Fake News

Fake news is published misinformation that is manipulated to resemble credible journalism. It is often used for profit or political gain. Discussions about fake news increased during the 2016 presidential election in the United States, when the spread of fabricated news stories increased greatly. 

Fake news does not include news stories published on satirical sites like the Onion or Beaverton, or satirical stories on reputable sites. Nor does it include news sources that are reputable that the reader disagrees with. 

Use this guide to help you spot fake news, evaluate sources, and find recent articles discussing fake news.

Images by Keimi Nakashima-Ochoa, CC BY-NC-SA

"Part of our contemporary crisis is created by a lack of meaningful access to truth. That is to say, individuals are not just presented untruths, but are told them in a manner that enables most effective communication. When this collective cultural consumption of and attachment to misinformation is coupled with the layers of lying individuals do in their personal lives, our capacity to face reality is severely diminished as is our will to intervene and change unjust circumstances."

-bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress