1- Watch the 5 videos and write one question for each video.
2- Write one explanation for each question.
3- Respond to these 5 questions with 50 words for each one.
1- Fake News Trend: What Do We Do?
Sinan Aral’s Ted Talk on fake news brought up a very interesting point. Fake news is becoming a serious problem. I’m not only talking about these unverified websites that get posted to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc., the problem is also seeping into these main stream news networks: BBC, Fox News, CNN, ABC, and others. One story that recently came to light that was hotly talked about a year ago, was then President Trump’s “bible” photo, where the headlines at the time said that President Trump had used police and the military to force protestors to make a path via means of flash bangs and other crowd control methods. Recently, thanks to a DOJ watchdog, the truth came out: these crowds were dispersed due to construction being done on one of the walls surrounding the white house. President Trump just happened to use that exact time to cross the street and take his, now famous, photo. The issue is, that the fake headline spread like wild fire across major media networks, and it took over a year to be dis-proven. And much to Sinan’s point, the white house even released a doctored video about Jim Acosta.
My question is:
So who do we trust? Who do we believe? How do we combat this without affecting the rights of American citizens, and the rights of people all over the world?
2- Why does fake news do real harm?
Fake news is everywhere, especially now in this technologically advancing age. The sad fact is, people tend to be more interested in the fake news than what might actually be real.
Nowadays, those on social media eat up fake news like it’s their favorite dessert. We have become increasingly more lazy and do not take the time to fact-check the information being presented to us.
This is at the detriment to the real pressing issues facing our world today. In Stephanie Busari’s TED Talk, How Fake News Does Real Harm, she talks about how young girls were being taken from their families. Fake news was the culprit for covering up this story. It was said to be a hoax and that people should not waste their time worrying about a ‘fake’ issue.
This is a very sad fact of how much power fake news has over the world. My question is, what can we do, as users of social media, to stop this fake news from taking over and hiding the truth of what is really going on?
3- How does one become biased?
After watching Stephanie Busari’s Ted Talk I began to wonder, what may make a person become so biased about a topic that they will go as far as spreading fake news to get people on their side?
I have noticed that many of my friends political beliefs coexist with that of their parents, this is a likely cause of bias. What do you think are some other factors that may cause people to spread lies in order for them to become validated that they are right? Or do you think they get so twisted up in it that they begin to genuinely believe their own lies?
4- Why do people use fake news and alternative facts?
In Stephanie Busari’s TED Talk she tells a story about her experience of interviewing leaders in Nigeria about the Chibok girls. She talks about how the leaders ignored the questions and presented “alternative facts” or called the kidnapping a hoax. Why do people use fake news or doge questions when people are well beings at stake?
I believe the reason people do this is to maintain their public image. In the scenario that Busari talked about if the leaders responded truthfully, their image would diminish. The reason that the leaders did not answer the question, I believe, is because Busari mentions how she went to Nigeria to cover the World Economic Forum. If the leaders acknowledge these stories then there is a chance that the forum gets called off. So avoiding the situation aligned with the leaders’ motives. However, what do the stakes have to be for people to avoid fake news or “alternative facts” in addressing the issue?
5- Who is primarily responsible for spreading fake news and how can we as a society detect it?
Over the past 4 years or so, fake news has been a disease that has infected the world. Some of our most trusted media outlets such as CNN, FOX, and NBC have been found to be spreading fake news which millions believe is real news. It’s truly frustrating and depressing that the main source of news for most people in the world has proven that they’re not always trustworthy.
My question contains two parts. The first part being: who is responsible for the fake news being spread across the world? In Stephanie Busari’s TED Talk, she talks about the Nigerian government refusing to realize the truth behind the Chibok girls being kidnapped. There are also many instances of news outlets spreading fake news in order to push a political agenda.
The second part of my question is: how can we as society detect fake news and get the truth? Busari talks about people reading only the headline of a story before sharing it. I think this is a huge problem in the world. With people doing more research about a specific topic, we, as a society, may be able to see more clearly what is really happening in our world.
0 comments