EDWARD'S LECTURE NOTES:
More notes at http://tanguay.info/learntracker
C O U R S E 
Fake News, Facts, and Alternative Facts
Josh Pasek, University of Michigan
https://www.edx.org/course/fake-news-facts-alternative-facts-michiganx-teachout-2x
C O U R S E   L E C T U R E 
Seven Types of Inaccurate News
Notes taken on January 8, 2018 by Edward Tanguay
being able to produce a corpus of information that's accurate
which expresses what's out there in a reasonable way
is important to allow citizens to render an effective decision
when people have information that they encounter which isn't accurate
the results can end up making decisions that are sub-optimal
example
the fake news that Pope Francis endorsed Trump
because people are prone to using heuristics, who the Pope endorses is a good measure of who might be a moral candidate
this may cloud people's view
correct news out of context can influence as well, e.g. FBI Director Comey's discovery of additional emails relating to the Clinton campaign on the home computer of Andrew Weiner
this made people think that there might be an additional scandal
not much came up it, but it still had the potential to influence people in substantive ways
propaganda
during the Cold War, the impressions of what was going on in Russia was more negative than it ostensibly is now
environment
an ideal or sub-optimal news consumer
their views and how they vote can be based on something that's wrong
this leads to electing candidates that aren't necessarily those who will best enact what people want
people say they are for a particular thing, when in fact, if they knew more about it they would be against it
these kinds of biases can be pernicious to a democracy
seven types of inaccurate news
1. satire or parody
no intention to cause harm but has the potential to fool
point is to highlight ridiculousness
to hold people accountable
to pass judgment
intention is to be funny
e.g. The Onion
often outrageous
intention is not to deceive but to be funny
2. fake connection
when headlines, visuals or captions don't support the content
also called click-bait
purpose is to get people to click on the headline in order to get visitors to the site
examples
"top ten reasons for this or that"
"you won't believe what happens next"
3. misleading content
misleading use of information to frame an issue or individual
uses information to frame a particular issue or person
example
Trump portrays Clinton saying that she acid washed e-mails
the Clinton team actually used a software called Bleach Bit
but acid washed sounds more severe
Pence claimed FBI found 15,000 more emails detailing national security
actually they found 14,900 e-mails but only three contained classified information
so statements are misleading and don't provide the full context of what is happening
use fact-checking services
factcheck.org
politifact.com
provide more nuance and context to a given quote
4. fake context
when genuine content is shared with false contextual information
we see a picture or quote by a politician but that is taken out of context
examples
a picture of dozens of buses in Austin, Texas
in the vicinity of an anti-Trump protest
it was written that these people were paid to come protest the Trump rally
actually these were just typical coach buses which had nothing to do with protesting Trump rallies
5. imposter content
when genuine sources are impersonated
examples
impersonating ABC News
logos are similar but different
URLs are similar but different
if people think they are getting news from ABC News, they are more likely to believe it
6. manipulated content
when genuine information or imagery is manipulated to deceive
purpose is to distort the truth
example
image of Donald Trump and his parents
photoshopped to make it look like parents were wearing robes of the Ku Klux Klan
very easy to change pictures like this
7. fabricated content
new content that is 100% false, designed to deceive and do harm
fake news
completely made up information
examples
Pope Francis endorsed Donald Trump for President
shared several hundred thousand times
Obama banning the Pledge of Allegiance
reason is that there is money to be made
people may be doing this
tips to identify these
be skeptical
do research if it is real or not
read more than the headline
think about who created the story and why
consider what's missing
is there another side to this story
who would this article need to talk to in order to get the other side of the story
see if other news sources are covering the same story
be aware of biases
why am I believing this news
because I want it to be true
because I have evidence that it is true