Source: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
Technology is changing the way we consume “news”. “News” is spreading faster than ever due to increased use of social media platform. But how much of those “news” is authentic and reliable?
In this digital era, information is obtained easily online as there are many search engine available on the Web. Anyone is able to create content on the Web. An example of a fake news will be “Headline: The World Ending In 5 Hours”. If the information is made to believe, it would create chaos.
Living in the 21st century, we need to have good judgement towards the information that we receive. To protect ourselves, we need to learn how to determine real to fake.
Source: Self-produced using information from NPR.org
The future of fake news accrescent. Solon (2017) suggested that there is a new manipulation tool which allows the creation of realistic looking footage of public figures appearing to say anything. We were told not to believe everything that we read. But soon, even questioning what we see and hear as well.
In conclusion, having good judgement may not be enough. Fake news has become a global issue. Media organisations would have to strive to meet the needs of readers for reliable and credible information to make sense of the changes taking place. Government around the world have to educate every individual on the Web to learn how to spot fake news as well as being a responsible user. The individual will need to evaluate and analyse to find out the truth.
If we do nothing, trolls could rip apart countries and threaten values that we hold dearly.
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Reference:
Wynne Davis (2016). Fake Or Real? How To Self-Check The News And Get The Facts. [online] Available: https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/12/05/503581220/fake-or-real-how-to-self-check-the-news-and-get-the-facts
Olivia Solon (2017). The Future Of Fake News. [online] Available: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jul/26/fake-news-obama-video-trump-face2face-doctored-content
Julian Seah 