The 2016 presidential election was unlike any other in American history. Beyond upstart primary challenges, an historic female candidacy, and an outsider who defied all political norms and conventions, the 2016 election was marked by the preponderance of so-called “fake news.” As election season wore on, the deliberate spread of misinformation, most commonly delivered via social media, became pervasive. Overwhelmingly targeting former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, fake news effectively undermined confidence in the Democratic nominee on all points of the political spectrum. Conservative Republicans, united in their hatred of Clinton, and left-leaning Democrats, hoping to anoint Bernie Sanders as the Democratic nominee, were particularly receptive to fake news stories. Outlandish stories about Clinton were commonly shared among both groups on Facebook and Twitter. When Donald Trump shocked the political establishment to become the Republican nominee, his supporters further rallied around fake news sources, such as Brietbart and InfoWars. In fact, Trump’s supporters soon showed a clear preference for fake news sites over traditional media, such as the Washington Post and NBC News, which they viewed as biased against their candidate. By the time Trump won the presidency, fake news stories were shared more often than legitimate news stories on social media sites. Five months on, American intelligence officials tell us that much of the fake news apparatus undisputedly came from a concerted effort on the part of the Russian government to weaken Clinton’s candidacy. Today, Trump has taken up the fake news mantra, labeling any critical media organization or unflattering stories or polls as fake news. He even took the unprecedented step of refusing a CNN journalist a question, proclaiming “No, I’m not going to give you a question . . . You are fake news!” Whether fake news actually affected the outcome of our election cannot be easily quantified. What is known, however, is that fake news was a highly influential source of information for tens of millions of Americans this past election. Though media giants, such as Facebook and Mozilla, are taking steps (and committing money) to combat fake news, it is not a problem that will easily go away. In fact, other democratic elections, including France, are also currently reeling from the effects of fake news—and possibly, further Russian interference.
What was your experience with fake news during the 2016 election? How did it affect your own social media? Finally, going forward, what can you do to help combat the prevalence of fake news?
Include at least two of the following in your discussion:
- "How Russian Twitter Bots Pumped Out Fake News During the 2016 Election" (NPR)
- "Four Things to Know About Russia's 2016 Misinformation Campaign" (Politifact)
- "We Tracked Down a Fake-News Creator in the Suburbs. Here's What We Learned" (NPR)
- "A Report that Fake News 'Outperformed' Real News on Facebook Suggests the Problem is Wildly Out of Control" (Business Insider)
- "Bernie Sanders’ Campaign Faced a Fake News Tsunami. Where Did It Come From?" (Huffington Post)
- "Inside a Fake News Sausage Factory: 'This is All About Income'" (New York Times)
- MLA Style
- Two pages in length
- Works cited page
Due: Thu 4.13
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