Identifying and Evaluating Fake News: A Comprehensive Guide

This essay delves into the critical issue of identifying fake news in the contemporary media landscape. The introduction highlights the rapid dissemination of news and the proliferation of fabricated stories, often amplified through social media platforms. The essay emphasizes the importance of critical evaluation, urging readers to scrutinize entire articles, assess the credibility of sources, and verify information. It contrasts a fabricated news story from National Report with a factual report from The Wall Street Journal to illustrate key differences, such as bylines, dates, and source reliability. The essay further discusses the impact of fake news, particularly among younger audiences, and the role of social media platforms in disseminating misinformation. The conclusion underscores the need for social media accountability and the importance of media literacy to safeguard future generations from the adverse effects of fake news. The provided references offer additional resources for further research and understanding of this crucial topic. This assignment is a valuable resource for students seeking to enhance their media literacy skills, available on Desklib alongside other study tools.

Running head: HOW TO SPOT FAKE NEWS
How to spot fake news
Name of the University
Name of the Student
Author note

1HOW TO SPOT FAKE NEWS
Introduction
The world is moving fast and news stories are now available at one click. However, the
trend of fake news is spreading fast. With technological tools easily available, people garner
support and money through fake news. Social media platform has become the target of such
groups.
Real news versus fake news
If someone had to help individual spot fake news, he or she has to be asked whether they
have gone through the entire article. It is because news headlines are not to be taken as complete
news. Secondly, one has to be asked what stories has the site previously published and whether
those were fact checked from credible sources.
How to spot if it is real or fake
The independent news site National Report published news on US President Donald
Trump registering world record in golf while spending time with the Japanese head of state
Shinzo Abe. The article claimed that Donald Trump and Shinzo Abe bonded at a golf club in the
US and tried out their golfing skills. The headline read “Trump Reports World Record 39 Under
Par, 12 Holes-in-One, During Golf Outing with Japanese Prime Minister” (Nationalreport.net).
Reading the article further reveals the level of its fakeness. Further, it has no byline, there is no
credible source mentioned and the date mentioned is ambiguous as well (Kiely, Eugene, and
Lori).
To compare authentic news story with the above-mentioned one, a report from The Wall
Street Journal could be used as an instance. The news story reported that during his visit to Asia,

2HOW TO SPOT FAKE NEWS
Donald Trump flaunted his efforts on trade and security (Ballhaus). The story had proper byline,
dated precisely and the author’s profile too was fact checked to be original.
These are some parameters based on which one can demarcate between fake and real
news.
Fake news is becoming more accepted nowadays particularly with the emergence of
social media. The most visible reason for this is the popularity of social sites and the failure of
these sites to provide effective fillers to avoid fake news from their home feed. Around 82% of
middle school goers in the US failed to distinguish between fake and real news, a study revealed
(Youtube.com). This, along with other shocking results might prove alarming to the democratic
society as the vulnerable teen minds might be molded negatively.
Conclusion
In the end, it is essential to state that the creators of social media must be more
responsible and accountable to whatever is being posted in their sites. Fake news sites are not a
problem, but spreading fake news through popular platforms is a serious issue. It has to be
tackled in order to save the future generation from diverting.

3HOW TO SPOT FAKE NEWS
References:
Ballhaus, Rebecca. "Trump Touts His Efforts On Trade And Security During Asia Trip." WSJ,
2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-touts-his-efforts-on-trade-and-security-during-asia-
trip-1510786432
Kiely, Eugene, and Lori Robertson. "How To Spot Fake News - Factcheck.Org." Factcheck.Org,
2017, http://www.factcheck.org/2016/11/how-to-spot-fake-news/
Nationalreport.net. "Trump Scores Record 39 Under Par, 12 Holes-In-One, During Golf Outing
With Japanese Prime Minister." National Report, 2017, http://nationalreport.net/trump-world-
record-holder-golf/.
Youtube.com. "Study: Most Students Cannot Distinguish Fake And Real News." Youtube, 2017,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYc-hd1QSwA