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Fake News and Alternative Facts: Finding Accurate News: Home

This guide for students, faculty and staff investigates the phenomenon of fake news, and provides proactive strategies to help them recognize fake news, and identify accurate sources.

What you will learn:

Those who complete this guide will be able to:

  1. Explain what fake news and misinformation are.
  2. Examine the consequences of using or sharing fake news and other misinformation.
  3. Evaluate the accuracy and purpose of a news story or purportedly informative social media post.
  4. Identify sources of accurate, reliable, and relevant information online.

Real News about Fake News

Types of False and Misleading News

A fake/hoax news story

Fake/Hoax News - news that is fabricated with the intention of misleading or confusing readers - Source: abcnews.go.co

Misleading News - news stories that report quotes, images, statistics out of context, some of these stories can be old stories that are re-reported with a new misleading headline - Source: snopes.com

The Onion - Satirical Newspaper

Satire - fake and ironic news stories that are intended to be funny or entertaining. Examples: The Onion, The Borowitz Report - Source: onion.com

Comparison of Mimic and Actual News sites

Mimic Websites - fake news websites that mimic the look of trusted news sources in order to fool readers into thinking a story is real - Sources: abcnews.go.co and abcnews.go.com

Alternative/Alternate Facts - A different interpretation of facts, usually derived from a misinterpretation of reports or by focusing only on a subset of the available information

Clickbait Articles

Clickbait - news that is promoted with dramatic or misleading headlines that do not reflect the content of the actual story - Source: buzzfeed.com

Types of Fake News

What is Fake News?
According to the fact-checking website, Politifact, "Fake news is made-up stuff, masterfully manipulated to look like credible journalistic reports that are easily spread online to large audiences willing to believe the fictions and spread the word."

Types of Fake News

  • Fake/Hoax News - news that is fabricated with the intention of misleading or confusing readers
  • Misleading News - news stories that report quotes, images, statistics out of context, some of these stories can be old stories that are re-reported with a new misleading headline
  • Mimic Websites - fake news websites that mimic the look of trusted news sources in order to fool readers into thinking a story is real
  • Satire - fake and ironic news stories that are intended to be funny or entertaining. Examples: The Onion, The Borowitz Report
  • Clickbait - news that is promoted with dramatic or misleading headlines that do not reflect the content of the actual story
  • Alternative/Alternate Facts - A different interpretation of facts, usually derived from a misinterpretation of reports or by focusing only on a subset of the available information

Fake News!

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Jeremy Donald
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Austin, TX 78758
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