The Rise of Fake News

Fake news also termed as hoax news or rather propaganda generally refers to deliberate disinformation or hoaxes that are usually spread through the various forms of media among them social mead, newspapers, and broadcast news media (The Minnesota Library). In some instances, the term fake media is also used in an effort to cast doubt; thus upon news that are legitimate in nature, which is commonly done from an opposing political standpoint to undermine and the truth as well as public trust a tactic termed as the lying press (The New York Times, 8). Apart from the fabrication of new which generally involves to the release of information that has no factual basis, fake news also occurs in the form of manipulation of real images or rather in order to create what can be termed as a fake narrative. Although, fake news is in most instances reverberated as misinformation mostly on social media platforms, occasionally this fake news finds its way; thus into the mainstream media.

Generally, fake news is commonly written and disseminated with an intent of financial/political gains or with the intent of misleading people in order to damage either a person, agency, or even entity and often applies dishonest, sensationalist, as well as outright fabricated headline in an effort to increase online sharing, readership, as well as increase the revenue generated from internet clicks. This paper extensively explores the issue of fake news as well as its recent rise in modern day societies.

The Recent Rise in Fake News

The term fake news to a great extent is not new has it has a long legacy which ultimately dates back centuries, concerning this, misinformation, lies, spins, as well as deceit have been around for decades. Although fake news has a somewhat long legacy that can be traced back centuries, what has shifted or rather changed is its overall meaning. A review of previous studies on the topic of fake news reveals approximately six definition of the term over the years, these include news satire, parody, fabrication, as well as manipulation, adversity, and finally propaganda (Tandoc, Lim, & Ling, 147). What is common about the evolution of the definition of the term is with regard to how fake news appropriates not only the look but also the feel of real news, as such, fake news usually hides under a veneer of legitimacy and tends to take on some type or rather form of credibility primarily by trying to appear like real news.

Generally, in the 21st century, the overall impact of fake news as well as the usage of the term became widespread with its popularity rising to unprecedented levels and on a global scale. The rise of fake news today can be attributed to the somewhat unique “marriage” between advertising systems, social media algorithms, as people prepared to be deceitful in order to earn easy money and presence of governments as well as powerful people that are ready to use fake news as a weapon to not only boost their support but also suppress dissidence (Wendling). Concerning this, technological advancements such as the internet generally allow people to access information, over the course of time the internet has grown; thus to unimaginable heights, as such information is sent and received anywhere in the globe. This to a great extent has allowed a host of plenty untruthful, unwanted, as well as misleading information which today exists as the greatest threats to democracy, free debate, and also the western order (Carson). Moreover, the rise in popularity of social media platforms such as Facebook, and Twitter has also provided a large venue for fake news to be disseminated (Tandoc, Lim, & Ling, 138).

In record time, the phrase fake news has morphed from a general description in social platforms phenomena into what can be termed as a journalistic cliché as well as an angry political slur.  In the US, in the recent past, the evolution of fake news was marked by the 2016 presidential elections where misinformation plagued the overall election on an unprecedented scale (Sarlin) The campaign to a great extent merged as a vector; thus for a whole array of fake news which ranged from the demonstrably false to what can be termed as misrepresented truth. Generally, at its most basic, fake news was used in the 2016 presidential campaigns and elections as a propaganda which aimed at influencing or rather swaying people into voting for either of the two presidential candidates Hilary Clinton and President Donald Trump. Concerning this, social media platform users as well as intensely partisan broadcasts all disseminated a significant number of messages during the campaign most of which demonized the candidates while others   seriously distorted facts (Sarlin)

In months leading to the 2016 elections, social media pages such as Facebook and new sites attracted vast attention due to the production of fictions articles which included articles claiming the Pope Francis has endorsed the presidential candidate Donald Trump. In Macedonia, a number of enterprising teenagers their own cottage industry that involved the creation of fake news sites using fake news, the teenagers concocted a significant number of scoops regarding the presidential candidate Hilary Clintion as well as the former president Barack Obama which went viral thus among the trump supporters (Sarlin). Moreover, the use of fake news resulted in some senior politicians regurgitating some of its main themes which included “Go online and put down ‘Hillary Clinton illness’ and take a look at the videos yourself,”.

In conclusion, while the real or rather the actual impacts of fake news in the US 2016 presidential election outcome remains unclear and highly debated due to lack of adequate empirical studies that have carefully and systematically assess the extent to which fake news affected the elections, one thing remains clear, fake news exists as the greatest threats to democracy, free debate, as well as the western order.

Works Cited

Carson, James. “Fake news: What exactly is it – and how can you spot it”. The Telegraph, (2011). Retrieved from; https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/0/fake-news-exactly-has-really-had-influence/

The Minnesota Library. “What is Fake News”.  Minnesota Library Research Guides,

(2018). Retrieved from; https://guides.lib.umich.edu/fakenews

 The New York Times. “Fake News: Read All About It: In the Headlines. The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc., (2018). Pp. 224

Sarlin, Benjy. “Fake news' went viral in 2016. This expert studied who clicked.“ National Broadcasting Company, (2018). Retrieved from; https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/fake-news-went-viral-2016-expert-studied-who-clicked-n836581

Tandoc, Eddson, Lim, Zheng Wei, & Ling, Richard. “Defining “Fake News”. Digital Journalism, (2017): 6:2, 137-153, DOI: 10.1080/21670811.2017.1360143

Wendling, Mike. “The (almost) complete history of 'fake news'”. The British Broadcasting Corporation, (2018). Retrieved from; https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-42724320