Fake News vs. Real News: The Importance of Information
Scheufele and Tewksbury (10) posit that information is an important element of our society and every person is dependent on correct knowledge to make the right decisions and guide one through the complex world. Today, the biggest threat to accessing the right and correct information is the culture of fake news (Petracca and Sorapure 61).
Fake News and Real News: An Antagonistic Phenomenon
The majority of the population has almost accepted fake news as a common culture. An antagonistic phenomenon exists between fake news and real news. The absence of one dictates the presence of the other, and the vice versa is true. A piece of information cannot be true and false concurrently, it is either true or false unilaterally. The importance of information in people’s lives consequently explains why the determination of whether the news is fake or real is imperative. However, in this era where there is freedom of speech through different communication media, ranging from the social networking websites to mainstream outlet, fake news has become a real problem. Fake news is increasingly getting prevalent while real news is becoming difficult to validate the degree of their authenticity and underlying truth. Therefore, the challenge of fake news versus real news is something that is not being resolved or eliminated any time soon.
The Role of Social Media and Traditional Media in the Spread of Fake News
The reason fake news is likely to continue spreading is because of the ever-growing use of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram among others that allow people to freely express and share information without considering their validity. The traditional media platforms, especially the televisions and radio stations, have been a component for advancing the spread of fake news owing to their large population of audience. As a result, the circumstances linked to creation and distribution of fake news are extrinsic and out of control of any one individual or authority. The social media and traditional mainstream media are the mass communication platforms serving to fuel the prevalence of fake news. The only reason people are affected by the problem of fake news is that such medium promote their spread for some economic gains in return. There is a hidden agenda underlying the involvement of televisions and radios in spreading fake news. These traditional media outlets have often fallen victims of being controlled by the political class and parties to promote their interests guided by the win-win principle of being awarded financial gains (Salman et al. 05).
The Influence of Fake News on Elections
In the United States, for instance, fake news has been associated with propagating a particular political agenda sponsored by a candidate to gain a popular influence. The 2016 Presidential election was the epitome of fake news. Fake news were spread to either favor or hurt the two main Presidential elections, Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton. The entities that allowed themselves to be controlled by the political class to spread fake news in favor of one and disfavor of the other did so in the promise of being awarded huge political and financial benefits (Allcott and Gentzkow 221). Communication via social media platforms is usually unregulated and unrestricted. An individual is, therefore, bestowed with both the liberty and opportunity to propagate the spread of any propaganda and lies that he or she may wish. Unlike the social media sites, traditional mainstream media have a lower rate of fake news incidence. The traditional mainstream media, specifically those that are not compromised to help pursue a certain political course, stream news after they have gone through so many filters and the news being reported are also required to follow the numerous protocols established. In this regard, the news that reaches the end-users are those that are set on a positive agenda, framed, and primed in such a manner that is possible to be verified and supported by facts (Scheufele and Tewksbury 13).
The Source of Fake News
Yes, it is indeed true that social media, radios, and televisions have played the biggest role in the spread of fake news and the expense of real news. However, there is one simple, though significant, question that we must ask, “what is the source of fake news and why does it continue to prevail?” The social media platforms and traditional mainstream media are not to be entirely blamed for the occurrence and pervasiveness of fake news. McNair (82) suggests that one undeniable factor that contributes to this crisis is contributed by an element of bias because people are too sensitive to take truth presented by real news. An argument is floated that some truths are better to be kept secret than exposed. In this context, some people prefer fake news to real news, and this gives fake news an upper hand pertaining to both its creation and spread as it enjoys a wide base of audience.
The Motive Behind Fake News
Besides, it is critical to acknowledge that fake news do not occur on their own, rather, there are individuals who are committed to championing for their dominance in the communication environment for the purpose of concealing the truth. The reason fake news continue to prevail is because real news often contain the truth that may present the risk of exposing ill happenings in a society. Such exposure presents the peril likely to either destroy the reputation of a public figure or increase the awareness of the population on particular vices. Thus, fake news is used as a curtain for covering up some of the wrongs that may take place to gain the control and loyalty of citizens by blackmailing them and preventing them from knowing the truth. In conclusion, fake news hinders access to real news. It is, thus, necessary that the crisis of fake news be resolved on two folds, regulating both their creation (sources) and spread.
Works Cited
Allcott, Hunt, and Matthew Gentzkow. "Social Media and Fake News in the 2016 Election." Journal of Economic Perspectives 31.2 (2017): 211-236.
McNair, Brian. Fake news: Falsehood, fabrication and fantasy in journalism. New York, NY:Routledge, 2017.
Petracca, Michael, and Madeleine Sorapure. Common Culture. Boston: Pearson, 2012.
Salman, Ali, et al. "The impact of new media on traditional mainstream mass media." The Innovation Journal: The Public Sector Innovation Journal 16.3 (2011): 1-11.
Scheufele, Dietram A., and David Tewksbury. "Framing, agenda setting, and priming: The evolution of three media effects models." Journal of Communication 57.1 (2006): 9-20.
