Fake News and “Alternative Facts” Essential question: How can you be sure that the news you consume is true?

What is Fake News? Anyone can create a fake Facebook / social media account or website. Some are published as “news” and can be very convincing This can include videos (E.g. TMZ video about A Dog’s Purpose movie)

“Alternative Facts” Speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press," Kellyanne Conway, counselor for Trump, said White House press secretary Sean Spicer's false claims about crowd sizes at the inauguration were "alternative facts.“ "You're saying it's a falsehood and Sean Spicer, our press secretary, gave alternative facts to that," she told NBC's Chuck Todd. Source: CNN http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2017/01/22/kellyanne-conway-alternative-fact-meet-the- press-sot.cnn https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/01/21/statement-press-secretary-sean- spicer

Discussion Questions Where do you get your news? If you say “social media”, can you name the specific news sources where the majority of information you read comes from? Why is there growing concern surrounding fake news sites?

Why do people create Fake News? Fame / popularity Money Advance a political agenda For fun

What does Fake News look like? Source: PBS Newshour Extra, 2016

Someone created a fake Twitter entry from Trump (left) Someone created a fake Twitter entry from Trump (left). The interface didn’t match the actual Twitter one. What Trump had actually tweeted (according to Snopes.com)

Video: Fake News and the 2016 American Election https://s3.amazonaws.com/pbs-ingest/newshour/20161117_Howonlinehoaxes.mp4 http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/daily_videos/why-is-it-important-for-news-sources-to-be- trustworthy/ Critical thinking discussion questions (after watching the video) Do you agree with President Obama’s statement that it is problematic if people can’t distinguish between real news and propaganda? Explain. How do you think fake news could influence individuals’ beliefs or even presidential elections? Do you think tech giants like Google and Facebook deserve to be criticized over whether they did not properly screen for fake news? What should these companies do about fake news sites?

News Satire Makes fun of what is happening in the news (e.g. Kevin O’leary campaign) Some satire websites proudly admit their news is false; others don’t. https://www.thebeaverton.com/site-disclaimer/

How can I tell if I’m reading fake news? Avoid sites with suspicious-looking web addresses, like those ending in .lo or .co.com. Pay attention to the article's author. If there's no byline on a story, or there is only one author for every post on the entire website, watch out. Avoid news sites that host bloggers without any clear editorial or fact- checking process. If they have sources, check if they are legitimate. Check the “About Us" page on the website. Get your news from a variety of places (cross-reference).

How can I tell if I’m reading fake news? “10 Questions for Fake News Detection” handout

Is this credible? Explain

Is this credible? Explain

How can I avoid fake news? Use credible websites and cross-reference (next slide). Check the “About Us” section. Go to the source. To find out about Justin Trudeau’s policies, don’t go to Wikipedia, go directly to government website! Reliable news should be unbiased (excludes editorials) A list of some fake sites is available on Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fake_news_websites Verifying news stories FactCheck.org: monitors the accuracy of U.S. political stories. PolitiFact: verifies political news stories. Snopes: fact-checks Internet rumours and stories.

So which sites are good? Websites including or ending with “ .gov” . or “.ca”. The “gov” means it is a government site and the “ca” means it is a Canadian, government or government-sponsored site. Examples include:  The official Government of Canada website: http://www.gc.ca/  The official Province of Manitoba website: http://www.gov.mb.ca/  The Addictions Foundation of Manitoba: http://www.afm.mb.ca/  The official United States of America website: http://www.usa.gov/

Which websites are good? A website including or ending with “.edu”. This means it is an educational institution such as a university, generally in the United States. Example:  University of Illinois: http://illinois.edu/  *Note: Canadian University websites end in “.ca”: University of Winnipeg: http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/ University of Manitoba: http://umanitoba.ca/

Which sites are good? Websites including or ending with “.org”. This means it is an organization of some kind. Example:   Seven Oaks School Division: www.7oaks.org/  *Note: Some organization websites are good, some are not. You must decide, based on how consistent the information is, whether it looks official or has many pop-ups, etc. Wikipedia, the infamous “anyone can edit” dictionary, is an organization: http://www.wikipedia.org/

Can I use Wikipedia? As a starting point / background information ONLY. Never use Wikipedia as a cited source (unless your teacher says it’s ok) Scroll down to check their sources and external links http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalism

Beware of: Any website including or ending with “.com” indicates that it is a commercial website. Some might still be good, but many are useless. You must make that judgement call. Examples: Youtube: www.youtube.com Hotmail: www.hotmail.com Facebook: www.facebook.com Amazon: http://amazon.com/