There’s a false premise lurking in the second half of the question as worded. The suggestion that professional journalists are somehow knowingly, willingly cranking out misinformation, thereby “spreading fake news,” is a misuse of the term and truly “fake news”.
Yes and no. While the Yes Men have often faced the threat of legal consequences for the work they do, they have thus far emerged relatively unscathed…
It would be great if there were one news organization out there where you could find completely unbiased news every day. The truth is, there isn’t.
The answer lies in the failing business model of most newspapers and many media companies. More than one in five local newspapers has closed since 2004, according to a University of North Carolina study. This is largely because of a shift to digital formats.
These days, literacy cannot be overrated. In fact, we’d argue news literacy is a new core competency for the 21st century.
Tall tales spread further and travel faster than the truth on social media. This Facebook post on May 19, 2019 alleges that Ivanka Trump’s Marc Fisher footwear line is exempt from U.S. tariffs imposed on goods imported from China. A critical news consumer can determine fairly quickly this is not true.
Here’s some real news about fake news: half of all Americans see made-up news as a problem in the United States today, ahead of violent crime, climate change, racism, illegal immigration and even terrorism, according to a study by the Pew Research Center.
Hunter College students can satisfy a CUNY Common Core and become more news literate this fall.
