"Fake News" and Misinformation: Types of Fake News

Propaganda stories are created to deliberately mislead audiences, promote a biased point of view, or a particular political cause or agenda. 

Examples:

• "Votes for Women" (1908)
• "Votes for Workers" (c. 1909)
• "Little Americans, Do Your Bit" (1918)
• "Help Keep Your School All American" (1949)
• "What Are You Willing to Give Up to Smoke Marijuana?" (2003)

(One of the best examples of propaganda usage in classical literature can be found in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four.)

Many websites and social media accounts public fake news stories for entertainment and parody. They may be mistaken for legitimate news sites, especially if their parent source is generally reliable.

Examples:

• "Obama Persuades Republicans to Take Vaccine by Urging Them Not To" (The Borowitz Report in The New Yorker)
• "World Leaders Pledge to Cut Emissions by As Much As They Can Realistically Back Out Of" (The Onion)
• "Local Environmentalist All For Wind Farms As Long As They're Erected Somewhere Else" (Waterford Whispers News)

Sloppy Journalism occurs when reporters or journalists publish a story with unreliable information or without checking all of the facts, which can mislead audiences. For example, during the U.S. elections, fashion retailer Urban Outfitters published an Election Day Guide. The guide contained incorrect information telling voters that they needed a 'voter's registration card.' This is not required by any state in the U.S. for voting.

Stories that are not completely false can be distorted using distorted or sensationalist headlines. These types of news can spread quickly on social media sites where only headlines and small snippets of the full article are displayed on audience newsfeeds.

"Guillain-Barre Syndrome Reported After COVID Vaccine" (Mercola)

• No link has been made between GBS and the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, but this headline makes the relationship sound causational.

"ABC Says No Freedom Without Vaccine Certificate" (Mercola)

• This headline is alarmist and leaves out details contained in the original story from ABC News.

Many people are drawn to news or stories that confirm their own beliefs or biases, and fake news can pray on these biases. Social media news feeds tend to display news and articles that their algorithms think we will like based on our personalized searches. Be especially mindful of Opinion pieces.

"Police Officer Charged in Shooting Death of Unarmed Neighbor" (Fox News)

• While not wrong, this headline does leave out important contextual information about the news story. The Politic, Yale University's undergraduate journal for politics and culture, uses it as an example in their piece on biased headlines.

"A Significant Trump fear inches closer: Accountability" (Washington Post)

"California Leftists Try to Cancel Math Class" (Wall Street Journal)

Unreliable sources are sources that may not be accurate and require further investigation to back them up. The authors may not be credible (i.e. may not have the necessary background or credentials); the source may be biased; or the sources may rely on rumor or hearsay rather than facts.

"More than Half of New COVID Cases Have Been Vaccinated" (Mercola)

• Politifact has examined this claim and given it a "Pants on Fire!" rating. It is simply not true.

Donald Trump once said that "Republicans are the dumbest group of voters" (debunked by Snopes)

"Pope Francis Shocks World, Endorses Donald Trump for President" (investigated by Snopes)