Understanding the concept and contexts of fake news has over the years been a growing problem in different parts of the globe. Considerably, developed countries such as the United States and Russia have over the last four decades greatly suffered from the effects of this vice that limits the operations of the government or the specific population affected. According to Allcott and Gentzkow (213), fake news can be defined as any form of news articles that are verifiably and intentionally false and are usually aimed at misleading the readers. Substantially, fake news can arise from different quarters depending on the communication medium used. The closest source of any information in the modern world are friends and due to the developed trust people have in them, they do not consider verifying the source of any news they convey. In essence, this plus and the increase in the number of social sites have significantly promoted the spread of fake news. People make fake news for different purposes including misleading the public, gaining superiority in different sectors including political and economic. With these recent developments in the media and communication industry, different administrative authorities from both local and international quarters have over the years formulated mechanisms that would reduce the effects of the growing trend. In essence, fake news is all about disinformation and it’s been all around even if we look back in history and we need to be aware of the fake news. As such, this research aims at discussing several concepts of fake news and how it affects different aspects of the society. Additionally, the study will also investigate its historical and current perspectives, how it is spread and its impact to different populations in the society.
Disinformation
The concept of disinformation has on different occasion been blamed for some of the negative outcomes of false news. In Russia, for instance, this method has been used by many media houses as a propaganda machine that is aimed at destabilizing their enemies and increasing home support. Furthermore, the author states that most of this information is complete makeup stories that are developed to help the country or the developer to reach his goals. Due to the intensity of the fake news, most of the members of the public are not able to verify the sources and are thus used in weaponizing the society against specific actions of their governments. Moreover, disinformation is used as a tool for confusion paralyzing and blackmailing (Retson 7). Through this, many people may not get the real picture of the actual happenings and the reasons behind the false information.
Through disinformation, most of the public will trust the stories even before investigating the source of the information. Since in most cases this information originates from some of the trusted sources including friends and reputable media houses, many members of the public consider them. The sole purpose of disinformation is to make the society believe in the fake news and limit the impact of the real facts (Retson 6).
Historical Perspective of Fake News
The history of fake news can be traced back to 554 AD when Procopius of Caesarea used it to destroy the reputation of emperor Justinian. Although the two had been on good terms for most of the leader's lifetime, the historian released a book titled secret history that was aimed at discrediting the emperor and his wife. The growth of this vice in the society over the years has been categorized into different sections including the pre and post printing eras.
The preprinting involved the writing of different messages in materials such as papyrus, clay, and stones that were limited to ancient leaders including emperors, military leaders, and pharaohs. During this period, the control of information was equivalent to more power and control of the society (Burkhardt 5). Since most of the messages curved in these materials had different purposes including remembering some of the significant events, it is very had to prove their authenticity.
Post printing era on the other hand is characterized by the invention of the printed media and the increase in literacy. Considerably, the knowledgeable population could use their abilities to manipulate other on certain aspects affecting the society. Over this period different instances of fake news could be seen in various parts of the world including Chile, France and in the United States. Many scholars including Jonathan Smith wrote about the diverse effects of fake news especially in 1710 politics (Burkhardt 5). For instance, in 1844, edger Allan, an American writer developed a fake story in the newspaper about a hot air balloon that had crossed the Atlantic in only three days.
Although many people believed the story, it could not be authenticated since neither the balloon or the balloonist could be found. Moreover, the impact of the fake news developed during this period resulted to different effects including amusement and death. Other developers of the news seemed to have aimed at harming other individuals, families and government (Burkhardt 5). Increasingly, as more fake news were reported during this period, the intensity of their effects grew in the society. Many countries that participated in the world war were also sources of fake news that were aimed at tarnishing the image of their enemies and to justify their position.
Current Situation
The reporting of incorrect may not entirely be categorized as fake news. Its human nature for reporters to make mistakes depending on the source of the information (Murphy 22). The current situation of fake news has been promoted by the increase in technological advancement particularly the internet. The ease of accessing and sharing information especially through the social media has intensified the impact of fake news across different parts of the globe (Burkhardt 6). Currently, People receive news from different platforms including email and some selected populations including celebrities and politicians can easily spread hoax due to the high number of followers they have.
International Perspective
Internationally, fake news has significantly affected the relationship between different countries. Many countries including the United States and Russia have been significantly affected by the vice particularly in its last presidential election where Donald Trump was declared the winner. Considerably, investigative agencies such as the CIA and FBI have launched separate investigation
Russia
Russia has over the years experienced increase in the number of fake news that arises from different quarters including hackers, tweeter bots, state media outlets and bloggers that have been accused of spreading various types of propaganda. Considerably, this unethical behavior in the country has promoted high level of disinformation that is purposed to destabilize their enemies and increase the home domestic support. Most of the fake information often target the united states as one of the most developed and diplomatic countries. The most recent of these cases happened during Obama’s administration when he suspended about 35 Russian diplomats. On the following day, one of the small media houses in Ukraine published that the U.S had deployed more than 2000 tanks in preparation for war. Although this was not the first time Russia had seen such news that was aimed at destabilizing the politics of the united states, It did not take any action against the media house. Recently, Moscow’s propaganda against the United States was depicted by the information that the chemical weapons by Syrian president Bashar al-Assad as a plan by the United States to attack the Middle East countries. Considerably most of the international propaganda that is aimed at destabilizing world peace emanate from Russia but the county has not implemented enough strategies to help fight this vice.
National Perspective
Political
From a national perspective, fake news has led to increases in both political and civil disagreements that have in turn affected overall growth of the country. Many questions arise on the truth about the crime rates, the contribution of immigrants to the economic development of the country and the validity of some of the information provided by the American government. according to Kavana and Rich (2) the concept of truth decay in the country has four pillars that include increased disagreements about facts, blurring the line between opinion and facts, increased influence of opinion over real concepts and the decline in the faith on some of the trusted information sources including news media and the government.
Science
Fake news in science have greatly affected the fight in substance abuse in different parts of the globe including Italy. Considerably, the fight against tobacco in the country experienced numerous challenges particularly from the manufactures (Mckee 1). Many produces still provide misleading evidence on the effects of tobacco to human health even after the government of the country introduced standardized packaging.
How Fake News Spreads
With the increase in digital and technological advancement has greatly promoted the mediums through which fake news can be spread. The internet, in particular, provides extensive rooms through which such vices can be carried out. Many media houses have developed their websites through which they share different information that the readers cannot authenticate or verify their validity. Equally, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook has also dismissed the notion that fake news is controlled in the platform. This means that some of the multinational companies including Facebook and Google are still devising mechanism to prevent the spread of such information in their platform (New York Times 1). Printed media such as the Washington Post and some of the Russian newspapers have also in the recent past been accused of spreading the fake news on different occasions.
Impact of Fake News
Considerably, fake news has different impacts in the modern society that depend on the population targeted by the information. On different occasions, these vices make people angry on the targeted population thus reducing the level of trust between the two groups. In other instances, fake news enhances the making of wrong decisions that may negatively affect development both in personal and professional levels (New York Times 1). Understandably, the fake news spread by some of the Russian media houses is aimed at promoting war against the United States that would, in the long run, result in the death of civilians.
How to be aware of fake news
The identification of fake news can be understood through its definition that points out the authenticity of the sources used. Additionally, it is important to vet the credibility of the publisher, the quality, and timeliness of the information and the methods used to acquire the information.
Works Cited
Burkhardt, Joanna M. Combating fake news in the digital age. ALA TechSource, 2017.
Kavana, Michael D, and Rich Jennifer. "Can We Reverse 'Truth Decay’?" (2018): 1-2. Web. 10 May 2018.
Allcott, Hunt, and Matthew Gentzkow. "Social media and fake news in the 2016 election." Journal of Economic Perspectives31.2 (2017): 211-36.
New York Times. "The Digital Virus Called Fake News." The New York Times 2016: 1-2.
McKee, Martin. "The tobacco industry: the pioneer of Fake News." Journal of public health research 6.1 (2017).
Allcott, Hunt, and Matthew Gentzkow. "Social media and fake news in the 2016 election." Journal of Economic Perspectives31.2 (2017): 211-36.
Murphy, James. "Unnoteworthy News." The New American (2018): 21-23.
Reston, Laura. "How Russia Weaponizes Fake News." (2017): 6-8.
Appendices
(Retson 7)
Retson 6
(Murphy 22)
(Burkhardt 5)
(Rich 2)
(The New York Times 1)
