[Infowarrior] - PSU: What is Fake News?

[Richard Forno]

(For the first entry "Fake News" may I humbly offer the following addition to that definition: "This is not to be confused with news stories that run prominently announced corrections or retractions following additional editorial review, reporting analysis, or emerging facts that have been corroborated with other objective sources."  -- rick)

What is Fake News?
- Eric Novotny, PSU Library

http://guides.libraries.psu.edu/c.php?g=620262&p=4319238

Fake news is in the News these days, so what is it?   The term is most often used to describe completely fabricated stories, but can also be applied to a broader continuum of news.  ​Many news outlets will exhibit some form of explicit or implicit bias while not falling into the fake news category. Assessing the quality of the content is crucial to understanding whether what you are viewing is true or not.   It is up to you to do the legwork to make sure your information is good. 

Fake News: Sources that intentionally fabricate information, disseminate deceptive content, or grossly distort actual news reports.

Satire: Sources that use humor, irony, exaggeration, ridicule, and false information to comment on current events.  

Bias: Sources that come from a particular point of view and may rely on propaganda, decontextualized information, and opinions distorted as facts. 

Rumor Mill: Sources that traffic in rumors, gossip, innuendo, and unverified claims.

State News: Sources in repressive states operating under government sanction.

Junk Science: Sources that promote pseudoscience, metaphysics, naturalistic fallacies, and other scientifically dubious claims.

Clickbait: A strategically placed hyperlink designed to drive traffic to sources that provide generally credible content, but use exaggerated, misleading, or questionable headlines, social media descriptions, and/or images.