FAKE NEWS
Istinye University Library has prepared a guide to contribute to your knowledge about the impact of fake news on the world and the solutions available to help you deal with fake news. First of all, in order to be a good consumer and producer of information, we need to develop critical thinking skills. You can use this guide to develop these skills.
The Guide provides tips and fact-checking resources to help you distinguish whether the news and other information you see, read and hear is real or fake. With the Guide, you can become information literate and media literate and critically evaluate information (e.g. distinguish fake news from real news). You can also be aware of ethical and unethical uses of information, including plagiarism.
Ask a Librarian!
Librarians are, in essence, fact-checkers by training. You can consult ISU librarians to help you discern what is real and what is fake. We are always here for you: kutuphane@istinye.edu.tr.
What is Fake News?
In the past, information was more strictly controlled by members of the media, journalists and librarians, but the open and ubiquitous nature of the digital world has made it difficult for these traditional gatekeepers to check and verify information. However, this spread of misinformation and disinformation has potentially devastating and dangerous consequences for the political and societal spheres (De Paor, Heravi, 2020, p. 1). We think that the information we share about what is fake news that affects our lives and how to detect it will help you.
Fake news is news that is printed or published knowing that it is not true. UNESCO's "Journalism, 'Fake News' and Disinformation: A Handbook for Journalism Training and Exercises" published by UNESCO defines fake news, mesinformation, disinformation and malinformation as follows:
Fake news refers to false and misleading information disguised as news and disseminated under the belief that it is news. This includes satire, parody, clickbait and misleading headlines, images and statistics, out-of-context original content, tactical content (the use of a journalist's name or a media organization's logo by people who have nothing to do with that person or organization), manipulated or fabricated content. Discourses on "fake news" often conflate the concepts of mesinformation - misinformation and disinformation. However, it can be helpful to distinguish between misinformation and disinformation as "information that is not true, but the person sharing it thinks it is true". Disinformation is also misinformation and the person sharing it is aware that the information is false. So this is specifically a deliberate lie and refers to people who are constantly exposed to misinformation by malign actors. The third category can be defined as mal-information, i.e. information that is based on truth but is used to harm a person, organization or country (UNESCO, 2022).
Why is Fake News Created?
The most important reasons underlying the creation of fake news are the following:
- To harm an institution, organization or person (For example, fake news can bankrupt a company.)
- Financial gain (Clicks on a news story can make money for the creator of a fake news story).
- Political gain (Fake news can influence voters) (Hunt, 2016)
What are the Consequences of Fake News?
The rapid spread of fake news and online disinformation can have significant consequences. They can negatively affect individuals and society. Fake news can have the following consequences:
- Distrust in the media
- Negatively affecting the democratic process
- Creation of harmful conspiracy theories and hate speech platforms
- The spread of false or unscientific views
How Fake News Can Hurt You
Most People Believe Fake News Articles
Failure to distinguish between fake news and real news can lead to confusion and misunderstanding about important social and political issues.
Fake News Can Affect Your Grades
Istinye University academics require the use of quality sources of information for your research assignments and papers. Using sources that contain false or misleading information may negatively affect your grades. Click here for safe research in the ISU Library Collection.
Fake News Can Be Harmful to Your Health
There is a lot of fake and misleading news circulating about medical treatments and major illnesses such as cancer or diabetes. Trusting these false stories can lead you to make decisions that can be harmful to your health.
Fake news makes it harder for people to see the truth
It is noted that people have different definitions of fake news depending on their education and political views. Fake news pushes consumers to abandon some outlets, consume less information in general and even cut off social relationships. It is therefore important that people seek out news that is as little biased as possible.
Fake News and Fact-Checking
Evaluation of Resources
Evaluating sources is a very practical skill, both in your academic and personal life. With practice, you can learn to critically evaluate every source and website you come across quickly and efficiently. There are many different methods that can be used to help evaluate information. Librarians and libraries are doing important work to combat fake news and librarians have played an important role in literacy education.
The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) has published an infographic on how to combat fake news. This infographic shows how we can detect fake news.
Fake News Glossary**
Confirmation bias (confirmation bias, confirmation bias): The tendency to believe information is credible if it conforms to the reader’s/viewer’s existing belief system, or not credible if it does not conform
Container collapse: my own term for our trouble discerning the original information container, format or information type–blog, book, pamphlet, government document, chapter, magazine, newspaper, journal, or section of the newspaper or magazine or journal–once publishing cues are removed and every source looks like a digital page or a printout.
Content farm or content mill: a company that employs a staff of freelance writers to create content designed to satisfy search engine retrieval algorithms with the goal of attracting views and advertising revenue.
Echo chamber (echo chamber, echo chamber, echo chamber, echo chamber, echo cave, echo chamber): The term "echo chamber" is essentially used to refer to an environment where one only encounters opinions that are similar or uniform to one's own and does not hear other voices (Terzi, 2022).
Fact-checking: The act of verifying assertions either prior to publication or after dissemination of the content
Filter bubble: When search tools present with the stories we are likely to click on or share based on our past activity, potentially affirming our biases, we need may be experiencing what Eli Pariser calls a filter bubble.
Herding phenomenon: A herd is when individuals decide to follow others rather than make decisions independently and atomistically based on their own private information.
Native advertising: paid, sponsored content designed to look like the legitimate content produced by the media outlet
Satisficing: a portmanteau of the words satisfy and suffice introduced by Herbert Simon in 1956 to refer to the tendency of people, bounded by time limitations, to select good enough information over optimal information
Triangulation or cross verification: Researchers establish validity by using several research methods and by analyzing and examining multiple perspectives and sources in the hope that diverse viewpoints will can shed greater light on a topic.
Virality: the rapid circulation of media from one user to another. When we forward sensational stories, often from social media without checking their credibility in other sources, we increase their virality.
How to do a Fact Checking***
What are the four steps and the habits we should adopt to protect us from fake news in a reality check? Of course, you don't necessarily need to do all four steps, but you can do a reality check in a few steps.
- Check for previous work: Look around to see if someone else has already fact-checked the claim or provided a synthesis of research.
- Go upstream to the source: Go “upstream” to the source of the claim. Most web content is not original. Get to the original source to understand the trustworthiness of the information.
- Read laterally: (Caulfield learned this phrase from the Stanford researchers.) Once you get to the source of a claim, read what other people say about the source (publication, author, etc.). The truth is in the network.
- Circle back: If you get lost, hit dead ends, or find yourself going down an increasingly confusing rabbit hole, back up and start over knowing what you know now. You’re likely to take a more informed path with different search terms and better decisions.
An important habit to add to the four moves: Check your emotions. There is a lot of psychology behind the art of arguing a position, which includes pushing your buttons, and that makes you more likely to immediately adopt or dismiss a fact-based claim.
How Can I Know What is Real?
I. Be an Informed Media Consumer
- Is the title excessive and attention grabbing? Is it ALL BIG BIG or is it a bold font? Does it use too many exclamation marks!?!?!?!?!
- Is it satire, a joke, or from a site that imitates clickbait websites?
- Consider the source, always do a separate search for the website or author. Are they credible?
- Are there links to supporting sources in the article?
- When was the story written? Sometimes news stories are true but outdated.
II. Examine Your Own Beliefs
Our prejudices sometimes affect the way we look at things. What are your answers to the following questions?
- Do your opinions or judgments cloud your ability to distinguish fake news from real news?
- Do you read a variety of news sources, including those you don't always agree with?
III. Ask the Experts
Use fact-checking websites. Be careful not to use information that has not been verified. Most importantly, consult your librarian.
You can also access the textbook "WEB LITERACY FOR STUDENT FACT CHECKERS" by Mike Caulfield from the library's open access resources for more information on this subject.
You can use the SIFT method used by many fact-checkers to determine whether a news source or claim is real and credible.
The CRAAP Test is an assessment method designed by Sarah Blakeslee, a librarian at the Meriam Library at California State University, Chico. CRAAP stands for "Relevance," "Relevance," "Authority," "Accuracy," and "Purpose. It provides you with a method and a list of questions to assess the quality and value of the information you find.
*From the Austin Community College Library Research Guide for the How Fake News Can Hurt You section.
**From USF Blogs for the Glossary section.
***Fact-checking section from the Gustavus Adolphus College Library.
Books on "Media Literacy" and "Information Literacy" in ISU Library Collection
Medya okuryazarlığı / editör Elif Küçük DururCall Number: P 96 .M439 2016Pulished: 2016ISBN: 9786059221405Located: Vadi Central Library |
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Eleştirel medya okuryazarlığı / Abdurrahman ŞahinCall Number: P 96 .S24 E448 2021Published: 2021ISBN: 9786051705088Located: Vadi Central Library |
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Medya okuryazarlığı / editör Meltem Bostancı ; yazarlar Nezih Orhon, İbrahim E. Bilici, Güliz Uluç, Nilüfer Pembecioğlu, Sıla Aydemir Korkmaz, Hatice Irmaklı, Murat Özgen, Meltem Bostancı, Aslı Yapar Gönenç, Hacer Dolanbay, Ayhan KüngerüCall Number: P 96 .O74 M439 2019Published: 2019ISBN: 9786057895530Located: Vadi Central Library |
