Author: Klara Rizvani
Youth passionate about bombastic news? Attention… you have to be selective!
For each of us, sensational news brings interest. We rush to be informed first without paying attention to the source of the information. We need to be aware that we live in a time where people for a few more clicks produce untrue news. “Fake News” is considered today not just as a phenomenon, but as an epidemic in the media industry. Infodemia is a moderate virus to which antibodies have no effect, but the vaccine against it is any “smart head” that is informed of the source of the information and the identity of the publisher.
But what do we mean by Fake News? If we know how to define it, you are on the right path to their dissolution. False news is a form of journalism or propaganda that contains deliberate misinformation through the traditional press, traditional audiovisual broadcasts, and online social media.
The battle with untruth is not a new challenge that the media is facing, but the environment in which this battle takes place today has changed a lot, due to the development of technology and the Internet. Social media and the new phenomena of political culture bring new challenges to media professionals. In the time of the information tsunami, an alternative is to return to the basics of journalism.
Fake News created by the news with humor or parody techniques
The news writes that the former candidate for Vice President of America in the 2008 elections had stated that she would boycott the supermarkets in which the Christmas old man was coloured. According to the news, Paul was justified by the fact that in the Bible the old Christmas man is always white. The published writing had satirical tones and part of the news was fabricated. However, this did not prevent other media from spreading this news as a statement made by Sara Palin. The truth of this news lay in the supermarket that had hired a person of colour to dress like the New Year’s old man, while Palin had never made such a statement.
Trust in different media channels
One of the few surveys on media has shown that Albanians prefer to turn to traditional media for reliable information, although online media has gained ground in recent times.
Source: National Survey on Perceptions and Expectations about Albania’s EU Accession, Soros Foundation, 2014
IDRA, “Corruption in Albania: Perceptions and Experiences: Survey 2005-2010.
AIIS, “Albania in the next 10 years: Politics, Economy, Society – Perceptions,” 2012.
But what can be some of the ways we can follow to identify Fake News?
- As the media add up every day, they need to be carefully consulted, always asking yourself, is the consulted family resource for you?
- Is there an “About Us” section that clearly explains who the founders are and what their preparation is?
- Does the news contain clear sources referred to in the text?
- Has the news you are reading been published by other reliable media?
- Are there too many grammatical or syntactic errors in the news you are reading?
- Is the date and time of publication of the news mentioned in the published news?
- Is there anything strange in the content of the ‘url’ in which the news was published?
- The photo that accompanies the text is or is not followed by an explanation of it, its source, the author, or the agency that published it.
- Is the author of the text identified in the first line or is she?
- Are there any official documents mentioned or quoted in the news?
Fake news often uses professional news structures to reach wider audiences. The success of fake news depends on the audience, the more educated the recipient of the information is the more barriers will be created for the penetration of this type of information to the general public.
Revised resources
Xhumbari, Sara. (September 2017). Legal framework on the obligation to broadcast accurate and verified news by audiovisual media. Archives and AMA.
Norwegian Media Authority / Nordicom