallrelief,thediscoveryof theerror thatexplainseverything.But as theattentionhas spreadwidely—evenPresidentObamatalkedpassionatelyaboutitonThursday—itmayleadtoanunwantedoutcomeforthosewhoseeitnotjustasanexplanation,butalsoasawaytocorrectthecourse.Itmisunderstandsanewmediaworldinwhicheverystory,andsource,isatriskofbeingdiscredited,notbyargumentbutbysheerforce.

Falsenewsstoriespostedonfly-by-nightwebsiteswereprevalentinthiselection.So,too,werewidelysharedpoliticalvideos—somestyledasnewscasts—containingoutright falsehoods, newslike image memes posted by individuals and shared bymillions, and endlessly shared quotes and video clips of the candidates themselvesrepeatingfalsehoods.

During themonths I spent talking to partisan Facebook page operators for amagazinearticlethisyear,itbecameclearthatwhiletheecosystemcontainedeasilyidentifiableandintentionalfabrication,itcontainedmuch,muchmoreofsomethingelse.

Irecallaconversationwithafactcheckerabouthowtodescribeastory,postedon a pro-Trump website and promoted on a pro-Trump Facebook page— and,incidentally,copiedfromanotherpro-Trumpsitebyoverseascontractors.Ittriedto

castsuspiciononKhizrKhan,thefatherofaslainAmericansoldier,whohadspokenoutagainstDonaldJ.Trump.

Theoverarchingclaimsofthestoryweredisingenuousandhorrifying;thefactsitincludedhadbeenremovedfromallusefulcontextandplacedinanew,sinisterone;itsinsinuatingmentionof“Muslimmartyrs,”inproximitytomentionsofMr.Khan’sson,anditsmisleadingandstrategicmentionofShariahlaw,amountedtoarepulsivesmear.Itwasastorythatappealedtobigotedideasandthatwouldclearlyappealtothosewhoheldthem.

Thiswasastorythelikesofwhichwasanenormousforceinthiselection,clearlydesigned to functionwell within Facebook’s economy of sharing. And it probablywouldnotrunafoulofthenarrowdefinitionof“fakenews.”

Storieslikethatonegettotheheartoftherhetoricalandstrategicriskofholdingup“fakenews”asabroadmediaoffensiveposition,especiallyafteranelectioncyclecharacterized by the euphoric inversion of rhetoric by some of Mr. Trump’ssupporters, andby the candidatehimself.As the campaignprogressed, criticismofMr.Trumpwasinstantlyprojectedbackathisopponent,oratthecriticsthemselves.“Nopuppet.Nopuppet.You’rethepuppet.”

Thistacticwasusedonthelanguageofsocialjustice,whichwasappropriatedbyopponents and redeployed nihilistically, in an open effort to sap its power whilesimultaneouslytakingadvantageofwhatpoweritretained.Anti-racistswerecastastherealracists.Progressiveswerecastassecretlyregressiveontheirownterms.Thiswasnotanewtactic,butitwasnewlyeffective.Itdidn’tmatterthatitstargetsknewthat it was a bad-faithmaneuver, a clear bid for power rather than an attempt toengageorreason.Therefereescalledfoul,butnobodycouldhearthemovertheroarof the crowds. Or maybe they could, but realized that nobody could make themlisten.

“Fakenews”asshorthandwillalmostsurelybereturneduponthemediatenfold.The fakenewsnarrative, aswidelyunderstoodanddeployed,hasalreadybegun toencompassnotjustfalsified,fabricatedstories,butawiderswathoftraditionalmediaonFacebookandelsewhere.FoxNews?Fakenews.Mr.Trump’smisleadingclaimsabout Ford keeping jobs in America? Fake news. The entirety of hyperpartisanFacebook?Fakenews.Thiswideformulationof“fakenews”willbeappliedbacktothetraditionalnewsmedia,whichdoesnotyetunderstandhowthreateneditsabilityistodeclarethingstrue,evenwhentheyare.

Facebook may try to address the narrow version of the problem, the clearlyfabricatedposts.Facebookhasplentyoftoolsatitsdisposalandhasalreadypromised

touseone, tobar sites thathavebeen flaggedaspromoting falsified content fromusingitsadvertisingplatform.ButtheworstidentifieddefendersmaketheirmoneyoutsideFacebookanyway.

AnothernarrowresponsefromFacebookcouldbetoasserteditorialcontroloverexternalforces.Facebooktriedthis,toaverylimitedextent,withTrendingTopics.Membersofthecompany’seditorialstaffwrotedescriptionsoftrendingnewsstories,accompaniedby links theydeemedcredible.This initiativecollapsed ina frenzyofbiasaccusationsandpoliticalfear.Butitiseasytoimagineasysteminwhichastory,upon reaching some high threshold of shares, or a source, upon reaching somecumulativeaudience,couldbeauditedanddeclaredunreliable.ThiscouldresembleFacebook’sshort-livedexperimenttotagsatirearticlesassuch.

A number of narrow measures could stop a fake story about the pope, forexample.Butwherewouldthatleavetherestofthemedia?Answeredandrebutted,andbarelybetterpositionedagainsteverythingelsethatremained.Itwouldbeastill-dominant news environment in which almost everything there before remainedintact,themaindifferencebeingthatitwouldhaveallbeendeclared,implicitly,notfake.

Facebook is a place where people construct and project identities to friends,familyandpeers.It isamarketplaceinwhichnewsisvaluablemainlytotheextentthatitservesthoseidentities.Itisasystembuiltonrankingandvettingandvoting,and yet one where negative inputs are scarcely possible, and where conflict isresolvedwithisolation.(Notthatprovisionsforopenconflictonaplatformpresentanyeasyalternatives:ForTwitter,ithasbeenasourceofconstantcrisis.)

Fakenewsoperationsarecloselyalignedwiththeexperiencedincentivesof theFacebookeconomy—moreclosely,perhaps,thanmostoftheorganizationsthatareidentifyingthem.Theirremovalwillbeanimprovement.Theoutrageattheirmereexistence,andat theirpromotiononaplatformwith the statedgoalofconnectingtheworld,willhavebeenjustified.

But the outrage is at risk of being misdirected, and will be followed by therealization that the colloquial “fake news” — the newslike media, amateur andprofessional, for which truth is defined first in personal and political terms, andwhichmustonlymeetthebarofnotbeingobviously,inarguably,demonstrablyfalse— will continue growing apace, gaining authority by sheer force, not despiteFacebookbut because of it.The company that created the system that resulted inhoax news stories should try to eliminate them, andwith any luck itwill. But thesystemstandstoremainintact.

MediacompanieshavespentyearslookingtoFacebook,waitingforthecompanytopresentasolutiontotheirmountingbusinessconcernsdespite,orperhapsbecauseof,itsbeingcreditedwithcausingthoseconcerns.Somehavecometotherealizationthatthiswasmistaken,evenabsurd.Thosewhoexpecttheoperatorofthedominantmedia ecosystem of our time, in response to getting caught promoting lies, tosuddenly return authority to the companies it has superseded are in for a similarsurprise.

FacebookConsideringWaystoCombatFakeNews,MarkZuckerbergSays

ByMIKEISAACNovember19,2016

SANFRANCISCO—AFTERmorethanaweekofaccusationsthat thespreadoffakenewsonFacebookmayhaveaffectedtheoutcomeofthepresidentialelection,Mark Zuckerberg published a detailed post Friday night describing ways thecompanywasconsideringdealingwiththeproblem.

Mr.Zuckerberg,Facebook’schairmanandchiefexecutive,broadlyoutlinedsomeof the options he said the company’s news feed teamwas looking into, includingthird-partyverification services,better automateddetection tools and simplerwaysforuserstoflagsuspiciouscontent.

“The problems here are complex, both technically and philosophically,” Mr.Zuckerbergwrote.“Webelieveingivingpeopleavoice,whichmeanserringonthesideoflettingpeoplesharewhattheywantwheneverpossible.”

ThepostwasperhapsthemostdetailedglimpseintoMr.Zuckerberg’sthinkingon the issue since Donald J. Trump’s defeat of Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 8election. Within hours of his victory being declared, Facebook was accused ofaffectingtheelection’soutcomebyfailingtostopbogusnewsstories,manyofthemfavorable toMr. Trump, from proliferating on its social network. Executives andemployees at all levels of the company have since been debating its role andresponsibilities.

Facebook initially tried to play down concerns about the issue, with Mr.Zuckerbergcallingthenotionthatthecompanyswayedtheelection“aprettycrazyidea”atatechnologyconferenceonNov.10.Inafollow-upFacebookpost,hesaidthatlessthan1percentofthenewspostedtoFacebookwasfalse.

Butquestionscontinuedfromoutsidethecompany,withsomecomplainingthatit was being too dismissive of its capacity to affect public opinion. In a newsconference in Berlin on Thursday, President Obama denounced the spread ofmisinformationonFacebookandotherplatforms.

Mr.ZuckerbergcametonoconclusionsinhispostonFriday,insteadprovidingalistofpossiblesolutionsthecompanywasexploring.Oneoption,hesaid,couldbeattachingwarnings to news articles shared onFacebook that have been flagged as

false by reputable third parties or by Facebook users. Another could bemaking itharderforwebsitestomakemoneyfromspreadingmisinformationonFacebook,hesaid.

Mr.ZuckerbergmadeitclearthatFacebookwouldtakecaretoavoidlookingoractinglikeamediacompany,alabelithasfrequentlyresisted.

“We need to be careful not to discourage sharing of opinions or mistakenlyrestrictingaccuratecontent,”Mr.Zuckerbergwrote.“Wedonotwanttobearbitersoftruthourselves,butinsteadrelyonourcommunityandtrustedthirdparties.”

Editorial:FacebookandtheDigitalVirusCalledFakeNews

ByTHEEDITORIALBOARDNovember19,2016

THISYEAR,THEADAGEthat“falsehoodfliesandthetruthcomeslimpingafterit” doesn’t begin to describe the problem. That idea assumes that the trutheventuallycatchesup.There’snotmuchevidenceofthishappeningforthemillionsofpeople taken inbythe fakenewsstories—likePopeFrancisendorsingDonaldTrumporMr.TrumppullingaheadofHillaryClintoninthepopularvote—thathavespreadonsocialmediasites.

Mostofthefakenewsstoriesareproducedbyscammerslookingtomakeaquickbuck. The vast majority of them take far-right positions. But a big part of theresponsibility for this scourge rests with internet companies like Facebook andGoogle,whichhavemadeitpossibleforfakenewstobesharednearlyinstantlywithmillionsofusersandhavebeenslowtoblockitfromtheirsites.

MarkZuckerberg,thefounderandchiefexecutiveofFacebook,hasdismissedthenotionthatfakenewsisprevalentonhisplatformorthatithadaninfluenceontheelection.ButaccordingtoaBuzzFeedNewsanalysis,duringthelastthreemonthsofthepresidentialcampaign,the20topfakenewsstoriesonFacebookgeneratedmoreengagement—shares,likesandcomments—thanthe20topstoriesfromrealnewswebsites.

These hoaxes are not just bouncing around among like-minded conspiracytheorists;candidatesandelectedofficialsaresharingthem, too.SenatorBenSasse,RepublicanofNebraska,onThursdaytweetedaboutpeoplewhohavebeenpaidtoriot againstMr. Trump— an idea propagated by fake news stories. A man whowrote a number of false news reports told The Washington Post that Trumpsupporters and campaignofficials often sharedhis false anti-ClintonpostswithoutbotheringtoconfirmthefactsandthathebelieveshisworkmayhavehelpedelecttheRepublicannominee.

Abroad, thedisseminationof fakenewsonFacebook,whichreaches1.8billionpeople globally, has been a longstanding problem. In countries like Myanmar,deceptiveinternetcontenthasreportedlycontributedtoethnicviolence.Andithasinfluencedelections inIndonesia, thePhilippinesandelsewhere.Socialmediasiteshave also been used to spreadmisinformation about the referendumon the peace

dealinColombiaandaboutEbolainWestAfrica.Facebooksaysitisworkingonweedingoutsuchfabrications.ItsaidlastMonday

thatitwouldnolongerplaceFacebook-poweredadsonfakenewswebsites,amovethat could cost Facebook and those fake news sites a lucrative source of revenue.Earlier on the same day, Google said it would stop letting those sites use its adplacement network.These stepswould help, but Facebook, in particular, owes itsusers,anddemocracyitself,farmore.

Facebook has demonstrated that it can effectively block content like click-baitarticlesandspamfromitsplatformbytweakingitsalgorithms,whichdeterminewhatlinks, photos and ads users see in their news feeds.Nobody outside the companyknowsexactlyhowitssoftwareworksandwhyyoumightseepostssharedbysomeofyourfriendsfrequentlyandothersrarely.Recently,thecompanyacknowledgedthatithadallowedbusinessestotargetorexcludeusersforadsforhousing,employmentandcreditbasedontheirethnicity,inapparentviolationofanti-discriminationlaws.Ithassaiditwillstopthatpractice.

Facebookmanagersareconstantlychangingandrefiningthealgorithms,whichmeans the system is malleable and subject to human judgment. This summer,Facebook decided to showmore posts from friends and familymembers in users’news feeds and reduce stories fromnewsorganizations, because that’swhat it saiduserswanted.Ifitcandothat,surelyitsprogrammerscantrainthesoftwaretospotbogusstoriesandoutwitthepeopleproducingthisgarbage.

Blockingmisinformationwillhelpprotect thecompany’sbrandandcredibility.Some platforms have suffered when they have failed to address users’ concerns.Twitterusers,forinstance,havebackedawayfromthatplatformbecauseofabusivetrolling,threateningpostsandhatespeech,whichthecompanyhasn’tbeenabletocontrol.

Mr.Zuckerberghimselfhas spokenat lengthabouthow socialmedia canhelpimprovesociety.Ina2012lettertoinvestors,hesaiditcould“bringamorehonestand transparent dialogue around government that could lead to more directempowerment of people, more accountability for officials and better solutions tosomeofthebiggestproblemsofourtime.”

None of thatwill happen if he continues to let liars and con artists hijack hisplatform.

Opinion:MarkZuckerbergandFacebookMustDefendtheTruth

JournalistswaitedinTrumpTowerinNewYorkonNov.11.Thecombinationofattacksseekingtodelegitimizeseriousnewsorganizationsandadropinoveralltrustinthenewsmediahasmademanypeoplewaryoflegitimatefact-checking.

(RuthFremson/TheNewYorkTimes)

ByJIMRUTENBERGNovember20,2016

FRIDAYNIGHT,THEFACEBOOKco-founderMarkZuckerbergwentonhisvastsocialnetworktoconvinceanexpandingchorusofcritics—includingthedepartingpresidentof theUnitedStates— thathehonest-to-goodnesswants to combat the“fakenews”that isrunningwildacrosshissiteandothers,andturningourpoliticsintoaparanoiacfantasycometolife.

“We’ve been working on this problem for a long time and we take thisresponsibilityseriously,”hewrote.

“We’ve made significant progress, but there is more work to be done,” hecontinued,listingvariousstepsFacebookwastaking,likemakingiteasiertoreportbadinformationandenlistingfact-checkingorganizations.

Itwashearteningtohear,especiallyafterhisearlierassertionthatitwas“crazy”tobelievethatmisinformationonFacebookhadaffectedthepresidentialelectioninanyrealway—despitecopiousevidencethatitwasdisturbinglyinthemix,whetheritdirectlyswungtheresultornot.

But asMr.Zuckerbergwent on to say thatFacebookhad tobe careful not tomistakenlyblock“accuratecontent,”headdedthis:“Wedonotwanttobearbitersoftruthourselves,”whichwaswhyhesaidFacebookwouldcontinuetorelyon“ourcommunityandtrustedthirdparties.”

His statement pointed up how much Facebook struggles to find the balancebetween itsmission to be a free-expression utopia for its 1.8 billion users and itsresponsibility toprotect them fromall that isdefamatory,dangerous (like terroristpropaganda)anduntrue.

Butmoretothepoint,itappearedtobuyintothenotionthattruthisrelativeatatimewhenthatnotionhastofinallygoaway.Doyoureallyneedanoutsidearbitertodeterminewhetheravideosuggesting—withoutbasis—thatHillaryClintonwasinvolved in John F. Kennedy Jr.’s fatal plane crash in 1999 should be allowed tostand?Really?

Truth doesn’t need arbiters. It needs defenders. And it needs themnowmorethaneverastheAmericandemocracystaggersintoitsnextuncertainphase.

With a mainstream news media that works hard to separate fact from fictionunder economic and political threat, Facebook — which has contributed to thateconomicthreatbygobblingupsomuchoftheonlineadvertisingmarket—isgoingtohaveaspecialresponsibilitytodoitspart.

Justimaginewhatthingswilllooklikeiftheunsavoryelementsthattorethroughthe2016election—falsenarratives,fakenewsandaggressiveeffortstodelegitimizetraditional journalism—comeback intoplayasDonaldJ.Trumppresses toenacthisagenda.

Ifthepastweekprovidedanyindicationofwherepoliticsaregoing,thenextfouryears are going to require an all-hands-on-deck effort to keep the nationalconversationhonest.

ThenationalsecurityadviserMr.Trumpnamedlastweek,MichaelT.Flynn,aretiredArmylieutenantgeneral,hassubscribedtotheconspiracytheorythatShariahlaw is taking root in theUnitedStates (it isn’t), contributing tohis insistence that

AmericanshaveeveryreasontoviewIslamas“athreat.”HerecentlyusedTwittertocirculateafakenewsitemthattheFederalBureauof

InvestigationwassittingonevidencefromAnthonyWeiner’slaptopthatwould“putHillaryandhercrewawayforlife.”

Mr.Trump’snomineeforattorneygeneral,SenatorJeffSessionsofAlabama,hasfalsely claimed that hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants aresuccessfullycrossingtheborderannually.

ThentherewastheannouncementbytheconspiracytheoristAlexJonesthatMr.Trumphadcalledtothankhimandhisradioandinternetaudiencefortheirsupportinthecampaign.

Add to that the fact thatMr.Trumpwas themostprominentpromoterof thefalsenotionthatPresidentObamawasn’tbornhere,anddidn’thesitatetorepeattheoutrageous suggestion that the father of Senator Ted Cruz was linked to theassassinationofPresidentJohnF.Kennedy.

ThenconsiderwhatitmaylooklikewhenMr.TrumppursuespoliciesregardingMuslimimmigrantsandundocumentedimmigrants.

It’snotsooutlandishtoenvisionMr.Trump’sattemptstosellhisplansgettingaliftfromthelikesofMr.JonesorafakesiteoutofMacedonia—perhapsclaimingthatDemocratsareworkingwith ISIS touseundocumented immigrants topoisonlocalwatersuppliesorsomesuch.

PresidentObamaseemedtohavehadsomethinglikethatinmindwhenhetoldreportersinGermanyonThursday,“Ifwearenotseriousaboutfactsandwhat’strueand what’s not,” and “if we can’t discriminate between serious arguments andpropaganda,thenwehaveproblems.”

Mr.Obamaknowsofwhathespeaks.Hehadtomuddlethroughthefirstwaveofthis.

Youmightrememberhowhishealthcareplanwasmarredbyafalseaccusationthattheplan includedso-calleddeathpanels thatwoulddecidewholivedandwhodiedbasedontheir“levelofproductivitytosociety,”asformerGov.SarahPalinputit(onherFacebookpage!).

The false “death panel” allegationwas partly based on proposals to reimbursedoctorsforoptionalconsultationswithfamiliesoverend-of-lifecaredecisions.

TheaccusationstookonsuchpowerthatevenNewtGingrichsignedontothefalsehooddespitethefactthathehadpreviouslyexpressedbullishsupportforend-of-lifeplanning.(Heexplainedhimselfina2009lettertoTheNewYorkTimes.)

News organizations, including this one, debunked the myth. But the bill’s

authors stripped out the provision just the same. And by then the “death panel”fictionhadnegatedanyshotatareasoned,ideologicaldebate—you’rejoiningtheDemocrats’plantokillourinfirmchildrenandparents?!

AsDanPfeiffer,whowasthepresident’schiefcommunicationsstrategistatthetime,sogrimlyputittomelastweek,“Thefauxdeathpanelswerethecanaryinthecoalmineaboutthecomingdeathoftruth.”

Things have advanced since then. Today’s fake news is limited only by theimaginationsofitsinventorsandthenumberofsharesitcangarneronFacebookorTwitter.

(Towit:The onemillion shares of the preposterous notion thatMrs.ClintonsecretlysoldweaponstoISIS.BuzzFeedNews—whichhasexcelledatilluminatingthefakenewsproblem—highlightedthatexampleinitsalarminganalysisshowingthatduring the campaigncycle fakenewswas sharedamongFacebookusersmoreoftenthanrealnewswas.)

That’s why people who care about the truth— citizens, journalists and, let’shope,socialmediagiantslikeFacebook,too—willhavetocomeupwithasolutiontothisinformationalnihilism,fast.

It’s easier said than done. The combination of attacks seeking to delegitimizeseriousnewsorganizationsandadrop inoverall trust in thenewsmediahasmademanypeoplewaryoflegitimatefact-checking.And,asmycolleagueJohnHerrmannoted last weekend, politicized voices can easily drown honest journalism all tooeasilyonsocialmedia.

Thereisgrowingtalkofanambitiousjournalisticcollaborationtobeatbackthetide. Industry thinkers and leaders are coming together online to brainstormsolutions,asJeffJarvis, theCityUniversityofNewYork journalismprofessor,andEliPariser,theUpworthyco-founder,havedone.(Checkthemoutonline.)AndI’dsayit’shightimethattelevisionnews—withitsstill-hugeaudiences—getsintotheactwithmorethanjusttokengesturesatfact-checking.

But this much seems clear: The moment calls for some sort of hyperfactualcounterinsurgencythattreatseveryfalsememeasababyHitlertobekilledinitscribwithirrefutablefacts.

Sohey,Zuck,let’sroll.

FakeNewsOnslaughtTargetsPizzeriaasNestofChild-Trafficking

JamesAlefantis,ownerofCometPingPong,athisrestaurantinWashington,D.C.FakenewswebsiteshavecalleditthehomebaseofachildabuseringledbyHillaryClintonandJohnD.Podesta.(ChadBartlettforTheNewYorkTimes)

ByCECILIAKANGNovember21,2016

WASHINGTON— DAYS BEFORE THE presidential election, James Alefantis,ownerofalocalpizzarestaurantcalledCometPingPong,noticedanunusualspikeinthenumberofhisInstagramfollowers.

Withinhours,menacingmessageslike“we’reontoyou”beganappearinginhisInstagramfeed.Intheensuingdays,hundredsofdeaththreats—oneread“Iwillkillyou personally” — started arriving via texts, Facebook and Twitter. All of themallegedsomethingthatmadeMr.Alefantis’sjawdrop:thatCometPingPongwasthehomebaseofachildabuseringledbyHillaryClintonandhercampaignchief,John

D.Podesta.WhenMr.Alefantisdiscovered thathisemployeesweregettingsimilarabusive

messages,helookedonlinetounraveltheaccusations.Hefounddozensofmade-uparticles about Mrs. Clinton kidnapping, molesting and trafficking children in therestaurant’sbackrooms.ThearticlesappearedonFacebookandonwebsitessuchasThe New Nationalist and The Vigilant Citizen, with one headline blaring:“Pizzagate:How4ChanUncoveredtheSickWorldofWashington’sOccultElite.”

Noneofitwastrue.WhileMr.AlefantishassomeprominentDemocraticfriendsinWashingtonandwasasupporterofMrs.Clinton,hehasnevermether,doesnotsellorabusechildren, and isnotbeing investigatedby lawenforcement foranyoftheseclaims.Heandhis40employeeshadunwittinglybecomerealpeoplecaughtinthemiddleofastormoffakenews.

“From this insane, fabricated conspiracy theory, we’ve come under constantassault,”saidMr.Alefantis,42,whowasonceinarelationshipwithDavidBrock,aprovocative former right-wing journalist who became an outspoken advocate forMrs.Clinton.

Mr.Alefantissuspectsthoserelationshipsmayhavehelpedtomakehimatarget.“I’vedonenothingfordaysbuttrytocleanthisupandprotectmystaffandfriendsfrombeingterrorized,”hesaid.

Fakenewsonlinehasbeenatthecenterofafuriousdebateforthepastfewweeksoverhowitmayhaveinfluencedvotersinthepresidentialelection.PresidentObamawarnedlastweekthatweare“inanagewherethere’ssomuchactivemisinformationand it’s packaged verywell” on socialmedia sites.The criticism has buffetedwebcompaniessuchasGoogleandFacebook,whosechiefexecutive,MarkZuckerberg,has promised to work on technology tools to slow the gusher of false digitalinformation.

But Mr. Alefantis’s experience shows it is not just politicians and internetcompanies that are grappling with the fake news fallout.He, his staff and friendshavebecomeanewkindofprivatecitizenbull’s-eyeforthepurveyorsoffalsearticlesandtheirbelievers.

Formore than twoweeks, they have struggled to deal with the abusive socialmediacommentsandtoprotectphotosoftheirownchildren,whichwereusedinthefalsearticlesasevidencethatthepizzarestaurantwasrunningapedophiliaring.OnepersonevenvisitedCometPingPongtoinvestigatetheallegationsforhimself.

Tocombatthefakenewstide,Mr.AlefantishascontactedtheFederalBureauofInvestigationandthelocalpolice,andhehasaskedFacebook,Twitter,YouTubeand

Reddit to remove the articles. Yet the misinformation has continued to spread,growingintoatheoryknownas#pizzagatethathastraveledtoIreland.Atonepoint,Comet’sstaffcountedfive#pizzagateTwitterpostsaminute.AsrecentlyasSundaynight, the Twitter message “Don’t let up. #PizzaGate EVERYWHERE” wasrepostedandlikedhundredsoftimes.

“It’sliketryingtoshootaswarmofbeeswithonegun,”saidBryceReh,Comet’sgeneralmanager,whosewifeaskedhim to leavehis jobbecauseof the threats andvulgarmessagestheybothhavereceivedontheirsocialmediaaccounts.

Iwon’tstoptweetingabout#PizzaGateuntilIknowforafactthattherearen’tchildrenindangerbeing

coveredupbytheUSgovernment—Skye(@TradSierraHotel)Nov.20,2016

Mr.Alefantis,anartistbornandraisedinWashington,co-foundedCometPingPong 10 years ago as a casual spot for clay oven pizza. The restaurant has kid-friendly features like Ping-Pong tables and a craft room. Famous natives likemembersof thebandFugazihaveheld small shows there.Theeatery,which seats120,isamash-upofredandwhitecheckeredtableclothsandmodernistmuralsandpaintingsfromfriendsofMr.Alefantis.

Mr.AlefantismingleswithotherWashingtonchefsandhisestablishmenthelpedhimtobenamedNo.49inGQmagazine’s50mostpowerfulpeopleinWashingtonin2012.Hiscustomersincludesomehigh-poweredlocals,suchasTonyPodesta,thebrotherofJohnPodesta,whomMr.Alefantisknowscasually.Mr.AlefantisandMr.Brock,whoisthefounderofMediaMattersforAmerica,awebsitethattrackspresscoverage critical of the Clintons and works to debunk misinformation in theconservativepress,brokeupfiveyearsago.

The misinformation campaign began when John Podesta’s email account washacked and his emails were published by WikiLeaks during the presidentialcampaign. Days before the election, users on the online message board 4ChannoticedthatoneofMr.Podesta’sleakedemailscontainedcommunicationswithMr.Alefantisdiscussingafund-raiserforMrs.Clinton.

The4Chanusers immediately speculated about the linksbetweenCometPingPong and theDemocratic Party. Some posited the restaurantwas part of a largerDemocraticchildtraffickingring,whichwasatheorylongheldbysomeconservativeblogs.That idea jumpedtoothersocialmediaservicessuchasTwitterandReddit,

where it gainedmomentum on the page “TheDonald.” A newReddit discussionthreadcalled“Pizzagate”quicklyattracted20,000subscribers.

PatronsatCometPingPong.Severaloftherestaurant’semployeeshavebeenbarragedwithuglysocialmediacommentsoverthefalsechildabuseallegations.(ChadBartlettforTheNewYorkTimes)

Glen Caplin, a former campaign official for Mrs. Clinton, did not commentdirectly about Comet Ping Pong but said, “WikiLeaks has spawned severalconspiracy theories that have been independently debunked.”Mr.Podesta did notrespondtorequestsforcomment.

Soon,dozensof fakenewsarticlesonsites suchasFacebook,PlanetFreeWillandLivingResistanceemerged.Readers shared the stories inSaudiArabia andonTurkishandotherforeignlanguagesites.

Lastweek,onesupporterof thePizzagate theoryshota livevideo fromwithinthe restaurantduring abusydinner shift.Local police,whohadparked across thestreetafterMr.Alefantisfiledareportaboutthefakenewsstoriesandthreats,toldthemantoleave.

Inastatement,theDistrictofColumbiaMetropolitanPoliceDepartmentsaiditwasmonitoringthesituationandis“awareofgeneralthreatsbeingmadeagainstthisestablishment.” The F.B.I. said it “does not confirm or deny the existence ofinvestigations.”

MosttroublingforMr.Alefantisandstaffhasbeentheuseofchildren’simages,pilferedfromtherestaurant’ssocialmediapagesandthepersonalaccountsoffriendswho had “liked” Comet Ping Pong online. Those photos have been used acrossdozensofwebsites.Parents,whodeclinedtotalkpubliclyforfearofretribution,havehiredlawyerstogetthephotosremoved.

Musicianswhohaveperformed atCometPingPonghavebeenpulled in, too.Amanda Kleinman, whose band, Heavy Breathing, has performed there severaltimes, deleted her Twitter account after the abusive comments becameoverwhelming.SimilarcommentshavefloodedherYouTubemusicclips.

“Weareatadangerousplace inAmericanculturewhereagoodpercentageofpeoplearen’tdistinguishingwhat isarealnewssourcebasedonrealreportingandfact-checkingandonlyreinforcingpre-existingideastheyhave,”Ms.Kleinmansaid.

ThefrustrationhasbeencompoundedbythelackofrecourseforMr.Alefantis,his friends and employees. Yelp blocked the comments sections of Comet PingPong’s review page after reports of abusive comments and fake news in reviews.YouTube said it prohibits threats, harassment and hate speech and has tools forflaggingviolationsand filingcomplaints for the site to take further action,buthaslargely not blocked comments on these videos.Twitter declined to comment, andFacebookdidnothaveanyfurthercomment.

AfteremployeesandMr.AlefantiscomplainedtoRedditabouthowCometPingPong was being targeted on the site, the #pizzagate discussion thread posted awarningthatrevealingpersonalinformationaboutindividualswasprohibited.

“We know that we have more work to do and we take our responsibility toaddressonlineabuseseriously,”Redditsaidinastatement.

Little relief appears in sight. Over the weekend, Comet Ping Pong receiveddozensofcallsfrompeoplescreamingobscenitiesandthreats.Mr.Alefantisgot50nasty Instagramdirectmessages, includingone thatwarned,“Thisplace shouldbeburnedtotheground!”

OnMondaymorning, whenMr. Alefantis picked up his phone, he saw a textfrom a staff member warning that an individual might protest in front of therestaurant.

“It’sendless,”hesaid.

DorisBurkecontributedresearchfromNewYork.

InsideaFakeNewsSausageFactory:‘ThisIsAllAboutIncome’

ByANDREWHIGGINS,MIKEMcINTIREandGABRIELJ.X.DANCENovember25,2016

TBILISI, GEORGIA — JOBLESS and with graduation looming, a computersciencestudentatthepremieruniversityinthenationofGeorgiadecidedearlythisyear thatmoneycouldbemade fromAmerica’s voracious appetite forpassionatelypartisan political news.He set up a website, posted gushing stories aboutHillaryClintonandwaitedforadsalestosoar.

“Idon’tknowwhy,butitdidnotwork,”saidthestudent,BeqaLatsabidze,22,who was savvy enough to change course when he realized what did drive traffic:laudatorystoriesaboutDonaldJ.Trumpthatmixedreal—andcompletelyfake—newsinastewofanti-Clintonfervor.

More than 6,000 miles away in Vancouver, a Canadian who runs a satiricalwebsite, JohnEgan,hadmadea similarobservation.Mr.Egan’s site,TheBurrardStreetJournal,offerssendupsofthenews,notfakenews,andheisnottryingtofoolanyone.Buthe, too,discovered thatwritingaboutMr.Trumpwasa“goldmine.”Histrafficsoaredandhiswork,notablyastorythatPresidentObamawouldmovetoCanada ifMr. Trump won, was plundered byMr. Latsabidze and other internetentrepreneursfortheirownwebsites.

“It’sallTrump,”Mr.Egansaidbytelephone.“Peoplegonutsforit.”WithMr.Obamanowwarningofthecorrosivethreatfromfakepoliticalnews

circulated on Facebook and other social media, the pressing question is whoproduces these stories, and how does this overheated, often fabricated newsecosystemwork?

SomeanalystsworrythatforeignintelligenceagenciesaremeddlinginAmericanpolitics and using fake news to influence elections. But onewindow into how themeat in fake sausages gets ground can be found in the buccaneering interneteconomy,wheresatireproducedinCanadacanbetakenbyarecentcollegegraduateintheformerSovietrepublicofGeorgiaandpresentedasrealnewstoattractclicksfromcredulousreadersintheUnitedStates.Mr.LatsabidzesaidhisonlyincentivewastomakemoneyfromGoogleadsbyluringpeopleoffFacebookpagesandontohiswebsites.

To gin up material, Mr. Latsabidze often simply cut and pasted, sometimesmassagingheadlinesbutmostlyjustcopyingmaterialfromelsewhere,includingMr.Egan’sprankstoryonMr.Obama.Mr.EganwasnotamusedtoseehissatiricalworkonMr.Latsabidze’swebsiteandfiledacopyrightinfringementnoticetodefendhisintellectualproperty.

YetMr.Egan conceded a certain professional glee thatMr.Trump is here tostay.“Nowthatwe’vegothimforfouryears,”hesaid,“Ican’tbelieveit.”

Bysomeestimates,bogusnewsstoriesappearingonlineandonsocialmediahadanevengreaterreachinthefinalmonthsofthepresidentialcampaignthanarticlesbymainstreamnewsorganizations.

Since then, internet giants like Facebook and Google have engaged in soulsearching over their roles in disseminating false news. Google announced that itwould ban websites that host fake news from using its online advertising service,whileFacebook’schiefexecutive,MarkZuckerberg,outlinedsomeoftheoptionshiscompanywasconsidering,includingsimplerwaysforuserstoflagsuspiciouscontent.

In Tbilisi, the two-room rented apartment Mr. Latsabidze shares with hisyoungerbrotherisanunlikelyoffshoreoutpostofAmerica’sfakenewsindustry.Thetwo brothers, both computer experts, get help from a third young Georgian, anarchitect.

They say they have no keen interest in politics themselves and initially placedbets across the American political spectrum and experimentedwith show businessnews, too.They set up a pro-Clintonwebsite,walkwithher.com, a Facebook pagecheering Bernie Sanders and a web digest of straightforward political newsplagiarizedfromTheNewYorkTimesandothermainstreamnewsmedia.

Butthosesites,amongthemorethanadozenregisteredbyMr.Latsabidze,werebusts.ThenheshiftedallhisenergytoMr.Trump.Hisflagshippro-Trumpwebsite,departed.co,gainedremarkabletractioninacrowdedfieldinthepreludetotheNov.8electionthankstosteadymenuofrelentlesslypro-Trumpandanti-Clintonstories.(OnWednesday,afewhoursafterTheNewYorkTimesmetwithMr.Latsabidzetoaskhimabouthisactivities,thesitevanishedalongwithhisFacebookpage.)

“My audience likes Trump,” he said. “I don’t want to write bad things aboutTrump.IfIwritefakestoriesaboutTrump,Ilosemyaudience.”

Some of his Trump stories are true, some are highly slanted and others aretotally false, like one this summer reporting that “the Mexican governmentannounced they will close their borders to Americans in the event that DonaldTrump is elected President of the United States.” Data compiled by Buzzfeed

showed that the story was the thirdmost-trafficked fake story on Facebook fromMaytoJuly.

So successful was the formula that others inGeorgia and other faraway landsjoinedin,too,includingNikaKurdadze,acollegeacquaintanceofMr.Latsabidze’swho set up his own pro-Trump site, newsbreakshere.com. Its recent offeringsincludeda fakereportheadlined:“Stop itLiberals…HillaryLost thePopularVoteby SeveralMillion.Here’sWhy.”That story, likemost ofMr.Latsabidze’swork,waspilferedfromtheweb.

Mr.Latsabidzeinitiallyranintonoproblemsfromallhiscuttingandpastingofother people’s stories, and he even got ripped off himself when a rival in Indiahijackedapro-TrumpFacebookpagehehadsetuptodrivetraffictohiswebsites.(HesaidthattheIndianrivalhadoffered$10,000tobuythepage,butthathehadrenegedonpaymentafterbeingprovidedwithaccessrightsandcommandeereditforhimself.)

ThenthenoticearrivedfromMr.EganinCanada,whichpromptedthecompanythathostsMr.Latsabidze’swebsites, includingdeparted.co, toshut themdownfortwodaysuntilheremovedtheoffendingstory.

“Itwasreallybadforme,”Mr.Latsabidzerecalled.“TrafficdroppedandIhadtostarteverythingalloveragain.”

Mr.Egan,forhispart,saidhedidnotlikeothersmakingmoneyunfairlyoffhislabor.Andheestimated that“probablyhalf” the readersofhis storiesbelieve theyaretruebecauseofthewidespreadtheftbyotherwebsites.

“A lotof thatwasconservative readerswhosee itpickeduponother sitesandbelieveit,”Mr.Egansaid.“Inmanycases,theyhaven’tactuallyreadit,they’rejustreactingtoaheadline.”

Mr. Latsabidze said he was amazed that anyone could mistake many of thearticleshepostsforrealnews,insistingtheyaresimplyaformofinfotainmentthatshouldnotbetakentooseriously.

“I don’t call it fake news; I call it satire,” he said.He avoids sex and violencebecause they violateFacebook rules, he said, buthe seesnothingwrongotherwisewithprovidingreaderswithwhattheywant.

“NobodyreallybelievesthatMexicoisgoingtocloseitsborder,”hesaid,sippingcoffeethisweekinaMcDonald’sindowntownTbilisi.“Thisiscrazy.”

All the same, the Mexico-closing-its-border story proved so popular after itappearedonhissitethathehuntedaroundonthewebforotherarticlesonthesametheme.HefoundatalltaleaboutMexicoplanningtocallbackitscitizensfromthe

UnitedStatesifMr.Trumpwon.This,too,generatedhugetraffic,thoughnotquiteasmuchasthefirstone,whichMr.Latsabidzedescribedas“areallygreatstory.”

HeinsistedhehasnothingagainstMexicansorMuslims,whoseexclusionfromthe United States is requested by an online petition that often appears on hiswebsitesandwhoareinvariablypresentedinanegativelightinthestoriesheposts.

“IamnotagainstMuslims,”hesaid.“Ijustsawthattherewasinterest.Theyarein the news.” Nor, he added, is he particularly against Mrs. Clinton, though hepersonallyprefersMr.Trump.

Ifhispro-Clintonsitehadtakenoff,hesaid,hewouldhavepressedonwiththat,but “people did not engage,” so he focused on serving pro-Trump supportersinstead.They,hequicklyrealized,wereafarmorereceptiveaudience“becausetheyareangry”andeagertoreadoutrageoustales.

“Forme,thisisallaboutincome,nothingmore,”headded.The income comes mostly fromGoogle, which pays a few cents each time a

reader sees or clicks on advertisements embedded in one of Mr. Latsabidze’swebsites.His bestmonth,which coincidedwith the hit bogus story aboutMexicoclosing the border, brought in around $6,000, thoughmonthly revenue is usuallymuchlower.

Mr.Obama,speakinginBerlinlastweek,assailedthespreadofphonynewsonFacebookandotherplatforms,warning that “ifwe arenot serious about facts andwhat’strueandwhat’snot”and“ifwecan’tdiscriminatebetweenseriousargumentsandpropaganda,thenwehaveproblems.”

WhileFacebookdoesnotdirectlyprovideMr.Latsabidzeanyrevenue,itplaysacentral role in driving traffic to his websites. He initially established several fakeFacebookpagesintendedtosteertraffictohiswebsites,includingonesupposedlysetupbyabeautifulwomannamedValkiaraBeka.Thiswoman,heacknowledged,doesnotreallyexist.“Sheisme,”hesaid.

He discovered, however, that such pages were ineffective compared withlegitimateFacebookpagesfromrealpeople,particularlyTrumpsupporters,becausetheyhavesomuchenergyandlovepromotingstoriestheylike.

Departed.co—named afterMr.Latsabidze’s favoritemovie, “TheDeparted,”and recently redirected to usatodaycom.com— published dozens of stories daily,manyofthemsimilartoonepostedonNov.17withtheheadline,“ThisIsHuuge!InternationalArrestWarrantIssuedByPutinForGeorgeSoros!”Thestorywasnottrueandhadalreadybeenpublishedon scoresofother fakenews sites around theweb.

Thenthereare thestories thathaveagrainof truth,alongwithbigdollopsofexaggerationandextrapolation,like“DyingHillarySaysSheJustWantsToCurlUpAndNeverLeaveHerHouseAgainAfterDefeat.”Mrs.Clintondidsaythedayafterherelectiondefeatthatshejustwantedtocurlupwithabook.Butshewasnot,asfarasanyoneknows,dying.

In the prelude to the election, bogus reports aboutMrs. Clinton’s health andhighlyfavorableonesaboutMr.TrumpwerepromotedwithgustobyRussianstate-controllednewsmediaoutletsandlegionsofpro-Russianinternetagitators.Thishasstirred suspicions that the Kremlin has had a hand in the fake news industry,promptingAmericanresearcherstoassert inrecentstudiesthattheonlineblurringof the boundary between truth and falsehood is in part the result of Russianmanipulation.

ButMr.Latsabidzeandothersheresaytheyserveonlytheirbankbalances,notRussiaoranythingelse.

Heinsistedthathisteamoperatedentirelyonitsownandthatitdidnotwantorneedoutsidehelp.Hesaidthatittookhimjusttwohourstosetupabasicwebsiteandthatanyonewithamodicumofcomputersavvycouldquicklystarthawkingnews—realorfake—online.

“Ididnotinventanything,”hesaid.“Ithasallbeendonebefore.”Mr.Latsabidze,whoapparentlyhasbrokennolaws,saidthatanycrackdownon

fakenewsmightworkintheshorttermbutthat“somethingelsewillcomealongtoreplaceit.”

“If they want to, they can control everything,” he said, “but this will stopfreedomofspeech.”

Fornow,thepostelectionperiodhasbeenbadforbusiness,withasharpfall intheappetiteforincendiarypoliticalnewsfavoringMr.Trump.Traffictodeparted.coand affiliated websites has plunged in recent weeks by at least 50 percent, Mr.Latsabidzesaid.

“IfHillaryhadwon,itwouldbebetterforus,”hesaid.“Icouldwriteaboutthebadthingsshewasgoingtodo,”hesaid.“IdidnotwritetomakeTrumpwin.Ijustwantedtogetviewersandmakesomemoney.”

In the months since he got into the fake news business, Mr. Latsabidze haslandedadayjobasaprogrammerwithasoftwarecompany,whichheseesasabetterfuture.“Thisismorestablework,”hesaid.

Butheseemedreluctanttoquitaltogether.“ArethereanyelectionscomingupintheU.K.?”Mr.Latsabidzeasked.

Hewasdisappointed tohear thatnonewere scheduled soon.But, advised thatFrance will hold a hotly contested presidential election next April featuring aTrump-likecandidateintheformofMarineLePen,afar-rightpopulist,heperkedup.

“MaybeIshouldlearnsomeFrench,”hesaid.AndrewHigginsreported fromTbilisi,Georgia,andMikeMcIntireandGabrielJ.X.

DancefromNewYork.

ManMotivatedby‘Pizzagate’ConspiracyTheoryArrestedinWashingtonGunfire

ByERICLIPTONDecember5,2016

WASHINGTON — A MAN fired a rifle on Sunday inside a Washington pizzarestaurant that has been subjected to harassment based on false stories tying it tochildabuse,thepolicesaid.Noonewashurt,andthemanwasarrested.

Theman,EdgarM.Welch,28,ofSalisbury,N.C., told thepolice thathehadcome to the restaurant, Comet Ping Pong, in northwest Washington, to “self-investigate” what is being called Pizzagate, an online conspiracy theory asserting,with no evidence, that the restaurant is somehow tied to a child abuse ring. Heentered the restaurant shortly before 3 p.m. with a rifle and fired it at least onceinside,thepolicesaid.

The gunfire sharply escalated what had already been a tense period for therestaurant, its employees and the quiet neighborhood since the fake stories beganspreading.Dozensofthreatsagainstemployeeshadbeenmadeviaemailandsocialmedia.

Peopleinsidetherestaurantfled,andthepolicelockeddownthearea,orderingpatrons of a nearbybookstore and cafe calledPolitics andProse to remain lockedinside. Officers with rifles and protective gear surrounded the restaurant andapprehendedMr.Welch.Twoadditional firearmswere found,oneonMr.Welchandtheotherinhisvehicle,thepolicesaid.

The police closed down a normally busy Connecticut Avenue, which runs infrontoftherestaurant,forseveralhoursSundayastheysearchedtheareaforotherpotentialthreats.

In a statement, Comet Ping Pong’s owner, James Alefantis, condemned thepeoplewhohadbeenspreadingthebogusstoriesaboutchildabuse.

“What happened today demonstrates that promoting false and recklessconspiracytheoriescomeswithconsequences,”hesaid.“Ihopethatthoseinvolvedinfanningtheseflameswilltakeamomenttocontemplatewhathappenedheretodayandstoppromotingthesefalsehoodsrightaway.”

Bradley Graham, co-owner of Politics and Prose, said the incident was aworrisomeeventduring anuneasy time for theneighborhood. “This isoneof the

things we feared,”Mr. Graham said as the police surrounded his bookstore withrifles and weapons drawn. “That this could go from a social media attack tosomethingmuchmoredangerousandphysical.”

Mr. Graham said he and others had been disappointed that the local lawenforcement authorities had not previously respondedmore aggressively to try tostoptheharassmentrelatedtothefakeclaims,particularlyafteronesupporterofthePizzagate theory shot a livevideo fromwithin the restaurantduringabusydinnershift.

Themisinformation campaign aboutComet beganwhen the email account ofJohn D. Podesta, an aide to Hillary Clinton, was hacked and his emails werepublishedbyWikiLeaksduringthepresidentialcampaign.Daysbeforetheelection,userson theonlinemessageboard4channoticed thatoneofMr.Podesta’s leakedemailscontainedcommunicationswithJamesAlefantis,Comet’sowner,discussingafund-raiserforMrs.Clinton.

SabrinaOusmaal, ownerof aFrench restaurant calledTerasol,which is acrossthestreetfromComet,saidthatotherbusinessesintheareahadalsobeentargetedbythreatsandthattheresponsefromtheauthoritiessofarhadbeeninsufficient.

“TheF.B.I. and the policewere notified repeatedly of these death threats andcalls, emails, online posts,” she wrote in an email Sunday, after the rifle blast.“Nothing was done. I am appalled and horrified. Do people need to die forsomethingtobedone?”

CeciliaKangcontributedreporting.

Opinion:FakeNewsBringsaGunmantoWashington

ByELIZABETHWILLIAMSONDecember5,2016

ONSUNDAYAFTERNOON,AS familiesatea late lunchatCometPingPonginWashington,D.C.,amanarmedwithariflewalkedin,aimingto“self-investigate”fake stories that the small pizzeria was a front for a child sex ring led byHillaryClinton.

Noonewashurt,butashotwasfired,familiesandstafffledandaswathofthequiet neighborhood was locked down for hours. The suspect, 28-year-old EdgarWelch of Salisbury, N.C., referenced what’s known online as “Pizzagate,” afabricatedstoryondozensoffakenewswebsites,whichputsCometPingPongatthecenterofbizarre,debunkedchargesof child trafficking.Thehoaxhasbeen sharedmillions of times byDonaldTrump supporters on socialmedia includingReddit,Twitter,InstagramandFacebook.

That an insane online conspiracy theory brought violence to a neighborhoodbusiness five miles from theWhite House is mind-boggling. Even worse is thatsimilarfakestoriesinvolvingMrs.ClintonandpedophiliahavebeenpromotedbyLt.Gen.MichaelFlynn,President-electTrump’schoicefornationalsecurityadviser.Aconspiracy-minded Islamophobe forced out as chief of the Defense IntelligenceAgency in part for his lack of judgment, General Flynn lent credibility to theprovablyfalsechargebytweetinglinkstofakeconspiracystoriescitedbyPizzagatetrolls.Mike Flynn Jr.,Mr. Flynn’s son and adviser, and amember of theTrumptransition team,was still spreading thePizzagate lie after Sunday’s incident in thecapital.

Inthedaysbeforetheelection,GeneralFlynn’sTwitteraccountbristledwithall-caps exclamations about bizarre Clinton conspiracy theories. OnNov. 2,GeneralFlynntweeted:“Udecide—NYPDBlowsWhistleonNewHillaryEmails:MoneyLaundering,SexCrimeswChildren,etc...MUSTREAD!”Heincludeda linktoafake storyonawebsitecalled“TruePundit.”Twodays later,he tweeteda link toanother false story, accusing John Podesta, Mrs. Clinton’s campaign chief, ofparticipating in satanic rituals. This, from the man who would guide the UnitedStates’firstresponsetoglobalthreats?

On Sunday night, after the gunfire at Comet, General Flynn’s son tweeted,

“Until #Pizzagateproven tobe false, it’ll remain a story.The left seems to forget#PodestaEmailsandthemany‘coincidences’tiedtoit.”Then,inaflurryofretweets,hespreadthelatestmutationofthePizzagatehoax,thatthegunmanwas“planted”todiscreditfakenewswebsites.

CometisownedbyJamesAlefantis,anartistandrestaurateurwhohasnevermetHillaryClinton.Mr.AlefantiswasonceinarelationshipwithDavidBrock,aClintonally, that ended five years ago. Pizzagate appears to have roots in theWikiLeaksreleaseofMr.Podesta’semails,oneofwhichreferredtoplans foraClintonfund-raiserthatinvolvedMr.Alefantis.

Foramonth,Comet’sowner,40employees,evenmusicianswhohaveperformedtherehavebeenreceivingphonecallsandonlinemessagesbypeoplethreateningtokill themandburndownthebusiness.Photosof thechildrenofCometcustomershavebeenliftedfromsocialmediapagesandusedinmade-upstoriesofchildabuseandtrafficking.

Cometisafavoriteoffamilies:Itspizzahasgottennationalplaudits,andithascraftsprojectsforantsykidstoworkon.IthasPing-Pongtablesandasmallconcertstage in the back. It’s located in a leafy neighborhood that’s home to governmenttypes andmembers ofCongress, who frequentComet, too.Until now, about theonly controversy surroundingCometwere gripes about loudmusic, orPing-Pongballsrolling intoConnecticutAvenueduringwarmsummernightswhenthetablesweresetuponthesidewalkoutside.

Recently the police ejected a personwhowas videotapingComet patrons andworkersduringdinner.Lastweek,Mr.Alefantisannouncedthatpoliceandsecurityguards would patrol the concerts. He tried to reassure patrons that the threatsagainsthimandhisbusinesswerejustanonlinephenomenon.Now,thanksinparttoMr.Trump’sadvisers,fakenewsjustgotreal.

Mr.Trumpsayshedisavowshatecampaignsbyhissupporters.Nowthatwe’reseeing the real-world impact of phony theories spread by General Flynn, does“disavow”meanreconsideringhischoiceofthegeneralasnationalsecurityadviser?

TrumpFiresAdviser’sSonFromTransitionforSpreadingFakeNews

MichaelG.Flynn,left,andhisfather,Lt.Gen.MichaelT.Flynn,atTrumpTowerinManhattaninNovember.(SamHodgsonforTheNewYorkTimes)

ByMATTHEWROSENBERG,MAGGIEHABERMANandERICSCHMITT

December6,2016

WASHINGTON—PRESIDENT-ELECTDONALD J.TrumponTuesday firedone of his transition team’s staff members, Michael G. Flynn, the son of Mr.Trump’schoicefornationalsecurityadviser,forusingTwittertospreadafakenewsstoryaboutHillaryClintonthatledtoanarmedconfrontationinapizzarestaurantinWashington.

TheuproaroverMr.Flynn’sTwitterpostcastaharshspotlightontheviewsthatheandhisfather,Lt.Gen.MichaelT.Flynn,airedonsocialmediathroughoutthe

presidential campaign. Bothmen have shared fake news stories alleging thatMrs.Clinton committed felonies, and have posted their own Twitter messages that attimeshavecrossedintoIslamophobia.

But their social media musings apparently attracted little attention from Mr.TrumporhistransitionteambeforeaNorthCarolinamanfiredarifleonSundayinside Comet Ping Pong, which was the subject of false stories tying it and theClintoncampaigntoachildsextraffickingring.

Hoursaftertheepisode,theyoungerMr.Flynn,33,wentonTwittertosaythatuntil“Pizzagate”wasprovedfalse,itremainedastory.

Until#Pizzagateproventobefalse,it’llremainastory.Theleftseemstoforget#PodestaEmailsand

themany“coincidences”tiedtoit.—MichaelGFlynn(@mflynnJR)Dec.5,2016

OnTuesdaymorning,aftertheposthadattractednationalattentionanditwasreported thatMr. Flynn had a transition team email address,VicePresident-electMike Pence denied that Mr. Flynn had ever worked for the team, saying onMSNBC’s“MorningJoe”thathehad“noinvolvementinthetransitionwhatsoever.”

But later in the morning, Jason Miller, a transition spokesman, tacitlyacknowledgedthatMr.Flynnhadworkedforthetransition,sayinginaconferencecallthatMr.Flynnwasnownolongerinvolved.

Mr.MillerdidnotsaywhatpromptedthedismissalofMr.Flynn,buttwootherTrumptransitionofficialssaiditwastiedtohisTwitterposting.

ThemovemayhavecosttheyoungerMr.FlynnaneventualpostintheWhiteHouse.UntilTuesday,hehadplannedtojoinhisfatheronthestaffoftheNationalSecurityCouncil and had even started the process of getting a security clearance,according to an acquaintance who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoidupsettingtheFlynns.

DespitetheyoungerMr.Flynn’sabruptremovalfromthetransitionteam,therewasno indication thatMr.Trumpwas reconsideringhis choiceofGeneralFlynn,57,aformerdirectoroftheDefenseIntelligenceAgency,toserveasnationalsecurityadviser.

ButbeyondthetightcirclearoundMr.Trump,thereweregrowingconcernsinWashington about General Flynn’s fitness for the job, fueled by talk of histemperament,hisconspiratorialworldviewandhisownincendiaryTwitterpostings.

ManyDemocrats were openly critical from themoment the appointment wasannounced lastmonth,andseveralprominentRepublicannationalsecurityofficialsalsoquietlyvoicedconcerns.Now,withMr.Flynnundergrowingscrutiny,somearebeginningtospeakpublicly.

“Thenationalsecurityadvisershouldhaveamoderatingeffectontheinstinctsofthepresident,anditremainstobeseenifMikecandothat,”MichaelV.Hayden,aformer director of both the C.I.A. and the National Security Agency, said in atelephoneinterviewonTuesday.

Theroleofnationalsecurityadvisercallsformediatingtheconflictingviewsofcabinetsecretariesandagencies,andsiftingfactfromspeculationandrumortohelpthenewpresidentdecidehowtheUnitedStatesshouldreacttointernationalcrises.

ItisajobthatislikelytotakeongreaterimportanceforMr.Trump,whohasnoexperience in defense or foreign policy issues and has a habit of making broadassertionsthatarenotbasedinfact.

General Flynn, too, has shown similar inclinations both onTwitter and in hispreviousjobsinthemilitary.AttheDefenseIntelligenceAgency,hisstaffmembersevencoinedtheirownnameforhissometimesdubiousassertions:“Flynnfacts.”

“He has regularly engaged in the reckless public promotion of conspiracytheoriesthathavenobasisinfact,withdisregardfortherisksthatgivingcredencetothosetheoriescouldposetothepublic,”RepresentativeAdamSmithofWashington,therankingDemocratontheHouseArmedServicesCommittee,saidonTuesday.

“Someone who is so oblivious to the facts, or intentionally ignorant of them,shouldnotbeentrustedwithpolicydecisionsthataffectthesafetyoftheAmericanpeople,”Mr.Smithadded.

Fornow,GeneralFlynnappearstobeweatheringthecriticism,whichhasbeenfarharsherthanthatdirectedatotherTrumpnominees,bykeepingarelativelylowprofile since the election. He has not given interviews— he did not respond torequests for comment — and he has kept his Twitter posts relatively tame,publishing patriotic messages on Veterans Day and more recently praising Mr.Trump’sselectionofGen.JamesN.Mattis,aretiredMarine,fordefensesecretary.

Hisson,incontrast,showednosuchrestraintintheweeksbeforehewasfired,regularlypostingonTwitteraboutconspiracy theories involvingMrs.Clintonandhercampaignstaffwellaftertheelection.

HecontinuedtopushhissupportforthefakenewsaboutCometPingPongafterhis messages on Twitter about Sunday’s episode began attracting widespreadattention. Itwasnotuntil shortlybefore3:30p.m.Monday thathewent silenton

Twitter.Inoneofthelastmessagesheposted,hesharedapostfromanotherTwitteruser

whosoughttospreadaconspiracytheorythatsprangupontheright-wingfringesaftertheshooting:thatthesuspectarrestedatCometPingPong,EdgarM.Welch,28,ofSalisbury,N.C.,wasactuallyanactor,andthattheepisodewasahoaxcookeduptodiscredittheclaimofasextraffickingringattherestaurant.

CONFIRMED:CometPizzaGunmanEdgarMaddisonWelchisanACTORpic.twitter.com/HVF9QMXDsd

—JackPosobiec(@JackPosobiec)Dec.5,2016

Matthew Rosenberg and Eric Schmitt reported from Washington, and MaggieHabermanfromNewYork.

AsFakeNewsSpreadsLies,MoreReadersShrugattheTruth

LarryLaughlin,aretiredbusinessownerfromMinnesota,saidhefeltalienatedfromconventionalnewsmedia.(TimGruberforTheNewYorkTimes)

BySABRINATAVERNISEDecember6,2016

HAMLAKE,MINN.—Onemorninglastweek,LarryLaughlin,aretiredbusinessowner,openedhisshinyblackDelllaptopandscrolledthroughFacebook.

Mostofthepostswereordinarynewsstoriesfromconservativesites:DonaldJ.Trump’sdealwiththeCarriercompany.Thepoliticaltussleovertherecount.Butafewitemswerehisguiltypleasures.

“I like this guy,” said Mr. Laughlin, looking at a post by the conservativecommentatorandauthorMarkDice.

Mr.DicehaspromotedconspiracytheoriesthattheJadeHelmmilitarytraining

exerciselastyearwaspreparationformartiallawandthattheSept.11attackswerean “inside job.” But Mr. Laughlin likes him for what he said was his humorouspoliticalcommentaryandhissarcasticman-on-the-streetinterviews.

“Ijustlikethesatisfaction,”saidMr.Laughlin,whostartedhisownbusinessandlivesinanaffluentTwinCitiessuburb.“It’slikeahockeygame.Everyone’sgottheirgoons.Theirgoonsarepushingourguysaround,andit’sgreattoseeourgoonspushback.”

The proliferation of fake and hyperpartisan news that has flooded intoAmericans’ laptops and living rooms has prompted a national soul-searching,withliberalsacrossthecountryaskinghowanationofmillionscouldbemarchingtosuchasuspectdrumbeat.ButwhilesomeAmericansmaytakethestoriesliterally—likethe North Carolina man who fired his gun in aWashington pizzeria on Sundaytryingto investigatea falsestoryspreadonlineofachild-abusering ledbyHillaryClinton—manydonot.

Thelargerproblem,expertssay, is lessextremebutmoreinsidious.Fakenews,and the proliferation of raw opinion that passes for news, is creating confusion,punching holes in what is true, causing a kind of fun-house effect that leaves thereaderdoubtingeverything,includingrealnews.

That has pushed up the political temperature and increased polarization. Nolongerburdenedwithwrestlingwiththepossibilitythattheymightbewrong,peopleon the right and the left have becomemore entrenched in their positions, expertssay.Ininterviews,peoplesaidtheyfeltmoreempowered,moreattachedtotheirownsideandlessinclinedtolistentotheother.Polarizationisfun,likecheeringagoalforthehometeam.

“There are an alarmingnumberofpeoplewho tend tobe credulous and formbeliefsbasedonthelatestthingthey’veread,butthat’snotthewiderproblem,”saidMichael Lynch, a professor of philosophy at theUniversity ofConnecticut. “Thewider problem is fake news has the effect of getting people not to believe realthings.”

He described the thinking like this: “There’s no way forme to knowwhat isobjectively true, sowe’ll stick toourgunsandourownevidence.We’ll ignore thefactsbecausenobodyknowswhat’sreallytrueanyway.”

Newsthatisfakeoronlymarginallyrealhaslurkedonline—andinsupermarkettabloids— for years, but never before has it played such a prominent role in anAmericanelectionanditsaftermath.Narrowlydefined,“fakenews”meansamade-up story with an intention to deceive, often geared toward getting clicks. But the

issue has become a political battering ram, with the left accusing the right oftraffickingindisinformation,andtherightaccusingtheleftoftarringconservativesas away to try to censorwebsites. In the process, the definition of fake news hasblurred.

“Fakenews is subjective,”Mr.Laughlin said. “Itdependsonwho’sdefining it.Oneman’strashisanotherman’streasure.”

ForMr.Laughlin, conservative sites are a balm for the soul in a liberalworldwhose narrative of America, he says, seems to diminish him and all that he hasaccomplished. He was his own legal guardian at 16, after his mother fled hisalcoholicfather.Hebuilthismetalfinishingbusinessfromscratchafterearninganassociatedegreefromacommunitycollege.Thecompanyheownedemploysabout17people.Heandhiswifeadoptedthreemixed-racechildren.

“Mystrugglesinlifearejustdismissed,”hesaid,recallingbeinglecturedbyoneofhischildren’sliberalfriendsatapartyinhislargehome.“‘Youhaveanicehouseandgot itmadebecauseyouare awhiteguy.’There are all of thesepreconceivednotionsthatI’maracist,idiot,abigot,andoh,uneducated.”

He feels alienated from the conventional news media for some of the samereasons. “It’s like an inside joke forpeopleon the left, andwe are thebutt of thejoke,”hesaidofoneleft-leaningwebsite.“Atsomepoint,westoppedlistening.”

AlexJones,aconspiracytheorist,speakingatarallypromotingDonaldJ.TrumponthefirstdayoftheRepublicanNationalConventioninJulyinCleveland.(HilarySwiftforTheNewYorkTimes)

Mr.Laughlinlikesnewsthatstrikesbackagainstthat.Thesedays,hetakesthemost pleasure inwatching clips strung togetherby conservativewebsites of liberalcommentators sneering abouthow ridiculousDonald J.Trumpwas as a candidateandhowhehadnochanceatbecomingpresident.

“Thisislikeoursweetreleaseaftertheelection,”Mr.Laughlinsaid.Hesaidthehyperpartisan environment left him craving intense content. “I’m picking throughthefruitandlookingforthereddestapple,”hesaid.

ButMr.Laughlinavoidsnewsthatlooksfalse,likeastoryaftertheelectionthatMr.Trumpwonthepopularvote,andsaidhewascarefulnottoclickonsuchitemsto deny them advertising revenue. He said he cringed when he heard about theincidentinthepizzarestaurant.“Itaddstothestereotypethatwe’reallnutters,”hesaid.“We’llallgetlumpedtogetherwiththisguy.”

Adding to the confusion is the fact thatMr.Trumpand somemembersofhis

teamhavepromotedfalseitems,too,suchasthatmillionsofpeoplevotedillegally.Asimilar storyhad circulatedon the site of the conspiracy theoristAlex Jones somedays before. For Clayton Montgomery, 57, a retired state department oftransportationworkerinWaynesville,N.C.,thenumbersmaynotbepreciselyright,butthebroadoutlinesrangtrue.

“Allofa sudden theygot thisbigpushof registeredvoters,”Mr.Montgomerysaid,referringtoCalifornia.“Theywereall illegals.ThesamethinginthestateofWashington,LosAngelesandHouston,too.”

HesaidthatMr.Jones,whohascalledtheSandyHookmassacreahoax,“cangeta little conspiratorial,” but added that he “raises some very logical and importantquestions.”

Mr.Montgomeryhasconcernsabout immigration.He lived foryears inSouthFlorida,where he had a painting business thatwas deeply affected by cheap laborfromHispanicimmigrants.

“They can’t say that these people are not taking jobs away from Americancitizens,”hesaid.“Theycomeupandtheylowball.Ithurtsalotofpeople.”

Another story online alleged thatMexicohad awall along its southernborder“withguardtowers,”Mr.Montgomerysaid,tokeep“alltheseothercountriesfromcoming in.” (Mr.Laughlin saw thatone, too,butpointedout that thephotographthataccompaniedthestorywasfromIsrael.)

Mr.Montgomerypushedback:“Checkitout,it’strue!”Mr. Montgomery said he was nostalgic for the news of old, when Walter

Cronkitedeliveredit.Butthereputationofthepresshasbeentarnished,hesaid,andpeoplearelefttonavigatethefracturedlandscapeontheirown.

Theonlinecontentcanbefrustrating,withheadlinesthatpromisemorethanthestorydelivers.

Henotedonewithaheadlinealongthelinesof“Thewaitisover;Hillary’sbeingindicted.”

“Butthenyouclickandthere’snothinginthereaboutherbeingindicted,”Mr.Montgomerysaid.“It’salmostlikelookingatamenuinarestaurant.Oh,thatsoundsdelicious, itsoundsgreat,andthenit’sthisteenyweenythingyoumaybegetthreebitesof.”

Fake and hyperpartisan news from the right has beenmore conspicuous thanfrom the left, but both sides indulge. BuzzFeed analyses have foundmore on theright.Somepurveyorshavesaidright-leaningitemsaremoreprofitable.

Butthelefthasitsshare.Thefact-checkingsiteSnopessaiditfoundnoevidence

for aquotation,often attributed toMr.Trumpby the left, thatRepublicanvoterswerestupid.

That typeof insult increases thepartisandivide.Paul Indre,aprojectmanagerforahardwaregoodscompanyinAkron,Ohio,whogetshisnewsfrompodcastsandtelevision,avoidsmuchofonlinenews.Butheunderstandswhypeoplegothereinapolarizedera.

Mr.Indre,amoderateRepublican,saidheremainedvigilantagainstfakenews.“IfI’minaTrumpgroupandsomeonewillsharesomethingthat’sfakenews,”he

said,“I’llaskthem‘Heydidyoucheckthat?’”But it is often impossible to tellwhether “they are just lobbing abomb,ordo

theyreallybelieveit?”hesaid.“Youhavesomefolkswhoarealittlenaïve,whodon’tfollow thenewsandbelieve it. Imean,peopledobuyTheNationalEnquirer andbelieveit.”

“But some of it might be revenge factor, getting back at something they arehearingfromtheleft,”hesaid.“Maybetheyarejustreactingtosomething.Maybewearejustinthisreactionaryperiod.”

TalyaMinsbergcontributedresearch.

Roberta’s,PopularBrooklynRestaurant,IsPulledIntoPizzagateHoax

Roberta’sintheBushwicksectionofBrooklynin2013.Therestaurantreceivedtwothreateningphonecallsinthepastweek.(DaveSandersforTheNewYorkTimes)

ByELIROSENBERGDecember7,2016

RUMORS LINKING A WELL-KNOWN Brooklyn restaurant to the so-calledPizzagatehoaxseemtohaveemergedinpostsonanonlinemessageboardlatelastmonth.

By then, discussions of the hoax, a baseless story that Hillary Clinton’spresidentialcampaignwasconnectedtoachild-abusering,hadmovedtoasitecalledVoatafterbeingshutdownonamorepopularsite,Reddit.

A Voat user wrote of finding a reference to Roberta’s — a popular pizzarestaurantintheBushwicksection—inanemailfromMrs.Clinton’sprivateserver

releasedbytheStateDepartment.Mrs.Clintonandherhusband,formerPresidentBillClinton,attendedaprivatebirthdaypartyforaprominentDemocraticdonoratRoberta’sin2012.

AdiscussionensuedastowhethertheRoberta’slogo,askeletonholdingapizzapaddle,andother,similarimagesconnectedtherestauranttotheconspiracy.AndsoRoberta’s — a local haunt, a favorite among tourists and a place to get a goodcharred-crustpie—was suddenlypulled into anationaldebateover the spreadoffalseinformationonline.

ThepolicesaidonWednesdaythatRoberta’shadbeentargetedforharassmenttwiceinthepastweeksincebeinglinkedtothehoax.

ThebogusstoryoriginallyfocusedonaWashingtonpizzeria,CometPingPong,whichhasbeen subjected toabarrageof threats andunwantedattention since theconspiracytheorybegantospreadinthedaysbeforetheelection.

One person drawn by the hoax came at the restaurant to live-stream activitythere.Others have stood outside holding signs.And thisweek, a 28-year-oldmanwasarrestedafterhedrovetoWashingtonfromNorthCarolinaandfiredanassault-stylerifleinsidetherestaurant,theauthoritiessaid.Theman,EdgarM.Welch,toldtheauthoritiesheplannedtohelprescuechildrenafterreadingthefakenewsstoryonline.

InthecaseofRoberta’s,commentersonVoatandsocialmediasitesminedtherestaurant’ssocialmediaaccountsforimagesthatsomefeltrepresentedexpressionsofSatanismor theoccult: a logo from itswinemenuof a skeletal handholding awine glass under an upside-down cross, and a T-shirt in which some discerned acrescentmoonandastar.OneVoatcommenterdescribedseeinga“littlekidwithhishandstiedtogether”embeddedintheT-shirtlogo.

“ThemoreIdigthoseemailsandnewfindings,”anotherVoatcommenterwrote,“thecleareritgets,mostofthoseso-calledelitesmadeacultoutofpizza.Disturbingindeed.”

A YouTube user incorporated some of the images into a video linking therestauranttothePizzagatehoax.

“Theimagesspeakforthemselves,”thepersonwroteinacaptionaccompanyingthevideo,whichwaspostedonDec.1.Thatday, thepolice inNewYorksaid,anunidentifiedpersoncalledRoberta’sandtoldaworkertherethatshewas“goingtobleedandbetortured.”

Thenextday,Roberta’sreceivedanotherharassingphonecall,thepolicesaid.Amancalledtocomplainabouttherestaurant’sconnectiontothePizzagatehoaxafter

readingaboutitonline,thepolicesaid.Noarrestshavebeenmadeinconnectionwiththeepisodes,whichwerereported

byDNAinfo.WorkerswhoansweredthephoneatRoberta’sonWednesdayreferredinquiriestotherestaurant’scommunicationsdepartment,whichdidnotimmediatelyrespondtorequestsforcomment.

TheYouTubevideolinkingRoberta’stothehoaxhadbeenwatchedmorethan10,000 timesbeforebeing takendownonWednesday.Theuserwhoposted itdidnotrespondtomessagesrequestingcomment.AccordingtoTheWashingtonPost,automatedbotaccountsonsocialmediahavehelpedspreadthehoax.

NoteveryonewasbuyingtheconspiracytheoryaboutRoberta’sonthemessageboards.OneVoatuser,sayingtherestaurantlookedprettygreat,wrote:“Again,notashill.Ithinkitjustgenuinelylookscool.”

FacebookMountsEffortstoLimitTideofFakeNews

ByMIKEISAACDecember15,2016

FORWEEKS,FACEBOOKHASbeenquestionedabout itsrole inspreadingfakenews. Now the company has mounted its most concerted effort to combat theproblem.

Facebook said onThursday that it had begun a series of experiments to limitmisinformation on its site. The tests include making it easier for its 1.8 billionmembers to report fakenews, andcreatingpartnershipswithoutside fact-checkingorganizations to help it indicate when articles are false. The company is alsochanging some advertisingpractices to stoppurveyors of fakenews fromprofitingfromit.

Facebook,thesocialnetwork,isinatrickypositionwiththesetests.Ithaslongregardeditselfasaneutralplacewherepeoplecanfreelypost,readandviewcontent,andithassaiditdoesnotwanttobeanarbiteroftruth.Butasitsreachandinfluencehavegrown,ithashadtoconfrontquestionsaboutitsmoralobligationsandethicalstandardsregardingwhatappearsonthenetwork.

Itsexperimentsoncurtailing fakenewsshowthatFacebookrecognizes ithasadeepening responsibility for what is on its site. But Facebook also must treadcautiously in making changes, because it is wary of exposing itself to claims ofcensorship.

“We really value giving people a voice, but we also believe we need to takeresponsibility for the spread of fake news on our platform,” saidAdamMosseri, aFacebookvicepresidentwhoisinchargeofitsnewsfeed,thecompany’smethodofdistributinginformationtoitsglobalaudience.

Hesaidthechanges—which,ifsuccessful,maybeavailabletoawideaudience—resultedfrommanymonthsofinternaldiscussionabouthowtohandlefalsenewsarticlessharedonthenetwork.

What impactFacebook’smoveswillhaveon fakenews isunclear.The issue isnotconfinedtothesocialnetwork,withavastecosystemoffalsenewscreatorswhothriveononlineadvertisingandwhocanuseothersocialmediaandsearchenginestopropagatetheirwork.Google,Twitterandmessageboardslike4chanandReddithaveallbeencriticizedforbeingpartofthatchain.

Still,Facebookhastakenthemostheatoverfakenews.Thecompanyhasbeenunder that spotlight since Nov. 8, when Donald J. Trump was elected the 45thpresident.Mr.Trump’sunexpectedvictoryalmost immediately ledpeopletofocuson whether Facebook had influenced the electorate, especially with the rise ofhyperpartisansitesonthenetworkandmanyexamplesofmisinformation,suchasafalsearticle thatclaimedPopeFrancishadendorsedMr.Trumpforpresident thatwassharednearlyamilliontimesacrossthesite.

MarkZuckerberg,Facebook’schiefexecutive,hassaidhedidnotbelievethatthesocialnetworkhadinfluencedtheelectionresult,callingit“aprettycrazyidea.”YettheintensescrutinyofthecompanyontheissuehascausedinternaldivisionsandhaspushedMr.Zuckerbergtosayhewastryingtofindwaystoreducetheproblem.

In an interview, Mr. Mosseri said Facebook did not think its news feed haddirectlycausedpeopletovoteforaparticularcandidate,giventhat“themagnitudeoffake news across Facebook is one fraction of a percent of the content across thenetwork.”

Facebook has changed the way its news feed works before. In August, thecompany announced changes to marginalize what it considered “clickbait,” thesensationalheadlines that rarely liveup to theirpromise.Thisyear,Facebookalsogave priority to content shared by friends and family, a move that shook somepublishersthatrelyonthesocialnetworkformuchoftheirtraffic.Thecompanyisalsoconstantlyfine-tuningitsalgorithmstoservewhatitsusersmostwanttosee,anefforttokeepitsaudiencereturningregularly.

Thistime,Facebookismakingiteasiertoflagcontentthatmaybefake.Userscanreportaposttheydislikeintheirfeed,butwhenFacebookasksforareason,thesitepresentsthemwitha listof limitedandvagueoptions, includingthecryptic“Idon’t think it should be on Facebook.” In Facebook’s new experiment, users willhaveachoicetoflagthepostasfakenewsandhavetheoptiontomessagethefriendwhooriginallysharedthepiecetotellhimorherthearticleisfalse.

If an article receives enough flags as fake, it can be directed to a coalition ofgroupsthatwillfact-checkit.ThegroupsincludeSnopes,PolitiFact,TheAssociatedPress,FactCheck.organdABCNews.Theywillcheckthearticleandcanmarkitasa“disputed”piece,adesignationthatwillbeseenonFacebook.

Partnerorganizationswillnotbepaid, thecompanies said.Somecharacterizedthefact-checkingasanextensionoftheirjournalisticefforts.

“Weactuallyregardthisasabigpartofourcoremission,”JamesGoldston,thepresident of ABC News, said in an interview. “If that core mission isn’t helping

peopleregardtherealfromthefakenews,Idon’tknowwhatourmissionis.”Disputed articles will ultimately appear lower in the news feed. If users still

decidetosharesuchanarticle,theywillreceiveapop-upremindingthemthattheaccuracyofthepieceisinquestion.

Facebooksaiditwascastingawidenettoaddmorepartnerstoitsfact-checkingcoalition and may move outside of the United States with the initiative if earlyexperimentsgowell.ThecompanyisalsopartoftheFirstDraftCoalition,aneffortwithother technology andmedia companies includingTwitter,Google,TheNewYorkTimesandCNN,tocombatthespreadoffakenewsonline.

Inanotherchangeinhowthenewsfeedworks,articlesthatmanyusersreadbutdonotsharewillberankedloweronpeople’sfeeds.Mr.Mosserisaidalowratioofsharinganarticleafterithasbeenreadcouldbeperceivedasanegativesignal,onethatmightreflectthatthearticlewasmisleadingorofpoorquality.

“Facebook was inevitably going to have to curate the platform much morecarefully,andthisseemslikeareasonablytransparentmethodofintervention,”saidEmily Bell, director at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at ColumbiaUniversity.

“Butthe fakecat isalreadyoutof the imaginarybag,”Ms.Belladded.“If theydidn’t try and do something about it, next time around it could have far worseconsequences.”

Facebookalsoplanstoimpedetheeconomicsofspreadingfakearticlesacrossthenetwork.Fakenewspurveyorsgenerallymakemoneywhenpeopleclickonthefalsearticlesandaredirectedtothird-partywebsites,themajorityofwhicharefilledwithdozensoflow-costads.

Facebookwill review those third-party links and check for things likewhetherthepageismostlyfilledwithadvertisingcontent—adeadgiveawayforspamsites—or to seewhethera linkmasqueradesas adifferent site, likea fakeversionofTheNewYorkTimes.Suchsiteswouldnotbeeligible todisplayFacebookadvertisingontheirpages.

Articles disputed by the fact-checking coalition will also not be eligible to beinserted intoFacebook ads, a tactic viral spammers have used to spread fakenewsquicklyandgainmoreclicksontheirwebsites.

Facebooksaidthatintheseearlyexperimentsitwoulddealwithonlyfakenewscontent; it does not plan to flag opinion posts or other content that could not beeasily classified. The changes will not affect satirical sites like TheOnion, whichoftenjabsatpoliticalsubjectsthroughtongue-in-cheekhumor.

Facebook must take something else into consideration: its profit. Any actiontaken to reducepopular content, even if it is fakenews, couldhurt the company’spriority of keeping its users engaged on the platform.People spend an average ofmore than50minutesadayonFacebook,and thecompanywants thatnumber togrow.

Executives at Facebook stressed the overriding factor right now is not justengagement.

“IthinkofFacebookasatechnologycompany,butIrecognizewehaveagreaterresponsibility than just building technology that information flows through,”Mr.Zuckerbergwrote in a post onThursday. “Wehave a responsibility tomake sureFacebookhasthegreatestpositiveimpactontheworld.”

Opinion:Facebook’sProblemIsn’tFakeNews—It’stheRestoftheInternet

ByJOHNHERRMANDecember22,2016

LASTTHURSDAY,AFTERWEEKSofcriticismoveritsroleintheproliferationoffalsehoodsandpropagandaduringthepresidentialelection,Facebookannounceditsplantocombat“hoaxes”and“fakenews.”Thecompanypromisedtotestnewtoolsthat would allow users to report misinformation, and to enlist fact-checkingorganizations including Snopes and PolitiFact to help litigate the veracity of linksreportedassuspect.Byanalyzingpatternsofreadingandsharing,thecompanysaid,itmightbeable topenalizearticles thatare sharedatespecially lowratesby thosewho read them— a signal of dissatisfaction. Finally, it said, it would try to puteconomicpressureonbadactorsinthreeways:bybanningdisputedstoriesfromitsadvertising ecosystem; by making it harder to impersonate credible sites on theplatform;and,crucially,bypenalizingwebsitesthatareloadedwithtoomanyads.

Over the past month the colloquial definition of “fake news” has expandedbeyondusefulness,implicatingeverythingfrompartisannewstosatiretoconspiracytheories before being turned, finally, back against its creators. Facebook’s fixesaddressafarmorenarrowdefinition.“We’vefocusedoureffortsontheworstoftheworst, on the clear hoaxes spread by spammers for their own gain,” wrote AdamMosseri,avicepresidentfornewsfeed,inablogpost.

Facebook’spoliticalnewsecosystemduringthe2016electionwasvastandvaried.There was, of course, content created by outside news media that was shared byusers, but therewere also reamsof content—posts, images, videos—createdonFacebook-onlypages,andstillmoremediacreatedbypoliticiansthemselves.Duringthe election, itwas apparent to almost anyonewith an account thatFacebookwasteemingwithpoliticalcontent,muchofitextremelypartisanorpitched,itssourcingsometimes obvious, other times obscured, and often simply beside the point —memesorrantsortheoriesthatspokeforthemselves.

Facebookseemstohavezeroedinononlyonecomponentofthisecosystem—outside websites — and within it, narrow types of bad actors. These firms are,generally speaking,paidbyadvertisingcompanies independentofFacebook,whichare unaware of or indifferent to their partners’ sources of audience. Accordingly,

Facebook’s anti-hoaxmeasures seek to regulate these sites by punishing them notjustforwhattheydoonFacebook,butforwhattheydooutsideofit.

“We’ve found that a lot of fake news is financiallymotivated,”Mosseriwrote.“Spammers make money by masquerading as well-known news organizations andpostinghoaxesthatgetpeopletovisittotheirsites,whichareoftenmostlyads.”Theproposed solution: “Analyzing publisher sites to detect where policy enforcementactionsmightbenecessary.”

ThestatedtargetsofFacebook’seffortsarepreciselydefined,butitsformulationoftheproblemimplicates,toalesserdegree,muchmorethanjust“theworstoftheworst.” Consider this characterization of what makes a “fake news” site a badplatformcitizen: It usesFacebook to capture receptive audiences by spreading liesandthenconverts thoseaudiences intomoneybyborrowingthemfromFacebook,luringthemtoanoutsidesitelardedwithobnoxiousads.Thesite’ssinoffabricationismadeworsebyitsprofitmotive,whichiscasthereasasortofarbitragescheme.Butanacceptablenews sitedoesmoreor less the same thing: ItusesFacebook tocapturereceptiveaudiencesbyspreadingnot-liesandthenconvertsthoseaudiencesintomoneybyluringthemtoanoutsidesitenot-quitelardedwithnot-as-obnoxiousads. In either case, Facebook users are being takenout of the safe confines of theplatformintoareasthatFacebookdoesnotandcannotcontrol.

Inthiscontext,this“fakenews”problemreadslessasadistinctnewphenomenonthan as a flaring symptomof an older,more existential anxiety that Facebook hasbeengrapplingwithforyears:itscontinued(albeitdiminishing)dependenceonthesame outside web that it, and other platforms, have begun to replace. Facebook’splan for“fakenews” isnodoubt intendedtocurbcertain typesofmisinformation.Butit’salsoacontinuationofthecompany’sbiggerandmoreconsequentialproject—tocapturetheexperiencesofthewebitwantsandfromwhichitcanprofit,buttoinsulateitselffromthepartsthatitdoesn’tandcan’t.Thismayhelpsolveaproblemwithintheecosystemofoutsidepublishers—anecosystemthat,inthedistributionmachineryofFacebook,isbecomingredundant,andperhapsevenobsolete.

As Facebook has grown, so have its ambitions. Its mantralike mission (to“connect theworld”) is rivaled among internet companies perhaps by only that ofGoogle(to“organizetheworld’sinformation”)intermsofsheerscope.Intherun-up to Facebook’s initial public offering, Mark Zuckerberg told investors that thecompanymakes decisions “not optimizing for what’s going to happen in the nextyear,buttosetusuptoreallybeinthisworldwhereeveryproductexperienceyouhaveissocial,andthat’sallpoweredbyFacebook.”

To understandwhat such ambition looks like in practice, consider Facebook’shistory.Itstartedasaninward-facingwebsite,closedofffromboththewebarounditand the general public. It was a place to connect with other people, and wherecontent was created primarily by other users: photos, wall posts, messages. Thissystemquicklygrewlargerandmorecomplex,leadingtothecreation,in2006,ofthenews feed— a single location inwhich users could find updates from all of theirFacebookfriends,inroughlyreverse-chronologicalorder.

When the news feed was announced, before the emergence of the modernFacebook sharing ecosystem, Facebook’s operating definition of “news” waspointedlyfriend-centric.“Now,wheneveryoulogin,you’llgetthelatestheadlinesgeneratedbytheactivityofyourfriendsandsocialgroups,”theannouncementaboutthenewsfeedsaid.Thiswouldsoonchange.

In the ensuing years, as more people spent more time on Facebook, andfollowing the additionof “Like” and “Share” functionswithinFacebook, thenewsfeed grew into a personalized portal not just for personal updates but also for thecornucopiaofmediathatexistedelsewhereonline:linkstovideos,blogposts,gamesand more or less anything else published on an external website, including newsarticles.ThispotentmixtureacceleratedFacebook’schangefromaplaceforkeepingupwith familyand friends toaplace forkeepingup, additionally,with theweb ingeneral, as curated by your friends and family. Facebook’s purview continued towidenasitsuserbasegrewandthenacquiredtheirfirstsmartphones;itsappbecameanessential lensthroughwhichhundredsofmillionsofpeople interactedwithoneanother,withtherestoftheweband,increasingly,withtheworldatlarge.

Facebook,inotherwords,hadbecomeaninterfaceforthewholewebratherthanjust one more citizen of it. By sorting and mediating the internet, Facebookinevitably began to change it. In the previous decade, the popularity of Googleinfluenced how websites worked, in noticeable ways: Titles and headlines werewritten in search-friendly formats;pagesor articleswouldbepublishednot just tocoverthenewsbut,morespecifically,toaddressGooglesearchers’queriesaboutthenews,thecanonicalexamplebeingTheHuffingtonPost’sfamous“WhatTimeDoesThe Super Bowl Start?” Publishers built entire businessmodels around attractingsearch traffic, and search-engine optimization, S.E.O., became an industry untoitself.Facebook’s influenceontheweb—and inparticular,onnewspublishers—was similarly profound. Publishers began taking into consideration how theirheadlines, and stories,might travelwithinFacebook. Some embraced the site as aprimarysourceofvisitors;somepursuedthisstrategyintoabsurdityandexploitation.

Facebook,foritspart,paidcloseattentiontothesortsofexternalcontentpeopleweresharingonitsplatformandtothetechniquesusedbywebsitestogetanedge.Itadapted continually. It provided greater video functionality, reducing the need tolinktooutsidevideosorembedthemfromYouTube.Aspeoplebeganpostingmorenews, it created previews for links, with larger images and headlines and longersummaries; eventually, it created Instant Articles, allowing certain publishers(includingTheTimes)topublishstoriesnativelyinFacebook.Atthesametime,itroutinely sought to penalize sites it judged to be using the platform in bad faith,takingaimat“clickbait,”anoldercousinof“fakenews,”withaseriesofdesignandalgorithmupdates.AsFacebook’s influenceoveronlinemediabecameunavoidablyobvious, its broad approach to users and the web became clearer: If the networkbecame a popular venue for a certain sort of content or behavior, the companygenerally and reasonably tried tomake that behavior easier or that contentmoreaccessible.Thistendedtomean,however,bringingitin-house.

ToFacebook,theproblemwith“fakenews”isnotjusttheobviousdamagetothediscourse,butalsowiththeharmitinflictsupontheplatform.Peoplesharinghoaxstorieswere,presumably,happyenoughwiththeywereseeing.Butthepeoplewhowould then encounter those stories in their feedswere subjected to a less positiveexperience.Theywere sent outside the platform to awebsitewhere they realizedtheywerebeingdeceived,orwheretheywereexposedtoadsorsomethingthatfeltlikespam,orwheretheywerepersuadedtosharesomethingthatmightlatermakethemlooklikearube.Theseusersmightrightlyassociatetheseexperiencesnotjustwith their friendson theplatform,orwith thesitespeddling thebogus storiesbutalsowith the platform itself.This created, finally, an obvious issue for a companybuilt on attention, advertising and the promotion of outside brands. From theplatform’sperspective,“fakenews”isessentiallyauser-experienceproblemresultingfromalingeringdesignissue—akintoslow-loadingnewswebsitesthatfeatureauto-playingvideosandobtrusiveads.

Increasingly,legitimacywithinFacebook’secosystemisconferredaccordingtoaparticipant’srelationshiptotheplatform’sdesign.Averifiedusertellingalie,beitafriendfromhighschoolorthepresidentelect, isn’tbreakingtherules;heis,ashischeckmark suggests, who he represents himself to be. A post making false claimsaboutaproductisFacebook’sproblemonlyifthatpostislabeledanad.Auservideopromotingaconspiracytheorybecomesaproblemonlywhenitleadstotheviolationofcommunityguidelinesagainst,forexample,userharassment.Facebookcontainsalotmorethanjustnews,includingagreatdealofcontentthatisnewslike,partisan,

widely shared and oftenmisleading. Content that has been, and will be, immunefrom current “fake news” critiques and crackdowns, because it never had theopportunity todeclare itselfnews in the firstplace.Topublish liesas“news” is tobreakapromise;topublishliesas“content”isnot.

That the“fakenews”problemand itsproposedsolutionshavebeendefinedbyFacebookaslinkissues—asawebissue—alignsnicelywithalonger-termfutureinwhichFacebook’sinterfacewiththewebisdiminished.Indeed,itheraldsthecomingmoment when posts from outside are suspect by default: out of place, inefficient,littlebetterthanspam.

JohnHerrmanisaDavidCarrfellowatTheNewYorkTimes.

WieldingClaimsof‘FakeNews,’ConservativesTakeAimatMainstreamMedia

ByJEREMYW.PETERSDecember25,2016

WASHINGTON—THEC.I.A.,theF.B.I.andtheWhiteHousemayallagreethatRussiawasbehindthehackingthatinterferedwiththeelection.Butthatwasofnoimport to thewebsiteBreitbartNews,whichdismissed reports on the intelligenceassessmentas“left-wingfakenews.”

RushLimbaughhasdiagnosedamorefundamentalproblem.“Thefakenewsisthe everyday news” in themainstreammedia, he said on his radio show recently.“Theyjustmakeitup.”

SomesupportersofPresident-electDonaldJ.Trumphavealsotakenupthecall.AsreporterswerewalkingoutofaTrumprallythismonthinOrlando,Fla.,amanheckledthemwithshoutsof“Fakenews!”

Until now, that term had been widely understood to refer to fabricated newsaccounts that aremeant to spread virally online. But conservative cable and radiopersonalities, top Republicans and even Mr. Trump himself, incredulous aboutsuggestionsthatfakestoriesmayhavehelpedswingtheelection,haveappropriatedthetermandturneditagainstanynewstheyseeashostiletotheiragenda.

In defining “fakenews” so broadly and seeking to dilute itsmeaning, they arecapitalizingonthedecliningcredibilityofallpurveyorsofinformation,oneproductof the country’s increasing political polarization. And conservatives, seeing anopeningtounderminethemainstreammedia,alongtimefoe,aremorethanhappytodigtheholedeeper.

“Over the years, we’ve effectively brainwashed the core of our audience todistrust anything that they disagree with. And now it’s gone too far,” said JohnZiegler,aconservativeradiohost,whohasbeencriticalofwhatheseesasexcessivepartisanship by pundits. “Because the gatekeepers have lost all credibility in themindsofconsumers,Idon’tseehowyoureverseit.”

Journalistswhoworktoseparatefactfromfictionseeadangerousconflationofstoriesthatturnouttobewrongbecauseofalegitimatemisunderstandingwiththosewhoseclear intention is todeceive.A report, sharedmore thanamillion timesonsocialmedia,thatthepopehadendorsedMr.Trumpwasundeniablyfalse.Butwasit

“fake news” to report on data models that showed Hillary Clinton withoverwhelming odds of winning the presidency? Are opinion articles fake if theycherry-pickfactstodrawdisputableconclusions?

“Fakenewswasatermspecificallyaboutpeoplewhopurposelyfabricatedstoriesfor clicks and revenue,” said DavidMikkelson, the founder of Snopes, the myth-busting website. “Now it includes bad reporting, slanted journalism and outrightpropaganda.AndIthinkwe’redoingadisservicetolumpallthosethingstogether.”

Theright’s labelingof“fakenews”evokesoneofthemostsuccessfuleffortsbyconservatives to reorient how Americans think about news media objectivity: themovebyFoxNewstobranditsconservative-slantedcoverageas“fairandbalanced.”Traditionally,mainstreammediaoutletshadthoughtoftheirownapproachinthoseterms,viewingtheircoverageasstrictlydownthemiddle.Republicansoftenfoundthatlaughable.

AswithFox’subiquitouspromotionofitsslogan,conservatives’appropriationofthe“fakenews”labelisanefforttofurthererodethemainstreammedia’sclaimtobeareliableandaccuratesource.

“What I think is so unsettling about the fake news cries now is that theiraudiencehasalreadysortofboughtintothisideathatjournalismhasnocredibilityorlegitimacy,”saidAngeloCarusone, thepresidentofMediaMatters,a liberalgroupthatpolices thenewsmedia forbias.“Therefore,byapplyingthat termtocredibleoutlets,itbecomesmuchmorebelievable.”

Conservative news media are now awash in the “fake news” condemnations.When coverage of Mr. Trump’s choice for labor secretary, Andrew F. Puzder,highlighted his opposition to minimum wage increases, the writer and radio hostErick Erickson wrote that Mr. Puzder should have been getting more credit forpointingoutthatsuchincreasesleadtohigherunemployment.“Tosayotherwiseistopushfakenews,”hewrote.(Theeffectsactuallyhavebeenfoundtovaryfromcitytocity.)

Infowars,thewebsiterunbytheconservativeprovocateurandconspiracytheoristAlex Jones, labeled as “fakenews” aCNNreport that IvankaTrumpwouldmoveintotheofficeintheWhiteHousenormallyreservedforthefirstlady.

Mr. Trump has used the term to deny news reports, as he did on Twitterrecentlyaftervariousoutletssaidhewouldstayonastheexecutiveproducerof“TheNewCelebrityApprentice”after takingoffice in January.“Ridiculous&untrue—FAKENEWS!”hewrote.(Hewillbecreditedasexecutiveproducer,aspokesmanfortheshow’screator,MarkBurnett,hassaid.Butitisunclearwhatwork,ifany,he

willdoontheshow.)Manyconservativesarepushingbackattheoutrageoverfakenewsbecausethey

believe that liberals, unwilling to accept Mr. Trump’s victory, are attributing histriumphtonefariousexternalfactors.

“Theleftrefusestoadmitthatthefundamentalproblemisn’ttheRussiansorJimComeyor‘fakenews’ortheElectoralCollege,”saidLauraIngraham,theauthorandradiohost.“‘Fakenews’isjustanotherfakeexcusefortheirfailedagenda.”

Others see a larger effort to slander the basic journalistic function of fact-checking. Nonpartisan websites like Snopes and Factcheck.org have foundthemselvesmalignedwhen they have disproved stories that had been flattering toconservatives.

WhenSnopeswroteaboutaStateFarminsuranceagent inLouisianawhohadposted a sign outside his office that likened taxpayers who voted for PresidentObamatochickenssupportingColonelSanders,Mr.Mikkelson,thesite’sfounder,was smeared as a partisanDemocrat who had never bothered to reach out to theagentforcomment.Neitheristrue.

“They’re trying to float anything they can find out there to discredit fact-checking,”hesaid.

Therearealreadyeffortsbyhighlypartisanconservativestoclaimthattheirfact-checking efforts are the same as those of independent outlets like Snopes, whichemployresearchteamstodigintoseeminglydubiousclaims.

Sean Hannity, the Fox News host, has aired “fact-checking” segments on hisprogram. Michelle Malkin, the conservative columnist, has a web program,“Michelle Malkin Investigates,” in which she conducts her own investigativereporting.

The market in these divided times is undeniably ripe. “We now live in thisfragmentedmedia world where you can block people you disagree with. You canonlybeexposedtostoriesthatmakeyoufeelgoodaboutwhatyouwanttobelieve,”Mr.Ziegler,theradiohost,said.“Unfortunately,thetruthisunpopularalot.Andagoodfairytalebeatsaharshtrutheverytime.”

ForFact-CheckingWebsiteSnopes,aBiggerRoleBringsMoreAttacks

BrookeBinkowski,themanagingeditorofSnopes,initsofficeinSanDiego.Theideathatthewebsite’sworkwouldslowdownafterthepresidentialelectionhasprovedunfounded.(JohnFrancisPetersforTheNewYorkTimes)

ByDAVIDSTREITFELDecember25,2016

SANDIEGO—THElastlineofdefenseagainstthetorrentofhalf-truths,untruthsandoutrightfakerythatmakeupsomuchofthemoderninternetisinadownscalestripmallnearthebeach.

Snopes, the fact-checkingwebsite,doesnothaveanofficedesignedto impress,

orevenbenoticed.Abigsignoutsidestillbearsthenameoftheprevioustenant,amaker of underwater headphones. Inside there’s nothing much — a bunch ofimproviseddesks,atabletennistable,cartonsofPopchipsandcasesofDrPepper.Itlookslikeadot-comonthewaytonowhere.

Appearances deceive. This is where the muddled masses come by the virtualmillions toestablish justwhat theheck is reallygoingon inaworld turnedupsidedown.

DidDonald J.Trump say onTwitter that he planned to arrest the “SaturdayNight Live” star Alec Baldwin for sedition?HasHillary Clinton quietly filed fordivorce? Was Mr. Trump giving KanyeWest a cabinet position? And was AlanThicke,thestarof“GrowingPains,”reallydead?

Alluntrue,exceptforthedemiseofMr.Thicke,whichwaseasilyverifiable.“Rationalityseemstohavefallenoutofvogue,”saidBrookeBinkowski,Snopes’s

managingeditor.“Peopledon’tknowwhattobelieveanymore.Everythingisreallystrangerightnow.”

That is certainly true at Snopes itself. For 20 years, the site was dedicated tourban legends, like thepurportedexistenceof alligators inNewYorkCity sewers,andotherbenignmisinformation.Butitsrangeandreadershipincreasedsignificantlyduring a prolonged presidential election campaign in which the facts became apartisanissueandrealityitselfseemedupforgrabs.

OnewaytochartSnopes’sincreasingprominenceisbymeasuringtheriseinfakenewsaboutthesite itself.Ifyoubelievetheinternet,thefounderofSnopes,DavidMikkelson,hasa longerrapsheet thanAlCapone.Hewassupposedlyarrestedforcommittingfraudandcorruptionandrunningapitbullring.Inthewakeofadealthat Snopes and othersmade thismonth to start fact-checking forFacebook, newslursandallegationspouredforth.

Theunderlyingmessageofthesespuriousattacksisthatthemovementtofact-checktheinternetisaleft-wingconspiracywhoserealgoalistocensortheright,andthereforemustberesistedatallcosts.

“Smearingpeoplejustbecauseyoudon’tlikewhatthey’resayingoftenworkstoshut themup,”Ms.Binkowski, 39, said. “But atSnopes you learn togrowa thickskin.Iwillalwayspushback.Atleastuntilsomeoneshowsupatmyworkplaceandkillsme.”

Mr.Mikkelson,aformercomputerprogrammer,methisfirstwife,Barbara,inafolklorediscussiongroupontheinternet.TheycalledtheirwebsiteSnopesintributetothevenalfamilyinWilliamFaulkner’snovels.

Their first group of posts, back in 1995, tackled questions about Disneyland,suchaswhethertherereallywasasecretrestaurantatthepark.(Therewas.)Itwasatimewhenthenascentwebwasseenasaforcethatwoulddeliverenlightenmentandtruthtoall.

Startingabout twoyearsago,Snopesmadeaneffort toprofessionalize itself. Itaddedadozenstaffmembersjustintimetobecomethego-todebunkingsiteforanelectionfullofvenom.Thenumberofuniqueusers jumped42percentover2015,peakingatnearly2.5millionthedayaftertheelection.

JustabouteveryoneatSnopes thought thingswouldcalmdownafter thevoteswerein.“Thefakenewswasn’tfromTrumpsomuch.ItwasfrompeoplewhohatedHillary Clinton,” Ms. Binkowski said. “Once the election was over we figured itwouldgoaway.”

Shescheduledavacation,andthoughtshewouldspendmoretimewritingaboutsuchthingsashownoonehasawaterbedanymore.Mr.Mikkelson,56,wentonalengthyhoneymooninJapanandChina.

But the role of fake news and misinformation in Mr. Trump’s surprise winquickly reached a fever pitch, prompting questions about the extent to whichFacebook, where many of these bogus stories were shared, had influenced theelection.Reluctantly,thesocialmediagiantwasforcedtoact.

The plan is for Facebook to send questionable links to a coalition of fact-checkingsites,includingSnopes.Ifthelinksarefoundtobedubious,Facebookwillalertusersbymarkingstorieswitha“disputed”designation.

Mr. Mikkelson, speaking fromWashington State, declined to claim this newinitiativewasapotentialturningpointinthequestfortruthontheinternet,oreveninthehistoryofSnopes.

“I said, ‘O.K., we’ll give it a try,’” he said. “It doesn’t really involve us doinganything we wouldn’t already be doing.” As for Facebook, he thinks it had to dosomethingbuthadfewgoodoptions.Blockingcontentoutright,forinstance,wouldbeapublicrelationsminefield.

Evenwhenhe is in thiscountry,Mr.Mikkelson isabitelusive.Hisvoicemailboxisfull,butheisinnohurrytoclearitout.InthewakeofacontentiousdivorcefromBarbara,henowownshalfofSnopes.TheotherhalfisownedbytheprincipalsofProperMedia,adigitalmediafirm.

All of Snopes’s revenue—Mr.Mikkelson says he doesn’t knowwhat it is—comefromads.Facebookisnotpayingforitsservices.NoristhebillionaireGeorgeSorosfundingthesite,althoughthatissometimesassertedinanti-Snopesstories.

Mr.Mikkelson seemsmore amused than outraged by the spectacle that is theinternet,evenwhenittakesaimathim.

“Wedon’thaveanyinflatedsenseofself-importanceatSnopes,”hesaid.“Peopleare always telling us, ‘You’re deviating from your mission.’ My response is: ‘Wedon’thaveamission.Wejustdowhatwedo.’”Butheconcededthatsomethinghadgonewrongwiththeearlyutopiandreamsfortheinternet.

“Making everyone equal as an information source doesn’t work very well inpractice,”hesaid.Thenhelaughed,somethinghedoesfrequently.

Ms.Binkowski,aformerradioreporterwhostillfreelancesaboutborderissues,thinksthereisamission.

“NottobeideologicalorPollyannaish,butyouhavetobelievethisworkmakesadifference,” she said. “Otherwise you’d just go back to bed and drink.” Althoughthere are other benefits toworking at Snopes: “I really like telling people they’rewrong.”

The Snopes writers generally take a long-term perspective on fake news.Thepractice itself they see as ancient. The difference now is that the stories circulatefasterandpeoplecanmakemoneyspreadingthem,whichgivesitspurveyorsawholenewmotivation.

Thereisalsoaculturalshift,saidKimLaCapria,wholivesonLongIslandandwritesmanyoftheSnopespoliticalposts.

“Itusedtobethatifyougottoofarfromthemainstream,youwereshunnedforbeing a littlenutty,” she said. “Now there is somuchnuttygoing around that it’ssociallyacceptabletoembracewildaccusations.Nooneisembarrassedbyanythinganymore.”

Theremedy,sheandMs.Binkowskifeel,ismoretraditionaljournalism.“People aren’t necessarily getting themedia literacy they need, so they’re just

kindofpanicking,”Ms.LaCapriasaid.Mr.Thicke’sdeathunderlinedthis.Inadditiontothoseaskingdirectquestions,

thousandsofuserssearchedSnopesforconfirmationoftheactor’sdemise.“People think the death of a 69-year-old from a heart attackmust be a hoax.

Thatishowmuddythewatersarenow,”Ms.LaCapriasaid.“Theyareafraid,evenwithsuchaneasilyverifiablething,totrustanyone.”

Buttherearealsothosewhotrusttoomuch,andtheyareamuchlargergroup.ThebiosattheendofpostsonSnopesareoftenwhimsical,soMs.LaCapriawrotethat she got her job “due to an executive order unilaterally passed by PresidentObamaduringasecret,late-nightsession.”

A joke—butherownmother took it at facevalue. “You’veknownme for36years.Of course it’s not true!”Ms.LaCapria toldher. “It’s very easy for us to betricked,allofus.”

Opinion:TheAgeofFakePolicy

ByPAULKRUGMANJanuary6,2017

ONTHURSDAY,ATAroughestimate,75,000Americanswerelaidofforfiredbytheiremployers.Someofthoseworkerswillfindgoodnewjobs,butmanywillendupearningless,andsomewillremainunemployedformonthsoryears.

Ifthatsoundsterribletoyou,andyou’reaskingwhateconomiccatastrophejusthappened,theansweris,none.Infact,I’mjustassumingthatThursdaywasanormaldayinthejobmarket.

TheU.S. economy is, after all, huge, employing 145million people. It’s alsoever-changing:Industriesandcompaniesriseandfall,andtherearealwayslosersaswellaswinners.Theresultisconstant“churn,”withmanyjobsdisappearingevenasstill more new jobs are created. In an average month, there are 1.5 million“involuntary”jobseparations(asopposedtovoluntaryquits),or75,000perworkingday.Hencemynumber.

But why am I telling you this? To highlight the difference between realeconomic policy and the fake policy that has lately been taking up far too muchattentioninthenewsmedia.

Realpolicy,inanationasbigandrichasAmerica,involveslargesumsofmoneyandaffectsbroadswathsoftheeconomy.RepealingtheAffordableCareAct,whichwould snatchawayhundredsofbillions in insurance subsidies to low-andmiddle-incomefamiliesandcausearound30millionpeopletolosecoverage,wouldcertainlyqualify.

Consider,bycontrast,thestorythatdominatedseveralnewscyclesafewweeksago: Donald Trump’s intervention to stop Carrier from moving jobs to Mexico.Somereportssaythat800U.S.jobsweresaved;otherssuggestthatthecompanywillsimplyreplaceworkerswithmachines.Butevenacceptingthemostpositivespin,foreveryworkerwhose jobwas saved in thatdeal, aroundahundredothers lost theirjobsthesameday.

In other words, it may have sounded as if Mr. Trump was doing somethingsubstantive by intervening with Carrier, but he wasn’t. This was fake policy— ashowintendedtoimpresstherubes,nottoachieverealresults.

ThesamegoesforthehypingofFord’sdecisiontoadd700jobsinMichigan—

orforthatmatter,Mr.Trump’sfact-challengeddenunciationofGeneralMotorsformanufacturing the Chevy Cruze in Mexico (that factory mainly serves foreignmarkets,nottheU.S.).

DidtheincomingadministrationhaveanythingtodowithFord’sdecision?Canpolitical pressure change G.M.’s strategy? It hardly matters: Case-by-caseinterventionfromthetopisnevergoingtohaveasignificantimpactona$19trillioneconomy.

Sowhyaresuchstoriesoccupyingsomuchofthemedia’sattention?Theincomingadministration’sincentivetoengageinfakepolicyisobvious:It’s

the natural counterpart to fake populism.Mr.Trumpwon overwhelming supportfromwhiteworking-classvoters,whobelievedthathewasontheirside.Yethisrealpolicy agenda, aside from the looming trade war, is standard-issue modernRepublicanism: huge tax cuts for billionaires and savage cuts to public programs,includingthoseessentialtomanyTrumpvoters.

SowhatcanMr.Trumpdotokeepthescamgoing?Theansweris,showybuttrivialinterventionsthatcanbespunassavingafewjobshereorthere.Substantively,thiswillneveramounttomorethanaroundingerrorinagiantnation.ButitmaywellworkasaP.R.strategy,atleastforawhile.

Bear inmind that corporationshaveevery incentive togoalongwith the spin.Supposethatyou’reaC.E.O.whowantstocurryfavorwiththenewadministration.One thing you can do, of course, is steer business to Trump hotels and otherbusinesses.ButanotherthingyoucandoishelpgenerateTrump-friendlyheadlines.

Keepinga fewhundred jobs inAmerica for a coupleof years is apretty cheapformofcampaigncontribution;pretendingthattheadministrationpersuadedyoutoaddsomejobsyouactuallywouldhaveaddedanywayisevencheaper.

Still,noneofthiswouldworkwithoutthecomplicityofthenewsmedia.AndI’mnottalkingabout“fakenews,”asbigaproblemasthatisbecoming;I’mtalkingaboutrespectable,mainstreamnewscoverage.

Sorry, folks, butheadlines that repeatTrumpclaims about jobs saved,withoutconveyingtheessentialfakenessofthoseclaims,areabetrayalofjournalism.Thisistrueevenif,asoftenhappens,thearticleseventually,quiteafewparagraphsin,getaround to debunking the hype:many if notmost readerswill take theheadline asvalidationoftheclaim.

Andit’sevenworseifheadlinesinspiredbyfakepolicycrowdoutcoverageofrealpolicy.

Itis,Isuppose,possiblethatfakepolicywilleventuallyproduceamediabacklash

—thatnewsorganizationswillbegintreatingstuntsliketheCarrierepisodewiththeridiculetheydeserve.Butnothingwe’veseensofarinspiresoptimism.

TheUpshot:TheRealStoryAboutFakeNewsIsPartisanship

ByAMANDATAUBJanuary11,2017

INHISFAREWELLADDRESS as presidentTuesday,BarackObamawarnedofthedangersofuncontrolledpartisanship.Americandemocracy,hesaid,isweakened“whenwe allowourpolitical dialogue tobecome so corrosive that peopleof goodcharacter are turnedoff frompublic service, so coarsewith rancor thatAmericanswithwhomwedisagreearenotjustmisguided,butsomehowmalevolent.”

That seemsawell-foundedworry.Partisanbiasnowoperatesmore like racismthanmerepoliticaldisagreement,academicresearchonthesubjectshows.AndthiswidespreadprejudicecouldhaveseriousconsequencesforAmericandemocracy.

The partisan divide is easy to detect if you knowwhere to look.Consider thethinlydisguisedsneerinmostarticlesandeditorialsaboutso-calledfakenews.Theveryphrase implies that thepeoplewho readand spread thekindof falsepoliticalstoriesthatswirledonlineduringtheelectioncampaignmusteitherbetoodumbtorealizethey’rebeingdupedortoodishonesttocarethatthey’respreadinglies.

Butthefake-newsphenomenonisnottheresultofpersonalfailings.Anditisnotlimitedtooneendofthepoliticalspectrum.Rather,Americans’deepbiasagainstthepolitical party they oppose is so strong that it acts as a kind of partisan prism forfacts,refractingadifferentrealitytoRepublicansthantoDemocrats.

Partisanrefractionhasfueledtheriseoffakenews,accordingtoresearcherswhostudy the phenomenon. But the repercussions go far beyond stories shared onFacebook and Reddit, affecting Americans’ faith in government — and thegovernment’sabilitytofunction.

In 2009, Sean Westwood, then a Stanford Ph.D. student, discovered thatpartisanshipwasoneofthemostpowerfulforcesinAmericanlife.Hegotannoyedwithpersistentsquabblesamonghisfriends,andhenoticedthattheyseemedtobebreakingalongpartisan lines, evenwhen theyconcerned issues thatostensiblyhadnothingtodowithpolitics.

“Ididn’texpectpoliticalconflicttospilloverfrompoliticalaspectsofourlivestononpoliticalaspectsofourlives,andIsawthathappeninginmysocialgroup,”saidMr.Westwood,nowaprofessoratDartmouth.

HewonderedifthiswasasignthattheroleofpartisanshipinAmericanlifewaschanging.Previously,partisanconflictmostlyappliedtopoliticalissuesliketaxesorabortion.Nowitseemed,amonghisacquaintancesatleast,tobeoperatingmorelikeracismorsexism,fuelingnegativeorpositivejudgmentsonpeoplethemselves,basedonnothingmorethantheirpartyidentification.

Curious,Mr.WestwoodlookedattheNationalElectionStudy,along-runningsurveythattracksAmericans’politicalopinionsandbehavior.Hefoundthatuntilafewdecadesago,people’sfeelingsabouttheirpartyandtheopposingpartywerenottoo different. But starting in the 1980s, Americans began to report increasinglynegativeopinionsoftheiropposingparty.

Sincethen,thatpolarizationhasgrownevenstronger.Thereasonsforthatareunclear.“Isuspectthatpartofithastodowiththeriseofconstant24-hournews,”Mr.Westwood said, “and also the shift that we’ve unfortunately gone through inwhichelectionsaremoreorlessnowapermanentstateofaffairs.”

Tofindoutmoreabout theconsequencesof thatpolarization,Mr.Westwood,along with Shanto Iyengar, a Stanford professor who studies politicalcommunication,embarkedonaseriesofexperiments.Theyfoundsomethingquiteshocking: Not only did party identity turn out to affect people’s behavior anddecisionmakingbroadly, evenon apolitical subjects, but according to theirdata italsohadmoreinfluenceonthewayAmericansbehavedthanracedid.

Thatisaseachangeintheroleofpartisanshipinpubliclife,Mr.Westwoodsaid.“Partisanship,foralongperiodoftime,wasn’tviewedaspartofwhoweare,”he

said.“Itwasn’tcoretoouridentity.Itwasjustanancillarytrait.Butinthemoderneraweviewpartyidentityassomethingakintogender,ethnicityorrace—thecoretraitsthatweusetodescribeourselvestoothers.”

That has made the personal political. “Politics has become so important thatpeople select relationships on that basis,” Mr. Iyengar said. For instance, it hasbecome quite rare for Democrats to marry Republicans, according to the sameWestwood/Iyengarpaper,whichcitedafindingina2009surveyofmarriedcouplesthatonly9percentconsistedofDemocrat-Republicanpairs.Andithasbecomemorerareforchildrentohaveadifferentpartyaffiliationfromtheirparents.

Butithasalsomadethepoliticalpersonal.Today,politicalpartiesarenolongerjust thepeoplewhoaresupposedtogovernthewayyouwant.Theyarea teamtosupport,anda tribe to feelapartof.And thepublic’sviewofpolitics isbecomingmore andmore zero-sum: It’s about helping their teamwin, andmaking sure theotherteamloses.

Partisantribalismmakespeoplemoreinclinedtoseekoutandbelievestoriesthatjustifytheirpre-existingpartisanbiases,whetherornottheyaretrue.

“IfI’marabidTrumpvoterandIdon’tknowmuchaboutpublicaffairs,andIseesomething about some scandal aboutHillary Clinton’s aides being involved in anassassination attempt, or that story about the pope endorsingTrump, then I’d beinclined to believe it,”Mr. Iyengar said. “This is reinforcingmy beliefs about thevalueofaTrumpcandidacy.”

AndClintonvoters,hesaid,wouldbesimilarlydrawntostoriesthatderideMr.Trumpasademagogueorasexualpredator.

Sharingthosestoriesonsocialmedia isawaytoshowpublicsupport forone’spartisan team—roughly the equivalentof painting your facewith teamcolors ongameday.

“Youwant to show that you’re a goodmemberof your tribe,”Mr.Westwoodsaid.“YouwanttoshowothersthatRepublicansarebadorDemocratsarebad,andyourtribeisgood.Socialmediaprovidesauniqueopportunitytopubliclydeclaretotheworldwhatyourbeliefsareandhowwillingyouaretodenigratetheoppositionandreinforceyourownpoliticalcandidates.”

Partisanbias fuels fakenewsbecausepeopleofallpartisanstripesaregenerallyquite bad at figuring outwhat news stories to believe. Instead, they use trust as ashortcut.Ratherthanevaluateastorydirectly,peoplelooktoseeifsomeonecrediblebelievesit,andrelyonthatperson’sjudgmenttofillinthegapsintheirknowledge.

“There are many, many decades of research on communication on theimportanceofsourcecredibility,”saidJohnSides,aprofessoratGeorgeWashingtonUniversitywhostudiespoliticalcommunication.

Partisanbias strongly influenceswhompeopleperceive as trustworthy.OneoftheexperimentsthatMr.WestwoodandMr.Iyengarconducteddemonstratedthatpeople aremuchmore likely to trustmembers of their party. In that experiment,theygavestudyparticipants$10andaskedhowmuchtheywantedtogivetoanotherplayer.Whatever that second player received would bemultiplied, and he or shewouldthenhaveachancetoreturnsomeofthecashtotheoriginalplayer.

Howmuch confidencewould the participant have that the other playerwouldgivesomeofthemoneyback?Theyfoundthatparticipantsgavemoremoneyiftheyweretoldtheotherplayersupportedthesamepoliticalpartyastheydid.

Partisanship’s influence on trust means that when there is a partisan divideamong experts, Mr. Sides said, “you get people believing wildly different sets offacts.”

Thefakenewsthatflourishedduringtheelectionisanoticeablemanifestationofthat dynamic, but it’s not what experts likeMr. Iyengar andMr.Westwood findmostworrying.Tothem,thebiggerconcernisthatthenaturalconsequenceofthisgrowingnationaldividewillbeafeedbackloopinwhichthepublic’sbiasencouragesextremism among politicians, undermining public faith in government institutionsandtheirabilitytofunction.

Politicians“haveanincentivetoattack,togoaftertheiropponents,torevealtotheirownsidethattheyaregoodmembersofthetribe,thattheyaresayingalltherightthings,”Mr.Iyengarsaid.“ThisisanincentiveforRepublicansandDemocratsinCongresstobehaveinahyperpartisanmannerinordertoexcitetheirbase.”

That feeds partisan bias among the public by reinforcing the idea that theoppositionismadeupofbadordangerouspeople,whichthencreatesmoredemandforpoliticalextremism.

The result is an environment inwhich compromise and collaborationwith theopposingpartyareseenassignsofweakness,andofbeingabadmemberofthetribe.

“It’s a vicious cycle,” Mr. Iyengar said. “All of this is going to make policy-makingandfact-findingmoreproblematic.”

He already sees it affecting politicians’ partisan response to Russia’s electioninterference,forinstance:“TheRepublicansaregoingtoresistthenotionthattherewasaninterventionbytheRussiansthatmayhavebenefitedTrump,becauseitisaninconvenientact.WhereastheDemocratsareobviouslymotivatedtoseizeuponthatasaplausibleaccountofwhatoccurred.”

Mr.Westwoodagreed.WhenRussiaintervenedintheAmericanelection,“foralotof voters itwas tohelpdefeatHillaryClinton, so it’snot surprising thatmanyRepublicansseethatasrighteous.”

“Tobecliché,theenemyofmyenemyismyfriend,”hesaid.Already, partisan bias is undermining confidence in the last election. “We saw

somesymptomsofthatinthislastcampaign,”Mr.Iyengarsaid.“Youbegintohavedoubtsaboutthelegitimacyoftheelection.Andyoubegintoviewtheoutcomeassomehowcontaminatedortainted.AndyouhadallofTrump’scommentsabouthowhe would not concede if the election went to Clinton, and then you had all thepeopledemonstrating.”

Now, “you have quite a few people who are willing to call into question aninstitutionforcenturiesthathasbeensacrosanct,”Mr.Iyengarsaid.

Mr. Westwood was even more pessimistic. “The consequences of that areinsane,” he said, “and potentially devastating to the norms of democratic

governance.”“I don’t think things are going to get better in the short term; I don’t think

they’regoingtogetbetterinthelongterm.Ithinkthisisthenewnormal.”

Opinion:‘Kompromat’andtheDangerofDoubtandConfusioninaDemocracy

ByAMANDATAUBJanuary15,2017

WASHINGTON—SINCETHEemergenceofanunverifieddossierwithsalaciousclaims about President-elect Donald J. Trump, Americans have debated theramificationsofthearrivalof“kompromat”asafeatureofAmericanpolitics.

But those debates— for example, over the ethics of publishing the dossier—haveoftenframedthispracticeaslittlemorethanapoliticalformofblackmail,andoneparticulartoRussia.

Infact,kompromatismorethananindividualpieceofdamaginginformation:Itis a broader attempt to manufacture public cynicism and confusion in ways thattargetnotjustoneindividualbutanentiresociety.

And although this practice tends to be associated with Russia — the wordkompromat is a portmanteau of the Russian words for “compromising” and“information” — it is a common feature of authoritarian and semiauthoritariannationsaroundtheworld.

Specific leaks may take aim at powerful individuals, but in the longer term,kompromat serves the interests of the powerful,which iswhy it is often a tool ofautocrats.Byerodingtheveryideaofasharedreality,andbyspreadingapathyandconfusion among a public that learns to distrust leaders and institutions alike,kompromatunderminesasociety’sabilitytoholdthepowerfultoaccountandensuretheproperfunctioningofgovernment.

When Katy E. Pearce, a professor of communications at the University ofWashington in Seattle, began studying access to technology in Azerbaijan, sheexpected to focus her research on how it could be a positive tool for promotingpoliticalfreedom.Butshechangedhertackafterencounteringwidespreadfearofthewaysthatthegovernmentcouldusetechnologyasatoolofrepression.

“When Iwas interviewing people, it kept on coming up and coming up,” shesaid.Kompromat is “a very cheap and easyway for the regime to demonstrate itspower,andtoharasspeopleinaveryvisibleway,”sheadded.

That was a danger and a deterrent for the young activists she spoke to. Butindividual targets of kompromat are not its only victims, Professor Pearce said. It

alsoharmssocietybydiminishingpublictrust.ThomasRid,aprofessorofsecuritystudiesatKing’sCollegeLondon,wroteon

Twitterthatdisinformationcampaignshave“oftendeliberatelyblendedaccurateandforgeddetails”tosowdistrustandconfusion.

Ifthenewsmediaandpublicfigurespublicize lies, theylosetheircredibilityastrustworthy sources of information. “There’s no reliable truth to rest upon,”ProfessorPearcesaid.“Everypieceofinformationyougetis‘possiblytrue,possiblyfalse.’”

Degrading that trust can be deeply damaging.While inRussia in 2015, I wasstruckbyhowmanyofthepeopleImetsawtheworldthroughalensthatIbegantocall the “prudent hypothetical.” They reacted to all information, whether fromofficialsourcesorthirdhandrumors,as if itmightbetrue.Icametorealizethat itwas a self-protective impulse, a way to prepare for any potential outcome in anunpredictable,unreliableworld.

Buttheywerealsocarefulnottorelyonthatinformation,lestitturnouttobeafabrication.They trustedonly the facts theyhad verified themselves, andonly thepeopletowhomtheyhadclosepersonalties.

Ihad seen the same thing inGuatemala severalyearsearlier.There, spreadinglies and salacious gossip to discredit one’s enemies is referred to as a “campañanegra,”or ablackcampaign, rather thankompromat.But the resultwas the same:Public trust had been so eroded that lies were equally capable of destroying thehonestandrehabilitatingthecriminal.

WhenitappearedthatYasmínBarrios,thejudgepresidingoverthetrialofGen.EfraínRíosMontt,Guatemala’sformerdictator,mightconvicthimofgenocideandcrimes against humanity in 2013, a campaign of coordinated leaks and rumorsportrayed her as a corrupt agent of foreign governments, willing to discredit hercountry in exchange for personal gain. Leaks and rumors attacked Judge Barriospersonally, but by extension, they also undermined the credibility of the justicesysteminwhichsheworked.

Forexample,thenewsmediareportedthatthejudgehadbeenseendiningwith“foreign women” at a restaurant in Guatemala City, and suggested that this wasevidence of foreign influence on her rulings. In fact, the “foreigners” were JudgeBarrios’s Guatemalan mother, her neighbor, and a nun who was a friend of thefamily. But the rumors had their desired effect: They discredited not only JudgeBarriosbutalsothegenocidetrial.

TheGuatemalansImetknewthatthestoriestheyheardthroughthenewsmedia

mightbepartofdisinformationcampaigns.Butlackingbetteroptions,manystillsawthe world through the lens of the prudent hypothetical, viewing everything aspossibleandnothingascertain.

WhenGeneralRíosMonttwaseventuallyconvicted,manysawhimasavictimofforeign machinations rather than a perpetrator of genocide and crimes againsthumanity.(Hisconvictionwaslatervacatedonproceduralgrounds.)

ProfessorPearcesaidshesawparallelsbetweentheuseofkompromatoverseasandrecentnewsintheUnitedStates.

Although the Trump dossier purported to be a warning about kompromatelsewhere,shesaid,itcouldalsobeseenasaformofkompromatitself.Shelistedtheparallelstowhatshehadseeninherresearch:Itscontentisdamagingbutunverified.Its distribution was multilayered, with a website — in this case, BuzzFeed —publishing the unverified material and other outlets amplifying its impact byreportingontheensuingcontroversy.

Thedocumentalsofostereduncertaintyanddivision.MashaGessen,aRussianjournalist, wrote in a recent opinion column in The New York Times that thereleaseofthedossierhadallowedMr.Trumptosaythat“therewasnosuchthingastruth,onlyabattleofopinionsprofferedbydifferentactors,eachofwhomstrivestobe loudest.” For some Americans, the dossier sowed concern aboutMr. Trump’svulnerability toRussian influence.Others saw its publication as evidence thatMr.Trumpwasthevictimofadisinformationcampaign.

Thatmayultimatelybe toMr.Trump’s benefit if better-supported allegationsagainsthimariseinthefuture.

AmericansweresimilarlydividedintheirviewsonthehackingoftheDemocraticNationalCommittee’scomputersystem.WhenRussianhackersleakedemailsstolenfromthecommittee, somesaw itasevidence thatHillaryClinton, theDemocraticpresidentialnominee,wasavictimofforeignmachinations,whileothersviewedthedocuments’contentasconfirmationthatMrs.Clintonwasunreliableanddishonest.The leaks distracted from more substantive campaign issues and fueled publicdistrustandrancor.

Many people in the United States traditionally see the leak of confidentialdocumentsbywhistle-blowers,likeDanielEllsberg’sreleaseofthePentagonPapers,asawaytoholdthepowerfultoaccount.Wetendtobelievethattransparencyservesthepublicgood,andsecrecytheinterestsofthepowerful.

Suchabeliefpresumes that there isa fixedquantityofhidden informationoutthere that the news media is or is not revealing. But in a kompromat society,

incriminating material, real and fake, will be manufactured as needed to serve apoliticalpurpose.

To smear a president, undermine a judge or sow distrust in an institution orprocess, all someoneneeds to do is create a set of documents salacious enough toattractdiscussion,persuadesomecornerof thewebtopublish themandthenwaitfortheresultingcontroversytobereportedasnews.

That does not hold the powerful to account. And worse, it undermines theinstitutionsthataresupposedtodoso.

In theUnited States, Professor Pearce said, “grabbing on and holding to thetruth is becoming more challenging.” If kompromat becomes a more widespreadtactic,publictrustwillerodeevenfurther.

“AlotofthethingsthataregoodabouttheU.S.arebecausewehavethiskindoftruth-basedscaffolding,”shesaid.“Idon’twanttoliveinanenvironmentwhereI’mhavingtoreallybeskepticalofeverything,likepeopleinauthoritarianregimeshavetobe.”

“Livinglikethatishorrible,”shesaid.“Itisexhausting.”MaxFishercontributedreportingfromLondon.

FromHeadlinetoPhotograph,aFakeNewsMasterpiece

CameronHarrisinhishomeofficeinAnnapolis,Md.,onMonday.Hecreatedafakestoryaboutanelectricalworkerwhostumbleduponstackedboxesofballotspre-markedforHillaryClinton.(GabriellaDemczukforTheNewYork

Times)

BySCOTTSHANEJanuary18,2017

ANNAPOLIS,Md.—Itwasearlyfall,andDonaldJ.Trump,behindinthepolls,seemedtobepreparingarationale incaseawinnerlikehimsomehowmanagedtolose. “I’m afraid the election is going to be rigged, I have to be honest,” theRepublican nominee told a riled-up crowd in Columbus, Ohio. He was hearing“more and more” about evidence of rigging, he added, leaving the details to hissupporters’imagination.

A few weeks later, Cameron Harris, a new college graduate with a ferventinterestinMarylandRepublicanpoliticsandaneedforcash,satdownatthekitchen

tableinhisapartmenttofillinthedetailsMr.Trumphadleftout.Inadubiousartjustcomingintoitsprime,thisbogusstorywouldbehismasterpiece.

Mr.Harrisstartedbycraftingtheheadline:“BREAKING:‘Tensofthousands’offraudulentClinton votes found inOhiowarehouse.” Itmade sense, he figured, tolocate this shocking discovery in the very city and state where Mr. Trump hadhighlightedhis“rigged”meme.

“IhadatheorywhenIsatdowntowriteit,”recalledMr.Harris,a23-year-oldformer college quarterback and fraternity leader. “Given the severe distrust of themedia among Trump supporters, anything that parroted Trump’s talking pointspeoplewouldclick.Trumpwassaying‘riggedelection,riggedelection.’PeoplewerepredisposedtobelieveHillaryClintoncouldnotwinexceptbycheating.”

Inaraucouselectionyeardefinedbymade-upstories,Mr.Harriswasahome-grown, self-taught practitioner, a boutique operator with no ties to Russian spyagenciesorMacedonianfabricationfactories.AsMr.Trumptakesofficethisweek,thebeneficiaryofatleastamodestelectoralboostfromafloodoffakery,Mr.Harrisand his ersatz-news website, ChristianTimesNewspaper.com, make for anilluminatingtale.

ContactedbyareporterwhohaddiscoveredanelectroniccluethatrevealedhissecretauthorshipofChristianTimesNewspaper.com,hewaswaryatfirst,chagrinedtobeunmasked.

“This topic is rather sensitive,”Mr.Harris said, noting that he was trying tobuild a political consulting business and needed to protect his reputation. Buteventuallyheagreedtotellthestoryofhisforayintofakenews,averypart-timegigthat he calculated paid him about $1,000 an hour inweb advertising revenue.Heseemed to regard his experience with a combination of guilt about having spreadfalsehoodsandprideatdoingitsoskillfully.

AthiskitchentablethatnightinSeptember,Mr.Harriswondered:Whomighthave found these fraudulent Clinton ballots? So he invented “Randall Prince, aColumbus-area electrical worker.” This Everyman, a “Trump supporter” whosename hinted at a sort of nobility, had entered a little-used back room at thewarehouseandstumbleduponstackedboxesofballotspre-markedforMrs.Clinton,Mr.Harrisdecided.

“Noonereallygoesinthisbuilding.It’smainlyusedforshort-termstoragebyacommercialplumber,”Princesaid.

In case anyone missed the significance of the find,Mr. Harris made it plain:“What he found could allegedly be evidence of a massive operation designed to

deliverClintonthecrucialswingstate.”Aphotograph,hethought,wouldhelperasedoubtsabouthisyarn.Withaquick

Google image search for “ballot boxes,” he landed on a shot of a balding fellowstandingbehindblackplasticboxesthathelpfullyhad“BallotBox”labels.

It was a photo fromThe BirminghamMail, showing a British election 3,700milesfromColumbus—butnomatter.Inthecaption,thebaldingBritongotanewname:“Mr.Prince,shownhere,poseswithhisfind,aselectionofficialsinvestigate.”

Thearticleexplainedthat“theClintoncampaign’slikelygoalwastoslipthefakeballotboxes inwiththerealballotboxeswhentheywenttoofficialelectionjudgesonNovember8th.”ThenMr.Harrisaddedatouchofbreathlessness.

“Thisstoryisstilldeveloping,”hewrote,“andCTNwillbringyoumorewhenwehaveit.”

HepushedthebuttonandthestorywaslaunchedonSept.30,blazingacrosstheweblikesomekindofcounterfeitcomet.“EvenbeforeIpostedit,Iknewitwouldtakeoff,”Mr.Harrisrecalled.

Hewascorrect.Theballotboxstory,promotedbyahalf-dozenFacebookpagesMr.Harrishad created for thepurpose, flew around theweb, fueledby indignantcommentsfrompeoplewhowerecertainthatMrs.ClintonwasgoingtocheatMr.Trump of victory andwhowelcomed the proof. It was eventually sharedwith sixmillionpeople,accordingtoCrowdTangle,whichtrackswebaudiences.

Thenextday,theFranklinCounty,Ohio,boardofelectionsannouncedthat itwas investigating and that the fraud claims appeared to be untrue. Within days,Ohio’ssecretaryofstate,JonHusted,issuedastatementtodenythestory.

“A Christian myself, I take offense to reading such unbelievable lies from apublicationallegingChristianties,”Mr.Hustedsaid.

TherewasnothingespeciallyChristianabouthisefforts,Mr.Harrisadmits;hehad simply bought the abandoned web address for $5 at ExpiredDomains.net.Withinafewdays,thestory,whichhadtakenhim15minutestoconcoct,hadearnedhimabout$5,000.Thatwasasizableshareofthe$22,000anaccountingstatementshowshemadeduringthepresidentialcampaignfromadsforshoes,hairgelandwebdesignthatGooglehadplacedonhissite.

Hehadputinperhapshalfanhouraweekonthefakenewssite,hesaid,foratotalofabout20hours.Hewouldcomeclosetoafarbiggerpayday,onethatmighthave turned the $5 he had spent on theChristianTimes domain intomore than$100,000.

Themoney,notthepolitics,wasthepoint,heinsisted.Hehadgraduatedfrom

Davidson College in North Carolina in May, and he needed to pay his livingexpenses.“Ispentthemoneyonstudentloans,carpaymentsandrent,”hesaid.

By the time he launched his fraudulent story on ballot fraud, he had foundminimal success with “Hillary Clinton Blames Racism for Cincinnati Gorilla’sDeath,”areferencetothesadtaleofHarambe, thegorillashotafterhegrabbedalittleboyvisitingthezoo.Hehaddonebetterwith“EarlyMorningExplosioninDCAllegedlyLeavesYetAnotherDNCStafferDead,”spinningoffconspiracytheoriesaround the earlier shooting death of a Democratic National Committee staffmember.

Later,hewouldtellgulliblereaders“NYPDLookingtoPressChargesAgainstBillClintonforUnderageSexRing,”“ProtestersBeatHomelessVeterantoDeathinPhiladelphia”and“HillaryClintonFilesforDivorceinNewYorkCourts.”EightofhisstorieswouldmeritexplicitdebunkingbySnopes.com,themyth-bustingsite,butnonewouldtoptheperformanceoftheballotboxfantasy.

President Obama thought the fake news phenomenon significant enough tomention it as a threat to democracy in his farewell speech in Chicago last week.“Increasingly,”hesaid,“webecomesosecureinourbubblesthatwestartacceptingonly information,whether it’s trueornot, that fitsouropinions, insteadofbasingouropinionsontheevidencethatisoutthere.”

That was exactly the insight on which Mr. Harris said he built his transientbusiness: that people wanted to be fed evidence, however implausible, to supporttheirbeliefs.“Atfirstitkindofshockedme—theresponseIwasgetting,”hesaid.“Howeasilypeoplewouldbelieve it. Itwasalmost likea sociologicalexperiment,”addedMr.Harris,whomajoredinpoliticalscienceandeconomics.

Byhisaccount,thoughhevotedforMr.Trump,hisearlypreferencehadbeenforSenatorMarcoRubio.Mr.Harris saidhewouldhavebeenwilling topromoteMrs.Clinton and smearMr.Trumphad those tactics been lucrative.But as otherseekers of clicks discovered, Mr. Trump’s supporters were far more fervent thanMrs.Clinton’s.

InlateOctober,withtheinevitableendofhisventureapproaching,Mr.Harrissoughtanappraisalforthewebdomainthatbythenhadvaultedintotheweb’stop20,000 sites. An appraiser said that given the traffic, he could probably sell it forbetween$115,000and$125,000.

But Mr. Harris made a costly mistake: He decided to wait. Days after theelection, denounced for making the peddling of fake news remunerative, Googleannounced that itwould no longer place ads on sites promoting clearly fabricated

stories.A few days later, when Mr. Harris checked his site, the ads were gone. He

checked with the appraiser and was told that the domain was now essentiallyworthless.

Allwasnot lost, however.Hehadput apop-upon the site inviting visitors to“jointhe‘StoptheSteal’teamtofindoutHOWHillaryplanstostealtheelectionandwhatYOUcandotostopher!”andcollected24,000emailaddresses.Hehasnotyetdecidedwhattodowiththem,hesaid.

Asked whether he felt any guilt at having spread lies about a presidentialcandidate,Mr.Harrisgrewthoughtful.Buthetookrefugeinthenotionthatpoliticsisbyitsnaturerepletewithexaggerations,half-truthsandoutrightwhoppers,sohewashardlyaddingmuchtothesumtotal.

“Hardlyanythingacampaignoracandidatesaysiscompletelytrue,”hesaid.LatelyhehaspickedupMr.Trump’srefrainthatmainstreamnewsorganizations

arethemselvesregularpurveyorsof fakenews.Lastweek,whenBuzzFeedreleasedwhat it called an “explosive but unverified” dossier suggesting that Russia hadplannedtobribeandblackmailMr.Trump,Mr.HarriswroteonTwitter:

CamHarris@camharris_us“Explosivebutunverified”

Thatcoulddescribeeveryfakenewsheadlineever.9:20PM-10Jan2017

Hedidnotmentionhisownexpertiseinthefield.

10TimesTrumpSpreadFakeNews

DonaldJ.TrumpdemonstratingfromhisofficeinTrumpTowerhowhesendsTwittermessagesthroughhissmartphone.(JoshHaner/TheNewYorkTimes)

BySAPNAMAHESHWARIJanuary18,2017

INTHEHEATEDDISCUSSIONSovertheeffectsoffakenewsondemocracyandcivilsociety,DonaldJ.Trumphasoftentakencenterstage.

Hehasusedfalseclaimstoattackhispoliticalopponents,questionthelegitimacyandloyaltyof theObamaadministrationandotherDemocrats,andunderminethenews media, the federal government and other institutions that many of hissupportersdonottrust.

ThepracticehasparalleledhisrisefromrealityTVstartoholderofthenation’shighestelectedoffice,accordingtoananalysisofhissocialmediaactivity.

Whendiscussing someof his claims,Mr.Trumphas cited as evidence articlesposted throughBreitbartNews,manipulatedYouTube videos and celebrity gossippublicationslikeTheNationalEnquirer.

Mr. Trump has also tweeted links from right-wing blogs likeWND.com andTheRightScoop.comthatoftenpromotesensationalconspiracytheoriesandcontainlittleoriginalreporting.

Hissourcinghighlightsthebountyofmisinformationaccessibleonthewebanditspower in adeeplydividedAmerica—especiallywhenendorsedby someoneofMr.Trump’sinfluenceandvisibility.

HeofferedthisexplanationforhisactionswhilediscussinganalteredYouTubevideohehadtweetedaspartofanunsubstantiatedclaimthataprotesteratoneofhisrallieshadtiestotheIslamicState:“Idon’tknowwhattheymadeup;allIcandoisplaywhat’sthere,”Mr.TrumpsaidonNBC’s“MeetthePress.”

“AllIknowiswhat’sontheinternet.”Below are examples from the last several years of Mr. Trump’s penchant for

making fraudulent claims and backing them up with information gleaned fromunsubstantiatedsources.

TheAffordableCareActand‘DeathPanels’

ObamaCaredoesindeedrationcare.Seniorsarenowrestrictedto“comfortcare”instead

ofbrainsurgery.Repealnow!9:13AM-28Nov2011

InNovember2011,Mr.TrumpproclaimedthattheAffordableCareActwould“ration care,” linking to an article on TheRightScoop.com. The story cited ananonymous caller’s comments on a conservative radio talk show as proof the actestablished so-called death panels that would determine whether or not elderlypatientsreceivedcare.

Thenotionofdeathpanelswasdeemedthe“LieoftheYear”in2009bythefact-checkingwebsitePolitifact,whichtraceditsrisetocommentsmadebySarahPalinonFacebook.TheadditionalclaimsinthestoryMr.Trumpsharedweredebunkedby the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Department ofHealthandHumanServices,accordingtoSnopes,anotherfact-checkingwebsite.

PresidentObama’sHolidayMessage

Whataconvenientmistake:@BarackObamaissuedastatementforKwanzabutfailed

toissueoneforChristmas.11:02AM–28Dec2011

Mr. Trump took to Twitter to share a story fromTheGatewayPundit.com, aconservativeblog,whichfalselyclaimedthatMr.Obamahadissuedastatementfor“thefakeholiday”KwanzaabutnotforChristmas.(Mr.Obama’sChristianfaithhasbeenquestionedbypoliticalopponents;somehavesoughttoassailthelegitimacyofhispresidencyby falsely claiminghe is aMuslim.)After thepoliticalblogTalkingPointsMemorefutedthestory,Mr.TrumpshareditagainonTwitter,startinghispostwith“I’mright,TPMiswrong.”

PresidentObamaandhiswifewishedAmericansa“merryChristmas”onDec.24, 2011, in a video address shared on Twitter, YouTube and theWhite Housewebsite.Earlierthatmonth,Mr.ObamasaidhehopedAmericanshad“themerriestofChristmases,”ashisfamilylittheNationalChristmasTreeinfrontoftheWhiteHouse, and separately said that “the story of Jesus Christ changed the world” inremarksatthe“ChristmasinWashington”concert.ThestatementonKwanzaawasinlinewiththosemadebyGeorgeW.Bushthrough2008.

Birtherism

An‘extremelycrediblesource’hascalledmyofficeandtoldmethat@BarackObama’sbirthcertificateisafraud.

4:23PM–6Aug2012

InMarch2011,Mr.Trump started raisingquestions aboutPresidentObama’sbirthplace and birth certificate on television, on shows that included ABC’s “TheView”andNBC’s“Today.”Thenotionhadbeendebunkedandpushedtotherealmof conspiracy theorists after Mr. Obama released his short-form birth certificatefromtheHawaiiDepartmentofHealthin2008.

Mr. Trump also promoted his claims through Twitter, citing “an ‘extremelycredible source’” that called his office and allegedly told him the certificatewas afraud,aswellaslinkingtopostsonblogslikeWND.comandFreedomOutpost.com.WhileMr.Trumpwas roundly denounced for continuing to push the conspiracytheory,itsolidifiedhisconnectiontothelargelywhiteRepublicanbasethatwassoinstrumentalinhiselectionvictoryinNovember.

SecretOilDealtoControlGasPricesMr.Trumphas alsomade claimswithout supportingmaterial of anykind.He

once shared political views through aYouTube video series, “FromTheDeskOfDonaldTrump,”soundingoffontheRepublicanPartyandMr.Obama,butalsoontopics as varied as Andy Roddick’s talent and the state of the desk itself. (“ManypeoplehavebeenaskingaboutmydeskandthefactthatIhavesomanypapersonmy desk,” it began.) He tweeted links to the posts with the hashtag #trumpvlogthroughout2011and2012.

InApril2012,Mr.Trumppostedasegmentinwhichhesaid,“Ihavenodoubtinmymind thatPresidentObamamade a dealwith theSaudis to flood themarketswithoilbeforetheelectionsohecanatleastkeepitdownalittlebit.”

He added: “After the election it’s going to be a mess. You’re going to seenumberslikeyou’veneverseenifhewins.”Herepeatedthisallegationaboutasecretdeal on CNBC in June of that year, which Fox published under the headline“Trump:Obama’sSecretSaudiOilDealtoWinRe-election.”

LinkingAutismtoVaccinations

Autismratesthroughtheroof–whydoesn’ttheObamaadministrationdosomething

aboutdoctor-inflictedautism.Welosenothingtotry.9:19AM–22Oct2012

Starting in 2012,Mr.Trump has repeatedly expressed his personal belief thatautism is linked to childhoodvaccinations, saying it in interviews,onTwitter, andevenduringaRepublicandebate.

On the show“Fox&Friends” inApril 2012,Mr.Trumpwas asked about therisingnumberofchildrenwithautismdiagnosesandsaid,“Ihaveatheoryandit’sa

theory that some people believe in, and that’s the vaccinations.” Later in thesegment,onehostnotedmostdoctorsdisagreeandthatstudiesdonotshowalink,whichMr.Trump acknowledged, adding, “It’s also very controversial to even say,butIcouldn’tcareless.”Hesaidhehadseenchangesinchildrenfirsthandtosupporthisbelief.

Plentyofstudies, includingarecentonethat involvedalmost100,000children,have shown there is no scientific evidence linking vaccinations to autism, and thatthereisnobenefittodelayingvaccinations.Instead,childrenwhoarenotvaccinatedontheregularschedulecanbeatriskforinfectiousdiseasesforalongerperiod.OnedoctortoldScientificAmericanthat“misinformationontheinternetoftenfrightensparentsawayfromfollowing”thevaccinationschedulerecommendedbytheCentersfor Disease Control and Prevention, the only one endorsed by the AmericanAcademyofPediatrics. In2015, ameaslesoutbreak inCalifornia,which started atDisneyland, was partly attributed to diseases spread by children who were notvaccinated.

InOctober 2012,Mr. Trump took to Twitter to ask why PresidentObama’sadministration was not intervening. He then wrote in March 2014, “If I werePresidentIwouldpushforpropervaccinationsbutwouldnotallowonetimemassiveshotsthatasmallchildcannottake-AUTISM.”

QuestioningUnemploymentData

Theunderemploymentbeingquotedas14.9%iswaylow–realnumbercouldbe20%.

2:24PM–13Jul2012Thinkofit—20%ofourcountryisessentiallyunemployed.

2:25PM–13Jul2012

Mr.Trumphasa longhistoryofcastingdoubtontheunemploymentdataandfigures on “underemployment,” a measure that also includes people working parttime for lackof full-time jobs andotherswhohave givenup looking forwork. Inmid-2012,he remarkedonTwitter that anunderemployment rate of 14.9percentwas“waylow,”andcouldactuallybe20percent.Acoupleofmonthsafterthat,hesaidonCNBCthat“therealunemploymentnumber isover17percent,whenyouaddbackthetremendousnumbersofpeoplethatgaveuplookingforjobsandallof

theotherthingstheydotomanipulatethem.”

JustasIsaidlastOctober,censusworkerscookedthejobnumbersforObamarightbeforetheelection

12:18PM–19Nov2013

InNovember2013,Mr.Trump,onTwitter,linkedtoacolumnfromTheNewYork Post headlined, “Census ‘faked’ 2012 election jobs report.” The story wasquicklycriticizedbyTheColumbiaJournalismReviewfor“turninganuggetofnewsintoablockbusterconspiracyexposé.”ItnotedthatthecolumnwaslargelypremisedonthemisbehaviorofaworkerwholefttheCensusBureauin2011,wellbeforetheelection.

InDecember2014,Mr.TrumptweetedastoryfromWND.com,aconspiracy-minded conservative site, with the headline “Donald Trump: Obama’s JoblessFigures‘Phony.’Economistsagree.”ThestorycitedcommentsMr.Trumpmadeon“Fox&Friends”allegingthattheactualunemploymentratewasalmost18percent,an estimate supported by John Williams, an independent economist who has anewsletter called “ShadowGovernment Statistics.” It says it “exposes and analyzesflawsincurrentU.S.governmenteconomicdataandreporting.”

Mr.Williams, in theWND story, estimated November unemployment at 23percent. Trump later repeated that figure during a campaign speech at LibertyUniversityinJanuary2016,anumberTheWashingtonPostshowedtobefalse.

PresidentObamaandtheBostonMarathonBombing

Obama’s$1T+deficitbudgetexpandedwelfare&greencronyism&itcutdomesticbombpreventioninhalf

4:17PM–17Apr2013

Mr. Trump shared a link fromTheRightScoop.com on Twitter, claiming thepresident’s budget “cut domestic bomb prevention in half.” The post relied on astory from The DailyMail, which based its claim on an estimate from a formerofficialattheDepartmentofHomelandSecuritywhoresignedin2005.

Separately,Mr.Trumptweeted,“IstheBostonkillereligibleforObamaCaretobring him back to health?”Hewent on to circulate a post based entirely on thattweetfromNewsbusters.org,ablogfromtheMediaResearchCenter,whichstates

itsgoalas“documenting,exposingandneutralizing liberalmediabias.”Outsideofthe fact that federal law requires anypatient requiring emergency treatment to betreated regardless of insurance status or ability to pay, the attack occurred inMassachusetts,wherethehealthinsuranceprogramunderMittRomneyservedasamodelfortheAffordableCareAct.

TedCruz’sFatherMr.TrumpmadecommentsinaFoxNewsinterviewlastMayaccusingSenator

Ted Cruz’s father of associating with Lee Harvey Oswald shortly before theassassinationofPresidentJohnF.Kennedy.

Mr.Trump’sremarks—madeonthedayoftheRepublicanprimaryinIndiana—came afterTheNationalEnquirer claimed it had photographic proof thatMr.Cruz’s father, Rafael Cruz, was “palling around” with Mr. Oswald before theshooting.Mr.Cruz’s campaign called that report error-filled and condemnedMr.Trumpforcampaigning“onfalsetabloidgarbage.”

Thefact-checkingwebsitePolitifactnotedthat“severalhistoriansoftheperiodtoldusthey’veneverseenCruz’snamecomeupinconnectionwithOswald.”

ProtesterWasMemberofISIS

USSSdidanexcellentjobstoppingthemaniacrunningtothestage.HehastiestoISIS.Shouldbeinjail!6:41PM–12Mar2016

Mr.Trumpclaimedatarally lastyearthatamanwhochargedhimatanothereventwaslinkedtotheIslamicState,yetnogovernmentagencysuggestedthemanwasconnectedtoISISorterrorism.Herepeatedtheallegationinatweet,linkingtoavideothatclaimedtoshowtheman.ItwasoverlaidwithArabictextandmusicandappearedtohavebeencreatedasahoax.

When asked onNBC’s “Meet thePress” about the lack of evidence tying themantoISISandthevideohoax,Mr.Trumpdidnotseemdeterred.

“Hewasdragginga flagalongthegroundandhewasplayingacertaintypeofmusicandsupposedlytherewaschatteraboutISIS,”heresponded.“WhatdoIknowaboutit?”

VoterFraud

InadditiontowinningtheElectoralCollegeinalandslide,Iwonthepopularvoteifyoudeduct

themillionsofpeoplewhovotedillegally3:30PM–27Nov2016

Afterwinningthepresidentialelectionbutlosingthepopularvote,Mr.TrumptooktoTwittertoclaimthatheactuallyreceivedmorevotesthanMrs.Clinton“ifyoudeductthemillionsofpeoplewhovotedillegally.”ThenotionwaspopularizedbyInfowars,awebsiterepletewithconspiracytheoriesthatincludequestioningtheshootingatSandyHookElementarySchool.

Theoverwhelmingconsensus frompeoplewhooversawthegeneralelection instates around the countrywas that the amount of voter fraud in 2016was next tonone.

TheUpshot:ResearchersCreatedFakeNews.Here’sWhatTheyFound.

ByNEILIRWINJanuary18,2017

BEFORE THE TERM “FAKE news” became an all-purpose insult for newscoverageapersondoesn’tlike,ithadamorespecificmeaning:storiesinventedfromwhole cloth, designed to attract social shares and web traffic by flattering theprejudices of their intended audience. Think of untrue claims like the Trumpendorsement by Pope Francis or the investigation of the Clinton Foundation forrunningapedophilesexring.

Intheimmediateaftermathoftheelection,therewasevensomespeculationthatthese types of stories were enough to swing the result toward Donald J. Trump.SundarPichai,thechiefexecutiveofGoogle,raisedthatpossibility,andoneauthorofmade-upviralnewstoldTheWashingtonPostthat“IthinkDonaldTrumpisintheWhiteHousebecauseofme.”

Somenewresearch fromtwoeconomists throwsat leastabitofcoldwateronthe theory that falsenewswasamajor influenceon theelectionresult.Theyoffersomeharddataonhowpervasivevoters’consumptionoffakenewsreallywasduringthe2016electioncycle.Theresearchalsorevealssomedisturbingtruthsaboutthemodernmedia environment and how peoplemake sense of the incoming gush ofnews.

Hunt Allcott of New York University and Matthew Gentzkow of StanfordcommissionedasurveyinlateNovemberhopingtodiscernjusthowdeeplysomeofthefakenewsembeddeditselfwithAmericanvoters.Thetwoaskedpeople,amongotherthings,whethertheyhadheardvariouspiecesofnewsthatreflectedpositivelyornegativelyononeofthecandidates—ofthreevarieties.

Therewascompletelytruenews:HillaryClintoncalledsomeTrumpsupportersa “basket of deplorables,” for example, orMr. Trump refused to say at a debatewhetherhewouldconcedetheelectionifhelost.

There was fake news, as identified by fact-checking sites like Snopes andPolitiFact — big things like the Pope Francis story and smaller items, like Mr.Trump threatening to deport the “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda toPuertoRico.

The third category was most interesting. The researchers created “fake fake”news.That is, they invented someheadlines thatwere the type of thing fake sitesproduce,buthadneveractuallybeenpublishedduringthecampaign.Oneof theseplacebo headlines was that “leaked documents reveal that the Clinton campaignplannedaschemetooffertodriveRepublicanvoterstothepollsbutthentakethemtothewrongplace,”anditsinverseinwhichitwastheTrumpcampaignschemingtotakeDemocratstothewrongpollingplace.

There is some good news in that more people reported having heard, andbelieved, the true statements than the false statements. Only 15.3 percent of thepopulationrecalledseeingthefakenewsstories,and7.9percentrecalledseeingthemandbelievingthem.

The more interesting result: Those numbers are nearly identical to theproportion who reported seeing (14.1 percent) and believing (8.3 percent) theplacebos,the“fakefake”newsstories.Inotherwords,asmanypeoplerecalledseeingand believing fake news that had been published and distributed through socialmediaasrecalledseeingfakenewsthathadneverexistedandwaspurelyaninventionofresearchers.

HillaryClintononSept.11,2016,thedayshestumbledandneededhelpafteramemorialceremony.Thatnewswasreal,butnotallnewssurroundingtheelectionwas.(EricThayerforTheNewYorkTimes)

That’sastrongindicationaboutwhatisgoingonwithconsumersoffakenews.Itmaybelessthatfalseinformationfromdubiousnewssourcesisshapingtheirviewoftheworld.Rather,somepeople(about8percentoftheadultpopulation,ifwetakethesurveydataatfacevalue)arewillingtobelieveanythingthatsoundsplausibleandfitstheirpreconceptionsabouttheheroesandvillainsinpolitics.

“Falserememberingisincrediblycorrelatedwithpeople’spriors,”Mr.Gentzkowsaid.“Onewaytothinkaboutitisweknowourmemoriesareveryimperfect.AndifyouaskmeifIsawsomething,I’mpartlyaskingmyselfhowlikelyitisthatIsawit.Peoplearedoinginference.”

Mr.AllcottandMr.Gentzkowdosomematharoundhowinfluentialeachfakenews story would need to have been on people who read it to havemeaningfullyaffectedtheelectionresults.Theyconcludethatasinglenewsarticlewouldneedto

have been as persuasive as 36 television campaign ads to have been the differencebetweenaTrumpvictoryorloss.

Butthere’sabigger,andperhapsmoreworrying,implicationofthisresearch.Itsuggests that themost straightforwardly fraudulent formsof fakenews are a smallpart of what is shaping how people understand the world. People’s hunger forinformationthatsuitstheirprejudicesispowerful,andinthedigitalmediaage,apileofitemergestosatisfythatdemand.

WhiteHousePushes‘AlternativeFacts.’HereAretheRealOnes

ByNICHOLASFANDOSJanuary22,2017

WASHINGTON—KELLYANNECONWAY, counselor toPresidentTrump, saidon NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that the White House had put forth“alternativefacts”toonesreportedbythenewsmediaaboutthesizeofMr.Trump’sinaugurationcrowd.

Shemadethisassertion—whichquicklywentviralonsocialmedia—adayafterMr.TrumpandSeanSpicer,theWhiteHousepresssecretary,hadaccusedthenewsmediaofreportingfalsehoodsabouttheinaugurationandMr.Trump’srelationshipwiththeintelligenceagencies.

In leveling this attack, the president and Mr. Spicer made a series of falsestatements.

Herearethefacts.In a speech at the C.I.A. on Saturday, Mr. Trump said the news media had

constructedafeudbetweenhimandtheintelligencecommunity.“TheysortofmadeitsoundlikeIhada ‘feud’withthe intelligencecommunity,”hesaid.“It isexactlytheopposite,andtheyunderstandthat,too.”

In fact, Mr. Trump repeatedly criticized the intelligence agencies during histransition toofficeandhasquestioned theirconclusion thatRussiameddled in theelectiontoaidhiscandidacy.Hecalledtheirassessment“ridiculous”andsuggestedthatithadbeenpoliticallymotivated.

After the disclosure of a dossier with unsubstantiated claims about him, Mr.Trumpallegedthattheintelligenceagencieshadallowedaleakofthematerial.“ArewelivinginNaziGermany?”heaskedinapostonTwitter.

Intelligenceagenciesshouldneverhaveallowedthisfakenewsto“leak”intothepublic.Onelastshotatme.

ArewelivinginNaziGermany?7:48AM-11Jan2017

Mr.Trumpsaidofhisinaugurationcrowd,“Itlookedhonestlylikeamillionand

ahalfpeople,whateveritwas,itwas,butitwentallthewaybacktotheWashingtonMonument.”

Aerial photographs clearly show that the crowd did not stretch to theWashington Monument. An analysis by The New York Times, comparingphotographs from Friday to ones taken of Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration,showed that Mr. Trump’s crowd was significantly smaller and less than the 1.5millionpeopleheclaimed.AnexperthiredbyTheTimesfoundthatMr.Trump’scrowdontheNationalMallwasaboutathirdofthesizeofMr.Obama’sin2009.

Mr.Trumpsaidthatthoughhehadbeen“hitbyacoupleofdrops”ofrainashebeganhis addresson InaugurationDay, the sky soon cleared. “And the truth is, itstopped immediately, and then became sunny,” he said. “And Iwalked off, and itpouredafterIleft.Itpoured.”

ThetruthisthatitbegantorainlightlyalmostexactlyasMr.Trumpbegantospeakandcontinuedtodosothroughouthisremarks,whichlastedabout18minutes,andafterhefinished.SpeakinglateronSaturdayintheWhiteHousebriefingroom,Mr. Spicer amplifiedMr.Trump’s false claims. “Thiswas the largest audience toeverwitnessaninauguration—period—bothinpersonandaroundtheglobe,”hesaid.

There is no evidence to support this claim. Not only was Mr. Trump’sinaugurationcrowd far smaller thanMr.Obama’s in2009,buthealsodrew fewertelevisionviewers in theUnitedStates (30.6million) thanMr.Obamadid in2009(38million)andRonaldReagandidin1981(42million),Nielsenreported.Figuresforonlineviewershipwerenotavailable.

Mr.SpicersaidthatWashington’sMetrosystemhadgreaterridershiponFridaythanitdidforMr.Obama’s2013inauguration.“Weknowthat420,000peopleusedtheD.C.Metro public transit yesterday, which actually compares to 317,000 thatuseditforPresidentObama’slastinaugural,”Mr.Spicersaid.

Neither number is correct, according to the transit system, which reported570,557 entries into the rail system on Friday, compared with 782,000 onInaugurationDayin2013.

Mr. Spicer said that “this was the first time in our nation’s history that floorcoverings have beenused to protect the grass on theMall.That had the effect ofhighlightinganyareaswherepeoplewerenotstanding,whileinyearspastthegrasseliminatedthisvisual.”

Infact,similarcoveringswereusedduringthe2013inaugurationtoprotectthegrass.Thecoveringsdidnothamperanalysesofthecrowdsize.

Mr.Spicersaidthatitwas“thefirsttimethatfencingandmagnetometerswentasfarbackontheMall,preventinghundredsofthousandsofpeoplefrombeingabletoaccesstheMallasquicklyastheyhadininaugurationspast.”

The Secret Service said security measures were largely unchanged this year.Therewerealsofewreportsoflonglinesordelays.

MichaelS.Schmidtcontributedreporting.

Opinion:‘AlternativeFacts’andtheCostofTrump-BrandedReality

ByJIMRUTENBERGJanuary22,2017

WHENDONALD J. TRUMP swore the presidential oath on Friday, he assumedresponsibilitynotonlyforthe leversofgovernmentbutalsoforoneoftheUnitedStates’mostvaluableassets,batteredthoughitmaybe:itscredibility.

The country’s sentimental reverence for truth and its jealously guarded pressfreedoms,whileneverperfect,havebeenas important to itsglobal standingas thestrength of itsmilitary and the reliability of its currency. It’s the bedrock of that“Americanexceptionalism”we’veheardsomuchaboutforsolong.

Disinformationwasfordictatorships,bananarepublicsandfailedstates.Yet there itwasonSaturday, emanating from the lecternof theWhiteHouse

briefing room— theofficialmicrophoneof theUnitedStates—asMr.Trump’spress secretary, Sean Spicer, used his first appearance there to put forth easilydebunked statistics¹ that questioned the newsmedia’s reporting on the size of thepresident’sinauguralaudience(ofallthings).

Mr.Spicerwaspickinguponthemessagefromhisboss,whomadefalseclaims²aboutnewscoverageearlier thatdayashedeclareda“runningwar”withthenewsmediaduringavisittotheCentralIntelligenceAgency,whosemostsolemndutyistofeedvitalandtrueinformationtopresidentsastheyrunactualwars.

ItwaschillingwhenMr.Trump’sassertionthatreporterswere“amongthemostdishonestpeopleonearth”becameanapplauselineforthecrowdgatheredtohearhimspeakinfrontofthememorialtofallenagentsatC.I.A.headquarters.

StillmorechillingwaswhentheWhiteHousesenioradviserKellyanneConwayappearedon“MeetthePress”onSundaytoassertthatMr.Spicer’sfalsehoodsweresimply“alternativefacts.”

Ms.Conwaymadenobonesaboutwhatshethoughtofthenewsmedia’sabilitytodebunkthose“alternative facts” inawayAmericans—especiallyTrump-lovingAmericans—wouldbelieve.

“You want to talk provable facts?” she said to the moderator, Chuck Todd.“Look—you’vegota14percentapprovalratinginthemedia,thatyou’veearned.Youwanttopushbackonus?”(SheappearedtobereferringtoaGalluppollfigure

relatedtoRepublicans’views.)Andreally, there itwas: anapparentanimatingprincipleofMr.Trump’snews

media strategy since he first began campaigning. That strategy has consistentlypresumedthatlowpublicopinionofmainstreamjournalism(whichMr.Trumphasbeenonlytoohappytohelpstoke)createsanopeningtoselltheTrumpversionofreality,nomatteritsadherencetothefacts.

AsMr. Trump and his supporters regularly note, whatever he did during thecampaign, it was successful: He won.His most ardent supporters loved the newsmediabashing.Andthecomplaintsandaggressivefact-checkingbythenewsmediaplayedrightintohishands.HeportrayeditasjustsomuchwhiningandoppositionfromyetanotheroverprivilegedconstituencyoftheWashingtonestablishment.

SeanSpicer,theWhiteHousepresssecretary,leavingabriefingonSaturday.Heusedhisfirstappearancetoputfortheasilydebunkedfacts.(DougMills/TheNewYorkTimes)

ButwilltacticsthatworkedinthecampaignworkintheWhiteHouse?Historyis littered with examples of new administrations that quickly found that thetechniquesthatservedthemwellincampaignsdidnotworkwellingovernment.

Andiftheydowork,whatarethelong-termcoststogovernmentcredibilityfromtactical“wins”thatareachievedthroughtheaggressiveuseoffalsehoods?Whatevertheyare,Mr.Trumpshouldrealizethatitcouldhurthisagendamorethananythingelse.

There’s a reason George W. Bush’s adviser Karen Hughes told the newlypromotedBushpresssecretary,ScottMcClellan,in2003,“Yourmostimportantjob,in my view, will be to make sure the president maintains his credibility with theAmericanpeople.”

“‘It’soneofhisgreateststrengths,”’Mr.McClellanquotedMs.Hughesassayinginhisautobiography,“WhatHappened.’’

Mr.McClellan’s book chronicles howMr. Bush staked that credibility on thefalse rationale for the Iraq invasion— that SaddamHusseinhadweapons ofmassdestruction—andultimatelylosttheconfidenceofAmericans,hobblinghimfortherestofhispresidency.

Butthedamagewasn’tisolatedtoMr.Bush’spoliticalstanding.Tothisday,theAmerican intelligence communitymust contendwith lingering questions about itsown credibility— towit, taunts fromMoscow (not tomention fromMr.Trump)that assessments pointing to Russian meddling in the presidential election arequestionable.Afterall,wasn’titwrongaboutIraq?

There’s a big difference in importance between the size of Mr. Trump’sinaugural audience and the intelligence that led to war, no question. And, as theformerBushWhiteHousepresssecretaryAriFleischernotedinaconversationwithmeonSunday,it’swaytooearlytosaywhetherMr.Spicer’sweekendperformancewillbethenorm.

TheTrumpteam’semotionswererawover theweekend,Mr.Fleischernoted,after amistakenpool reportwas sent to the rest of theWhiteHousepress corps,claimingthatMr.TrumphadremovedabustoftheRev.Dr.MartinLutherKingJr.from theOvalOffice.ZekeMiller, theTimemagazine journalistwhohadwrittenthereport,quicklycorrecteditandapologizedwhentheWhiteHousealertedhimtotheerror.

“Itrightlyleavesthepeopleinsidefeelingthat‘reporterswereopposedtousallalongforbeingracistandthefirstthingtheydidwasimplywewere,’”Mr.Fleischersaid.

Still,theweekend’seventsdidnotarriveinavacuum.TherewasthereportlastweekinTheWashingtonPostthattheSmithsonian’sNationalMuseumofAmericanHistory,known forhighstandardsofaccuracy,was sellingacommemorativebookaboutMr.Trump riddledwith questionable notions, such as thatHillaryClintondeserved more blame than Mr. Trump did for the so-called birther campaignquestioning Mr. Obama’s citizenship. (After that report, the museum said it wasremoving the book pending an investigation into whether it met standards for

accuracy.)The administration’s decision to eradicate nearly any reference to “climate

change”ontheWhiteHousewebsitecouldbeexpectedgivenMr.Trump’spromisestooverturnhispredecessors’climatepolicies.Butitsetoffconcernsamongclimatescientiststhatitwouldextendtovaluablegovernmentdata—fearsthatalsoapplytothe sanctityofother administration-controlleddata. (Mr.Fleischer, forone,notedthat career bureaucrats would blow the whistle on any moves to manipulategovernmentdata.)

ThenthereisthecentralinformationcenterofanyWhiteHouse:thepressroom.OnThursday, JimHoft, the founder ofTheGateway Pundit, said theWhite

Housewasgivinghissiteanofficialpresscredential.TheGatewayPunditpromotedhoaxes such as one alleging that protesters in Austin, Tex., were bused in by theliberaldonorGeorgeSoros.(TheoriginatorofthatstorytoldTheNewYorkTimesthathisassertionswerenotsupportedbyfact.)

TheWhiteHousehasnotconfirmedthatitwillcredentialGatewayPundit,butMr.Hoft’s announcement stokedanxiety among traditional reporters that thenewadministration will pack the pressroom with sympathetic organizations willing topromotefalsehoods—or,perhaps,“alternativefacts.”It’sonethingifthatcreatesafalsefeedbackloopaboutthesizeofaninaugurationcrowd—andquiteanotherifitdoessoaboutamoreimportantnationalsecuritymatter,astheCNNchiefnationalsecuritycorrespondent,JimSciutto,saidovertheweekend.

Mr.McClellan, the Bush press secretary, warned in an interview with me onSunday thatMr. Spicer might come to regret it if reporters started to doubt theveracityofwhathetoldthem.

“Therewill be tough times ahead— there are for everyWhiteHouse—andthat’swhen that credibility and trust ismost important,”Mr.McClellan said.Butmoreimportant,hesaid,whenyou’reattheWhiteHouselectern,“you’respeakingforthefreeworldtosomeextent,andwhat idealsareyouholdingupforthat freeworld?”

There’snothingexceptionalabouttheonesthataren’ttrue.¹Mr.Spicer said that420,000peoplehadusedWashington’sMetrosystemon

Fridayandthat317,000haduseditonthedayofBarackObama’sinaugurationfouryearsago.Metroofficialsreported570,557subwaysystementriesonMr.Trump’sInaugurationDay,comparedwith782,000onMr.Obama’s.

² Mr. Trump accused journalists of fabricating tensions between him andintelligenceofficials,butherepeatedlycriticizedthem,atonepointaccusingthemof

leaking information as “one last shot at me” and asking, “Are we living in NaziGermany?”

NewsAnalysis:InaSwirlof‘Untruths’and‘Falsehoods,’CallingaLieaLie

KellyanneConway,anadvisertoPresidentTrump,usedthephrase“alternativefacts”todescribeassertionsbytheWhiteHouse.(DougMills/TheNewYorkTimes)

ByDANBARRYJanuary25,2017

Wordsmatter.Andfromthemomenthebecamepresident,DonaldJ.Trumphasunleashedso

many of consequence that the public has barely had time to parse their fullimplication. Words about the dishonest media, the end of Obamacare, theconstructionof that borderwallwithMexico— this is an abbreviated list, andhehasn’tevencompletedhisfirstweekinoffice.

Amid the verbal deluge, President Trump this week repeated an assertion hemadeshortlyafterhiselection:thatmillionsofballotscastillegallybyundocumented

immigrants cost him the popular vote. If true, this would suggest the wholesalecorruptionofAmericandemocracy.

Nottoworry:Asfarasanyoneknows,thepresident’sassertionisakintosayingthatmillionsofunicornsalsovotedillegally.

Butsuchabaselessstatementbyapresidentchallengedthenewsmediatofindtheprecisewordstodescribeit.Thiswillbearecurringchallenge,givenPresidentTrump’shabitof speaking in sales-pitchhyperboleandhis tendency toderideanyless-than-flatteringreportas“fakenews.”

Thewordsneededtobeexactlyright.“Andthelanguagehasarichvocabularyfor describing statements that fall short of the truth,” said Geoffrey Nunberg, alinguistwhoteachesattheUniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley,SchoolofInformation.“They’re‘baseless,’they’re‘bogus,’they’re‘lies,’they’re‘untruths.’”

Rarelyarethesewords,eachwithitsownnuance,applieddirectlytosomethingsaidbyapresident,thoughothershavealsodissembled(likeBillClintononwhetherhehadsexwithanintern).“Thisistheveryuniquesituationthatwefindourselvesinas journalists and as a country,” said Joshua Benton, the director of the NiemanJournalismLabatHarvardUniversity.“Wehaveanadministrationthatseemstobeassertingarighttoitsownfactsanddoesn’tseemtobeabletoproduceevidencetobackthoseclaims.”

Still, carefully chosen words can capture that. “A whole vocabulary has comebubblingupthatwouldnothavebeenusedfiveyearsago,”Mr.Nunbergsaidinaninterview.“Peoplearegoingtohavetositdownanddecide:Arewegoingtowanttogo over themoral consequences of telling an untruth? Themere fact of it beinguntrue?Orthefactthatit’sbogus,baselessorgroundless?”

Somenewsorganizationsusedwordslike“falsely”or“wrongly”—adverbsthattendtoweakentheimpact—inframingwhatthepresidentsaid.Someused“withno evidence,” or “won’t provide any proof,” or “unverified claims,” or “repeatsdebunkedclaim.”

TheNew York Times, though, ultimately chose more muscular terminology,optingtousetheword“lie”intheheadline.Afterinitiallyusingtheword“falsely,”itswitchedto“lie”onlineandthensettledon“MeetingWithTopLawmakers,TrumpRepeatsanElectionLie”forTuesday’sprintedition.

People noticed, and debated its use. That is because, from the childhoodschoolyardtothegrave,thisisawordneitherusednortakenlightly.Itstandsapartfrommostothertermsinthelinguisticballparkofuntruths, including“falsehood,”which Chuck Todd, the host of “Meet the Press,” recently used to counter the

TrumpadviserKellyanneConway’sOrwellianphrase,“alternativefacts.”Tosaythatsomeonehas“lied,”anactiveverb,orhastolda“lie,”amorepassive,

distancing noun, is to say that the person intended to deceive. In addition, Mr.Nunberg said, “a certain moral opprobrium attaches to it, a reprehensibility ofmotive.”

The question of intent has informed National Public Radio’s approach tocoveringMr.Trump’smanydisputable claims: thathe saw thousandsofpeople inJerseyCitycheeringastheWorldTradeCentercollapsedonSept.11,forexample,or that the news media had made up a feud between him and the country’sintelligence agencies, despite his own tweets likening those agencies to NaziGermany.

OnNPR’s“MorningEdition”onWednesday,MaryLouiseKellyexplainedthatshehadlookedupthedefinitionof“lie”intheOxfordEnglishDictionary.“Afalsestatementmadewithintenttodeceive,”Ms.Kellysaid.“Intentbeingthekeywordthere.Withouttheabilitytopeer intoDonaldTrump’shead,Ican’ttellyouwhathis intentwas. I can tell youwhat he said and how that squares, or doesn’t, withfacts.”

MichaelOreskes,NPR’sseniorpresidentfornews,supportedthedecision.Inanarticleon theNPRwebsite,Mr.Oreskes said that “theminuteyou startbrandingthingswithawordlike‘lie,’youpushpeopleawayfromyou.”Theinherentrisk,hesuggested,wasthatnewsorganizationswouldbeseenastakingsides.

Editors at The Times also consulted dictionaries. And they had some priorexperiencewith thematter,havingapproved theuseof theLwordoncebefore inreferencetoMr.Trump.

InSeptember,whenhegrandlyannouncedthefindingsofayearslongso-calledinvestigationintowhatnearlyeveryoneelseneverdoubted—“PresidentObamawasbornintheUnitedStates,period”—TheTimespublishedaPage1articlewiththeheadline“TrumpGivesUpaLiebutRefusestoRepent.”

Dean Baquet, the executive editor of TheTimes, said that he learned ofMr.Trump’slatestcommentsinatextmessagefromaneditoronMondaynight.Afterconsultingwithothertopeditors,hedecidedthattheuseof“lie”waswarranted.

ForMr.Baquet,thequestionofintentwasresolved,giventhatMr.Trumphadmade the same assertion two months earlier through his preferred mode ofcommunication, the tweet: “In addition to winning the Electoral College in alandslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct themillions of people who votedillegally.”

(Notabene:Thetweetactuallycontainswhatmightbeconsideredtwountruths— or falsehoods, or erroneous assertions, or bogus claims— sinceMr. Trump’svictorywasnolandslide,butamongthecloserelectionsinAmericanhistory.)

Mr.Baquetsaidhefullyunderstoodthegravityofusingtheword“lie,”whetherin reference to an average citizen or to the president of the United States. Heemphasized that it should be used sparingly, partly because the term carries suchnegativeconnotations,andpartlysothatitdoesnotlosepotency.

“Ontheotherhand,weshouldbelettingpeopleknowinnouncertaintermsthatit’suntrue,”Mr.Baquet said, referring to thepresident’sassertionofavoter-fraudepidemic.“Herepeateditwithoutasinglegrainofevidence,andit’saverypowerfulstatementabouttheelectoralsystem.”

Mr.Baquetsaidthatemailsfromreadersseemedsplitontheappropriatenessoftheword’suse.Meanwhile,Mr.Benton,oftheNiemanJournalismLab,applaudeditsuseasanounintheTimesheadline(“TrumpRepeatsanElectionLie”); inthisconstruction, he said, “the lie can exist as a reality distinct from the speaker’sintention.”

Over all, the tension between the Trump administration and much of themainstreammediais—what’stheword?

Troubling,accordingtoSaraBrady,acrisis-communicationsspecialistbasedinFlorida. She says that a complete breakdown of the already fractious relationshipaffectseveryone.

“Themedia run the risk of being disrespectful to the president of theUnitedStates,”shesaid.“Buttheproblemis:Ifhedoesn’tgetcalledoutinsomeway,weasAmericansarenevergoingtoknowwhat’strueandwhat’snot.”

Inotherwords:Wordsmatter.

KellyanneConwayAdmits‘BowlingGreenMassacre’Error

ByJOECOSCARELLIFebruary3,2017

KELLYANNE CONWAY, THE ADVISER to President Trump who coined thephrase“alternativefacts,”isfacinganotherroundofcriticismandfact-checkingaftershe falsely spoke of a “Bowling Green massacre” by Iraqi refugees. SheacknowledgedandcorrectedherstatementFridaymorningonTwitter.

Ms.ConwaymadethecommentduringanappearanceonMSNBC’s“Hardball”onThursday night as she discussed with the host, ChrisMatthews, the executiveorder by Mr. Trump that suspended immigration from seven Muslim-majoritycountries.

“I bet it’s brand new information to people that President Obama had a six-monthbanontheIraqirefugeeprogramaftertwoIraqiscameheretothiscountry,were radicalized andwere themasterminds behind the BowlingGreenmassacre,”shesaid.“Mostpeopledon’tknowthatbecauseitdidn’tgetcovered.”

Infact,no“BowlingGreenmassacre”everhappened.Ms.ConwaydidnotspecifywhethershemeantanattackinKentucky,Ohioor

DowntownManhattan, for that matter. But the closest circumstance to what shedescribedoccurredinBowlingGreen,Ky.,inlateMay2011.

Two Iraqi citizens, Mohanad Shareef Hammadi and Waad Ramadan Alwan,wereindictedonfederalterrorismcharges.AccordingtoaJusticeDepartmentnewsreleasefromJanuary2013,thetwomenhadattemptedtosendweaponsandmoneytoAlQaedainIraqwiththeaimofkillingAmericansoldiersthere.

Both defendants pleaded guilty to the federal charges, andMr.Hammadi wassentenced to life inprison,whileMr.Alwan,whose fingerprintswere foundonanundetonatedimprovisedexplosivedeviceinIraq,wassentencedto40yearsinfederalprison,withalifetermofsupervisedrelease.

Assistant AttorneyGeneral LisaMonaco said at the time, “These two formerIraqiinsurgentsparticipatedinterroristactivitiesoverseasandattemptedtocontinueprovidingmaterial support to terroristswhile they livedhere in theUnitedStates.Withtoday’ssentences,bothmenarebeingheldaccountable.”

NotlongafterMs.Conway’scommentsweredebunkedThursdaynight,aclipofherinterviewwentviralonline,leadingtoridiculeandsomehumoroussuggestions

astowhatshecouldhavebeenreferringto(namely,sports).OnFridaymorning,Ms.Conwayadmittedshehadputoutwronginformation.

“Honest mistakes abound,” she wrote on Twitter— and pointed to missteps thenews media had made in covering the Trump administration. As for herovershadowedassertionthatPresidentBarackObamahadinstitutedasix-monthbanontheIraqirefugeeprogramaftertheBowlingGreenarrests,thatisnotquitetrueeither:WhiletheObamaadministrationslowedthevisaprocess,someIraqirefugeeswereadmittedtotheUnitedStatesineverymonthof2011.

Ms. Conway did clarify that, yes, she had been referring to the case of Mr.Hammadi and Mr. Alwan, linking in a tweet to an ABC News article fromNovember2013.Aclarificationthatunderminedherclaimthatthestory“didn’tgetcovered.”

Itdid.

Opinion:TheMassacreThatWasn’t,andaTurningPointfor‘FakeNews’

ByJIMRUTENBERGFebruary5,2017

THERE WERE SO MANY instant internet spoofs making fun of KellyanneConway’s now-famous “BowlingGreenMassacre” that it’s hard topick a favorite.Gun tomy head, I’d sayminewas theTwittermeme that showed a brass plaquededicated to the names of the poor souls left for dead onBowlingGreen’s grassykillingfield.Itwasblank.

That’sbecausetherewasnomassacrethere.Noonedied.Nooneevenstubbedatoe.But there’s a good chance you know that by now: that the supposed terroristattackinBowlingGreen,Ky.,thatMs.Conway,atoppresidentialadviser,invokedon MSNBC last week to justify President Trump’s contentious travel ban neverhappened. (And, no, the reason you had never heard of it was not because theDishonestMedia ignored the alleged carnage at the timeof its non-happening, asMs.Conwayalleged.)

The very fact that youprobably know all thismeans that the “BowlingGreenMassacre”maygodownintherecordoftheTrumppresidencyasthefirstbreakinthe“fakenews”cloudsthathavecastsuchgloomoverourfairandonce(relatively)truerepublic.

The same internet that enabled false stories to run unchecked through newsfeeds during the election year dispatched newwhite blood cells that attackedMs.Conway’s “alternate facts” with “true facts” (a redundant term that I guess we’restuckwith fornow).Theirmosteffectiveattackwas traditional reporting, inmanycases fromnewsorganizations thathavedoubleddownonfact-checking, joinedbynewfangledmemesthataccentuatethetruth.

TheMassacreThatWasn’t showed thatwhile Facebook,Google andTwittertake steps to combat nefarious hoaxes, they are already playinghost to anorganiccorrectionmovementledbyordinaryuserswhoarecrowdsourcingreality.

It’searly.Vigilance,andcontinuingimprovementsthroughoutthenewsbusiness,remainnecessary.Butthetaleofthe“massacre”couldbethestartofsomethingnew.

Ms.Conway’smentionof the supposed attack— shewas trying to justifyMr.Trump’sorderthatclosedthebordertocitizensfromsevenpredominatelyMuslim

countries—slippedpasttheMSNBChost interviewingher,ChrisMatthews.ThecorrectivestorybrokethewaystorieshavebrokensinceGodinventednewspapers:Aguywalkedintoabar.

In this case, the guy was Joe Sonka, a staff writer for the Insider Louisvillewebsite.HewashavingabeeratabarcalledtheBackdoorwhen“someonetextedmethatConwaysaidsomethinginsane,”Mr.Sonkatoldme.

As a reporter—andonetime liberal blogger— inKentucky for several years,Mr.SonkaknewwhatMs.Conwayseemedtobereferringtowhenhewenthometocheck itout. In2011, the federal authorities arrested two Iraqi refugeeswhowerelatergivenprison sentences—one for life andone for40years—forplotting tosendmoney and weapons to AlQaeda in Iraq from their new homes in BowlingGreen. The episode led to a slowdown in Iraqi immigration as the Obamaadministrationreworkedvettingprocedures.

Theauthoritiesneverchargedthemen—oneofwhosefingerprintsturneduponaroadsidebombinIraq—withplanninganattackonAmericansoil.

So at 9:34 p.m. onThursday,Mr. Sonkawrote onTwitter: “@KellyannePollssays that 2 Iraqi refugees ‘were the masterminds behind the Bowling Greenmassacre.’(Therewasnosuchmassacre.)”

ItmadelikeaTrumptweetandroaredthroughthebroadernewsmediasphere.“Thattweetgot2.4millionimpressions,”Mr.Sonkasaid.“Prettycrazy.”Therewas fast follow-upbyVox,TheWashingtonPost,CNNandFoxNews

(amongmany others); on conservativewebsites includingNewsmax andBreitbart;and, finally, inmultiple references on “SaturdayNightLive”— the ultimate signthatsomethinghastrulybrokenthrough.

Intheend,socialmediaandjournalisticscrutinyalignedwithcomedytorightawrongprettydefinitively.That ithappenedsoorganicallyshowedthat false“facts”mightnotalwaysbethestubbornthingssomanypeoplefeartheyarebecoming.

To understand how deep those fears go, just look at how “1984,” byGeorgeOrwell,hasclimbedupthebest-sellerlistsnearly70yearsafteritsdebut.A“1984”stageadaptationisevenheadingtoBroadway.(HowaboutaHamiltonesquemusical:“2and2make5?Don’tgivemethatjive!”)

AstheNewYorkTimesbookcriticMichikoKakutaniputitrecently,Orwell’sclassicseems“all toofamiliar,”capturing“aworld inwhichthegovernment insiststhatrealityisnot‘somethingobjective,external,existinginitsownright.’”

Mr.TrumprenewsthosefearseverytimehetapsoutsocialmediamessageslikeonehepostedonFacebookonThursdaycomplimentinganarticleabouta“Trump-

esque”travelbanKuwaitwasimposingonfivenearbycountries.Asithappens,thiswasuntrue,asevenSputnikInternational,theRussianstate-supportednewsservicethathelpedpromotethestory,acknowledged.

Then there are the regularTrumpTweets callingCNN orTheTimes “fakenews.”

TheBowlingGreenepisodemade sucha splashbecause itplayeddirectly intoconcernsthattheTrumpadministrationwoulduseuntrueassertionstorallysupportfor its agendawhiledenigrating as “dishonest” all the valid reportingpointingoutthefalsehoods.

ButevenbeforetheBowlingGreenstoryfellapartsospectacularly,thereweresignsthatwhathadworkedwellduringthepresidentialcampaignlastyearmightnotsucceedwhenitcomestothereal-worldworkofgovernment.

Alltheaccusationsof“fakenews”and“dishonestmedia”couldn’teraseimagesofcrying relatives stranded at airports — or the reporting on the legal questionssurroundingMr.Trump’simmigrationorderthatledajudgetotemporarilysuspendit.

Nooneintheadministrationcoulddisappearthereadoutsfromthepresident’stense call with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia leaked to TheWashingtonPost.Norcouldtheyreversetheeffectsofthereporting,someofitinTheTimes, about the potential business conflicts of his Army secretary nominee,VincentViola,whowithdrewhisnameFridaynightbecauseofthem.

DittofortheblowbackoverthewholeBowlingGreenyarn.Ms.Conwaywentontoadmithererror, firstonTwitter (whereelse?)and later inan interviewwithHowardKurtzofFoxNews,sayingitwasoverblownbecause“Imisspokeoneword.”(Bythat,shemeant,apparently,thatsheshouldhavesaid“BowlingGreenterrorists”ratherthan“BowlingGreenmassacre.”)

AndMs.Conwaywasrightwhenshewrotethat“honestmistakesabound.”Afterall,TheWashingtonPostadmittedovertheweekendthatseveraldetailsin

acolumnaboutinternalWhiteHousestrifeoverthepresident’sexecutiveorderonimmigrationwere indispute.Afewdaysbeforethat,WJBK-TVofDetroitwalkedbacka reportaboutawomanwhodied in Iraq supposedlyafterMr.Trump’snewpolicyblockedherentrytotheUnitedStates.

Yetbytheendoftheweekend,itwasMs.Conway’scredibilitythatwasreceivingthe most scrutiny (which she described as unfair and coming from “a lot of thehaters”inherinterviewwithMr.Kurtz).

Some,liketheNewYorkUniversityjournalismprofessorJayRosen,werecalling

uponthetelevisionnetworkstostopbookingher.AndCNNdeclinedtohaveherasaguestonSunday—inpartbecausetheTrumpadministrationofferedherinlieuofVice President Mike Pence, but also because of what the network told me were“seriousquestionsabouthercredibility.”

Itwouldbe a positivedevelopment ifMs.Conway embraced the idea that theterm“honestmistakes” canapply to reporters, too, as itwouldbe if everybody—includingjournalists—doublycommittedtogettingthefactsright,withouthysteriaormisfires.Toooptimistic?

Well,ifyouhadaskedmeafewdaysagowhatIwasplanningtowriteabout,Iwouldn’thavesaiditwouldinvolvepraisingTwitterforkeepingthenationaldebatereality-based—andfun.

Eventually,theBowlingGreenmemesledtomockstreetmemorialswithsignslike“NeverRemember.”TheyhadmadeitIRL,or“InRealLife,”which,thenewadministrationislearning,hasawayofsneakinguponyou.

Opinion:AmIImaginingThis?

PresidentTrumpintheOvalOfficethisweek.(DougMills/TheNewYorkTimes)

ByROGERCOHENFebruary10,2017

FACT-BASEDJOURNALISMISAridiculous,tautologicalphrase.It’sliketalkingabout oxygen-based human life. There is no other kind. Facts are journalism’sfoundation;thepursuitofthem,withoutfearorfavor,isitsmainobjective.

But in this time of President Trump’s almost daily “fake news” accusationsagainstTheNewYorkTimes,andofhiscounselorKellyanneConway’s“alternativefacts,” and of untruths seeping like a plague from the highest office in the land,there’sincreasingtalkof“real”or“fact-based”journalism.

That’sominous.Fact-basedasopposedtowhatothertype?Tostatetheobvious,fake news websites fed by kids inMacedonia tomake a buck are not journalism.Thesesitesusefabricatedstuffinjournalism’sgarbtofurtherpoliticalends.

There’satargeted“Gaslight”attackonjournalistsdesignedtomakethemdoubttheirsanity.It’semanatingfromtheWhiteHouseandaimstodrageveryonedowntherabbitholewhere2+2=5.

Velocitytrumpsveracity.Thatisthepuzzleandthemenaceofourage.Speed and disruption havemore psychological impact than truth and science.

Theyshapethediscourse.Thedebunkingofafakenewsstoryisseldomaspowerfulasthestoryitself.Trumpsays“X.”Uproar!Hordesofjournalistsscurrytodisprove“X.”Hemoves on, never tomention it again, or claims that he did not say it, orinsiststhatwhathereallysaidwas“Y.”

People begin to wonder: Am I imagining this? They feel that some infernalmechanismhastakenholdandisdraggingthemtowardanabyss.Thepresidentisareferencepoint; ifhelies, lyingseepsdeepintotheculture.Americansstarttoask:Willweeverbeabletodislodgethesepeoplefrompower?Whataretheycapableof?

SimonSchama, theBritishhistorian, recently tweeted: “Indifference about thedistinction between truth and lies is the precondition of fascism. When truthperishessodoesfreedom.”

The enormity of the defiling of the White House in just three weeks isstaggering. For decades the world’s security was undergirded by America’s word.ThewordsthatissuedfromtheOvalOfficeweresolemn.ItwasonAmerica’sword,asexpressedbythepresident,thattheEuropeancontinentandallieslikeJapanbuilttheirpostwarsecurity.

NowthewordsthatfallfromTrump’spursedlipsor,oftenmisspelled,ontohisTwitter feed are trite or false or meaningless. He’s angry with Nordstrom, forheaven’s sake, because the department store chain dropped his daughter Ivanka’sclothingline!Thisistheconcernoftheleaderofthefreeworld.

Unpresidented!IwasstruckbyhowPaulHorner,whorunsabigFacebookfake-newsoperation,

described our times in The Washington Post: “Honestly people are definitelydumber.Theyjustkeeppassingstuffaround.Nobodyfact-checksanythinganymore— I mean, that’s how Trump got elected. He just said whatever he wanted, andpeoplebelievedeverything,andwhenthethingshesaidturnedoutnottobetrue,peopledidn’tcarebecausethey’dalreadyacceptedit.It’srealscary.I’veneverseenanythinglikeit.”

We’ve never seen anything like it because when hundreds of millions ofAmericans are connected, anyone, clueless or not, can disseminate what they likewithaclick.

Hornercameup,duringthecampaign,withthefakenewsstorythataprotesterataTrumprallyhadbeenpaid$3,500.Itwentviral.We’vehadfakenewsaccountsof how Hillary Clinton paid $62 million to Beyoncé and Jay Z to perform inCleveland,andhowKhizrKhan,thefatheroftheMuslimAmericanofficerkilledinIraq, was an agent of the Muslim Brotherhood. Fake news — BREAKING!SHOCKING!—swayedtheelection.

NowwehavePresidentTrumpsuggestingthattherealfakenewsishisnegativepolls— alongwithCNN,TheNewYorkTimes,TheWashingtonPost and anyothernewsorganizationsthataredoingtheirjobs:holdinghisauthoritytoaccountand bearing witness to his acts. Stephen Bannon, Trump’s man of the shadows,thinksthemediashould“keepitsmouthshut.”Wewon’t.

SometimesI try to imaginewhatTrump’sReichstagfiremomentmightbe. InFebruary 1933, a few weeks after Hitler became chancellor, fire engulfed theparliament inBerlin—anactofarsonwhoseorigin is stillunclear.ArecentNewYorker article by George Prochnik quoted the Austrian writer Stefan Zweig onHitler’ssavagereaction:“AtoneblowallofjusticeinGermanywassmashed.”

Froma presidentwho loathes the press,who insults the judiciary,whohas notime for American ideals of liberty or democracy, and whose predilection forviolenceisevident,whatwouldbethereactiontoaReichstagfireinAmericanguise—sayamajoractofterrorism?

Wecanonlyshudderatthethought.Facts matter. The federal judiciary is pushing back. The administration is

leaking.Journalism(noqualifierneeded)hasneverbeenmoreimportant.Truthhasnotyetperished,buttodenythatitisundersiegewouldbetoinvitedisaster.

20thCenturyFoxUsedFakeNewstoPublicize‘ACureforWellness’

ByLIAMSTACKFebruary15,2017

MAKING THE MOST OF the fractured political and media landscape, 20thCenturyFoxcreatedagroupoffakenewssitesaspartofaviralmarketingcampaignfor itsnew film“ACure forWellness.”The sitesdisplayedads for themovie andslipped references to its plot alongside made-up stories about divisive topics likeabortion,vaccinesandPresidentTrump.

Foxusedat least five fakenewssitesdesigned to look like localnewsmedia—TheSacramentoDispatch,SaltLakeCityGuardian,HoustonLeader,NYMorningPostandIndianapolisGazette—tostironlineoutrageanddrumupinterestinthemovie,whichwasproducedbyNewRegencyProductions and is to comeout thisweek.

It usedother fake sites topromote the film aswell, includingonedesigned toresembleHealthCare.Govandanother for a fakebottledwater company.RegencyEnterprises and 20th Century Fox acknowledged their role in the fake newsoperationinastatementonTuesday.

“ACureforWellnessisamovieabouta‘fake’curethatmakespeoplesicker,”thestatementsaid.“Aspartofthiscampaign,a‘fake’wellnesssite,healthandwellness.co,wascreatedandwepartneredwithafakenewscreatortopublishfakenews.”

A Fox spokeswoman,Daria Vogel, declined to answer follow-up questions onTuesday, includingwhetherthecompanieswereusinganyother fakenewssites topromotetheirfilmorwhethertheyhadusedsimilarmethodstopromotemoviesinthepast.ThecompanyisownedbyFoxEntertainmentGroup,whichalsoownsFoxNewsChannelandFoxBusinessNetwork.

“ACureforWellness”wasdirectedbyGoreVerbinskiandstarsDaneDeHaanand Jason Isaacs, who in the past have both made jokes online about thephenomenon of fake news. The film opens on Friday and has received mostlynegative reviews.One critic, JoeDziemianowiczofTheDailyNews, described itsplotas“preposterousgothicnonsense.”

Thefivesitesknowntobepartofthefakenewscampaignweretakendownafterthe story was reported by BuzzFeed News on Tuesday. Users who entered their

URLswereredirectedtothefilm’sofficialwebsite,butarchivedversionsofsomeoftheirarticlesremainedavailableonline.

Thestoriestheypublishedhittheviralsweetspotthathasmadefakenewssuchanonlineforce,eventhoughmostofthemwerenotrelatedtothemovie.Someweresharedthousandsoftimesonsocialmediabyuserswhoappearedtobelievethattheywere factual news stories, and others were reposted by partisan websites like RedStateWatcher.

Apartiallistofheadlinespublishedbythemoviestudio’scampaign:• “UtahSenator IntroducesBill to Jail,PubliclyShameWomenWhoReceive

Abortions”•“BOMBSHELL:TrumpandPutinSpottedatSwissResortPriortoElection”•“LEAKED:LadyGagaHalftimePerformancetoFeatureMuslimTribute”• “TrumpRefuses to ProvideCalifornia Federal Support inMidst ofNatural

Disaster,CitesSanctuaryCities”• “California Legislature to Consider Tax Rebates for Women Who Get

Abortions”LynnWalsh, thepresidentof theSocietyofProfessionalJournalists, said inan

emailthatcorporationshadaresponsibilitytoengagein“theethicalandresponsiblesharingofinformationnomattertheintentorpurpose.”

“Inthiscountry,wehavetherighttospeakandpublishinformationfreely,andthat’s a good thing,”Ms.Walsh said. “But if someoneor a company ispublishingincorrectinformationandtryingtomakeitpassasactualnews,wethinkthatcontentshouldbeproperlylabeledandveryexplicitthatitisnottrueanddoesnotcontainactualfacts.”

Thoseareguidelinesthat20thCenturyFoxandNewRegencyProductionsdidnotfollow.

“Thisabsolutelycrossestheline,”addedBonniePatten,theexecutivedirectorofthe consumer watchdog TruthinAdvertising.org. “Using a fake news site to lureconsumersintobuyingmovieticketsisbasicallyaformofdeceptivemarketing.”

One story published as part of their campaign claimed that Mr. Trump hadissueda90-daybanonthevaccineforthemeasles,mumpsandrubella.ThereportwaspublishedonTheHoustonLeaderanddebunkedbythefact-checkingwebsiteSnopes,whichcalledthesite“oneofaseriesof fakenewssitesthatmasqueradeasrealnewssitesbyemulatingtheappearanceofbig-citynewspapers.”

Another story falsely reported that the American Medical Association hadrecognized a form of Trump-related anxiety or depression, “Trump Depression

Disorder,” that it claimed affected one third of the country. It urged readers “totweet#cureforwellnesstoraiseawarenessofthegrowingepidemic.”

Someof the film’s fakemarketingwebsites remained activeonTuesdaynight,includingthehealthandwellnesswebsiteandthewebsiteforthefakebottledwatercompany,which claimed to source its product from a Swiss village (that does notexist). The website designed to resemble HealthCare.gov (it is calledHealthCureGov.com)alsoremainedactive.

Ms.Vogel, the Fox spokeswoman, declined to explainwhy thosewebsites hadnotbeendisabled.Aphonecalltothepurportedofficeofhealthandwellness.cowentunanswered,andemailstosixpeoplelistedasits“managingeditors”bouncedbackasundeliverable.

SapnaMaheshwaricontributedreporting.

EuropeCombatsaNewFoeofPoliticalStability:FakeNews

ByMARKSCOTTandMELISSAEDDYFebruary20,2017

BRUSSELS—THEYSCANwebsitesandporeoversocialmedia,combingthroughhundredsofreportsaday.Butthebogusclaimsjustkeepcoming.

Germans are fleeing their country, fearful of Muslim refugees. The Swedishgovernment supports the Islamic State.TheEuropeanUnion has drafted rules toregulatetheethnicityofsnowmen.

In their open-planoffice overlooking amajor thoroughfare inBrussels, an11-person team known as East Stratcom serves as Europe’s front line against thisonslaughtoffakenews.

Created by the European Union to address “Russia’s ongoing disinformationcampaigns,”theteam—composedofdiplomats,bureaucratsandformerjournalists— tracks down reports to determinewhether they are fake.Then, it debunks thestoriesforhaplessreaders.Inthe16monthssincetheteamhasbeenonthejob, ithasdiscredited2,500stories,manywithlinkstoRussia.

InayearwhentheFrench,GermansandDutchwillelectleaders,theEuropeanauthorities are scrambling to counter a rising tideof fakenews and anti-EuropeanUnionpropagandaaimedatdestabilizingpeople’strustininstitutions.

Asofficialsplaycatch-upinthefightagainstsophisticatedhackingandfakenewsoperations,theyfearEuropeanditselectionsremainvulnerableatacriticalmoment:The region’s decades-old project of unity hangs in the balance, challenged bypopulistforceswithintheblocandpressuresfromRussiaandbeyond.

“IfyoulookathowEuropeanmedia,andevenbigAmericanmedia,arecoveringthe issuenow, Iwouldsay that it is those fewpeopleon that teamwhohavebeenabletoraiseawareness,”saidJakubJanda,adeputydirectorwithEuropeanValues,athinktankbasedinPrague,whohasworkedwithEastStratcom.

Many false claims target politicians who present the biggest obstacles toMoscow’sgoalofunderminingtheEuropeanUnion.OthersseektoportrayrefugeesfromtheMiddleEastasterroristsorrapists,fomentingpopulistanger.

InFrance, thehead of theEnMarche! party said lastweek thatRussiannewschannelshadtargetedthepresidentialcandidateEmmanuelMacron,whobelongsto

thepartyand isrunningonapro-EuropeanUnionplatform.RichardFerrand, theparty’ssecretary-general,saidthecampaign’sdatabasesandwebsiteshadbeenhitby“hundreds,ifnotthousands,”ofattacksfrominsideRussia.

TheEast Stratcom team is the first to admit that it is outgunned:The task isoverwhelming,thevolumeofreportsimmense,thesupporttocombatthemscant.

TheteamtriestodebunkbogusitemsinrealtimeonFacebookandTwitterandpublishes daily reports and a weekly newsletter on fake stories to its more than12,000followersonsocialmedia.

But its list of 2,500 fake reports is small comparedwith thedaily churn acrosssocialmedia.Catching every fake news storywould be nearly impossible, and thefake reports the teamdoescombat routinelygeta lotmoreviewers than itsmyth-bustingefforts.

EastStratcomispurelyacommunicationsexercise.Still,teammembers,mostofwhomspeakRussian,havereceiveddeaththreats,andaCzechmemberoftheteamhastwicebeenaccusedonRussiantelevisionofespionage.

The team in Brussels is not the only force in Europe fighting the problem.Similar groups are being created fromFinland to theCzechRepublic to disproveonline hoaxes, state agencies are improving online security to counter potentialhackingattacksandEuropeannewsmediaoutletsareexpandingfact-checkingteamstocounterfalsereports.

OneofthebiggestproblemspolicymakersacrossEuropesaytheyfaceisalackoftechspecialists.Germanyrecentlypassedacybersecuritylawthatcalledforarapidresponse team to combat hacking attacks.Officials quietly acknowledged, though,thattheywouldneedthreeteams,iftheycouldonlyfindpeopletostaffthem.

“Thereareconcernssharedbymanygovernmentsthatfakenewscouldbecomeweaponized,” said Damian Collins, a British politician in charge of a newparliamentaryinvestigationexaminingthephenomenon.“Thespreadofthistypeofmaterialcouldeventuallyundermineourdemocraticinstitutions.”

Despite theregionwidepush tocounter falsereports,expertsquestionwhethersuch fact-checking efforts by governments and publishers will have a meaningfuleffect.Fakereportscaneasilybesharedthroughsocialmediawithfew,ifany,checksforaccuracy.

“Most people just don’t care about where their news comes from,” saidMarkDeuze, a professor at the University of Amsterdam. He added that “nep news,”Dutch for“fakenews,”hasbeengrowingaheadof thecountry’snationalelectionsnextmonth.“Peopleareexposedtoaridiculousamountofinformationonline.”

Officialsarealsoanxiousabouthackers’attemptstoinfiltratetheemailaccountsofcandidatesandpoliticianstostealcompromisinginformation.

Much like their American counterparts, security experts warn, Europeanpoliticians remainhighlyvulnerable, thoughnational intelligenceagencies arenowstrengtheninglawmakers’securityprotocols.

InGermany,whereChancellorAngelaMerkelisfacingtoughcompetitionaheadof elections in September, the country’s domestic intelligence service already hasreportedasharpriseinso-calledphishingattacksinrecentmonthsaimedatpoliticalpartiesandmembersofthecountry’sParliament.

TheyattributetheseeffortstothehackinggroupknownasFancyBear,orAPT28,whichAmerican intelligence agencies linked to thehackingof theDemocraticNationalCommittee before the presidential election.BothAmerican andGermanintelligence officials believe the group is operated by the G.R.U., the Russianmilitaryintelligenceservice.

TheGerman government isweighing potential hefty fines for tech giants likeGoogleandFacebook,whoseplatformsallow false stories tobequicklycirculated.The companies insist that they cannot be held responsible because they do notgeneratethestories.

Hans-GeorgMaassen,theheadofGermany’sdomesticintelligenceservice,saidthat although therewasno“smokinggun,”Russiawas likely tobe involved in theincreaseinonlinemisinformationaimedatdestabilizingGermanpolitics.

“What makes cyberattacks so sexy for foreign powers is that it is nearlyimpossibleto findasmokinggun,”Mr.Maassensaid inan interviewwithPhoenixTVFeb.12.“Itisalwayspossibletocoveryourtracksandoperateundercover.”

Americantechgiantsalsohavestepped inafter theywereaccusedofnotdoingenough to counter false reports on their platforms, accusations that Facebook,Googleandothercompaniesdeny.Theyarenowfunding initiatives intheUnitedStates,Franceandelsewhere to flag fakenewsonlineandremoveposts if theyarefoundtoviolatecompanies’termsofuseorlocallaws.

“This isn’t just aboutdebunking falsehoods,” said JenniSargent, themanagingdirector of First Draft News, a nonprofit that is partly funded by Google andexpandingrapidlyinFranceaheadofthecountry’selections,aswellasacrossEuropeandbeyond.“Whatwe’retryingtodoistodealwiththecontentasopposedtothesource.”

Such efforts across Europe have gained momentum since the United States’presidentialelection.

SoonafterDonaldJ.Trump’svictoryinNovember,DavidAlandetegatheredhisteam in the El País newsroom in downtown Madrid with one goal in mind: torespondtofakenews.

Likemany journalists,Mr.Alandete, theSpanishnewspaper’smanaging editorandaformerUnitedStatescorrespondent,hadseenwavesoffalsereportsduringthepresidential campaign, many directed at Mexico — a country that accounts forroughlyhalfofElPaís’onlinereadership.

“Trumpwinningwasamajorturningpointforus,”Mr.Alandetesaid.“ManyofourreaderswereaskingwhethertheycouldeventraveltotheStates.”

Populistpartiesanddistrustoftraditionalnewsmediaoutletshavebeengrowingin Spain, like other cash-strapped European countries. Such movements havespurredanexplosionoffakeormisleadingnews,aimedateitherpromotingcertainpoliticalviewsorunderminingothers’credibility.

Tocountersuchreports—and,inpart,tocatertoitsMexicanreaders—ElPaísbeganexpandingitsfact-checkingeffortslatelastyear.Thatincludesassigningfivemorereporterstodebunkfalsereportsonlineandstartingablog,called“Hechos,”or“facts”inSpanish,todispeltheworstoffenders.

NotallofElPaís’smyth-bustingtargets,though,havebeenaboutpolitics.In its firstblogpost, published lastmonth, thenewspaper’s reporters reviewed

false claims that the Portuguese soccer starCristianoRonaldo had abandoned hissportscarafterhurtingoneofhishandswhiledriving.Thepost,accordingtoMr.Alandete,wasviewedmorethan200,000times—makingitoneofElPaís’smost-readonlinearticlesthatweek.

“Manypeopledon’ttrustinstitutionsanymore,”Mr.Alandetesaid.“Weseefakenewscomingfromeverywhere.”