"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
Making mistakes is an important part of the learning process! But this embarrassing Tweet where Russell Crowe thinks ClickHole is real, could have easily been prevented if he had taken the time to evaluate his sources more carefully.
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.
Illustration of the Great Moon Hoax, a historical example of fake news - Public Domain
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.
Visit the reference desk or schedule an appointment with a reference librarian to discuss your research. See Contact the Library page for details.
library@ecuad.ca 
604-844-3840 520 East 1st Avenue, Vancouver, BC
