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Knowledge Is Power: Fighting Misinformation, Disinformation, and Junk News

Challenge Respectfully

"The problem with fake news is the cultural narrative that it supports. The worst kind of fake news gets people discussing the implications of something that just isn't true. So the right kind of solution should be cultural.

We need to foster norms of discourse in which it's OK to challenge what others say without the conversation immediately devolving into invective. The most effective lab meetings are like that: If someone disagrees with the presenter, they say so (politely). And by doing so, they might be saving the presenter from embarrassment in a more public forum. A community that encourages individuals to point out when statements are false (or unclear or vacuous) benefits everybody by helping discern the truth." [emphasis added]

-- Stephen Sloman, cited in Tania Lombrozo, “Opinion: The Psychology of Fake News,” 27 March 2018, National Public Radio.

The Story of One Fake News Producer

 

Read the article below "Creating Fake News to Make Money". (Source: NPR)

 

"What can be done about fake news?

Some of this has to fall on the readers themselves. The consumers of content have to be better at identifying this stuff. We have a whole nation of media-illiterate people. Really, there needs to be something done." -- Jestin Coler, founder and CEO of Disinfomedia.  [emphasis added]