What it is, what it isn't and how to avoid it.

2. What it is

3. What it is
What it isn’t

4. What it is
What it isn’t
How to avoid it

5. A brief history of fake news

10. Defining fake news
• False or wildly
misleading stories
aimed at going viral

11. Defining fake news
• False or wildly
misleading stories
aimed at going viral
• Goal is to game Google
and Facebook’s
algorithms for profit

12. Defining fake news
• False or wildly
misleading stories
aimed at going viral
• Goal is to game Google
and Facebook’s
algorithms for profit
• Examples: Being Liberal,
Right Wing News

13. What can we do about fake news?
Google has already taken
steps to drop known fake
news content from its Ad
Sense program. Facebook
may label it or downgrade
it in its algorithm.

14. What is false news?
• Error-riddled or
deceptive stories with
a political agenda

15. What is false news?
• Error-riddled or
deceptive stories with
a political agenda
• The goal is to persuade
and affect public
discourse

16. What is false news?
• Error-riddled or
deceptive stories with
a political agenda
• The goal is to persuade
and affect public
discourse
• Examples: Breitbart,
Alex Jones’ Infowars,
Occupy Democrats

17. What can we do about false news?
“The best test of truth is
the power of the thought
to get itself accepted
in the competition of the
market.”
— Justice Oliver Wendell
Holmes Jr., Abrams v. U.S.
(1919)

18. What is real news?
• Journalism based
on the “discipline
of verification”

19. What is real news?
• Journalism based
on the “discipline
of verification”
• Goal is to meet the
information needs of a
democratic society

20. What is real news?
• Journalism based
on the “discipline
of verification”
• Goal is to meet the
information needs of a
democratic society
• Examples: Most
traditional news
organizations

21. What can we do about real news?
Support news
organizations we trust
with subscriptions or, in
the case of public media,
donations.

22. Before you share a dubious story
• Ask yourself if there seems to be something
fishy about it

23. Before you share a dubious story
• Ask yourself if there seems to be something
fishy about it
• See if you can find anything about it at
Snopes.com or another fact-checking site

24. Before you share a dubious story
• Ask yourself if there seems to be something
fishy about it
• See if you can find anything about it at
Snopes.com or another fact-checking site
• Check the source — is it a respected news
organization or a site you’ve never heard of?

25. Before you share a dubious story
• Ask yourself if there seems to be something
fishy about it
• See if you can find anything about it at
Snopes.com or another fact-checking site
• Check the source — is it a respected news
organization or a site you’ve never heard of?
• Google some keywords to see if other news
organizations are reporting the same story

26. Worthy of your support
The New York Times
The Washington Post
The Wall Street Journal
The Boston Globe
The Boston Herald
Your local newspaper
Public television and radio

27. Reliable sources of free news
NPR and NPR.org
WBUR, WGBH and their websites
“The PBS NewsHour” and its website
“Frontline” and its website
The evening network newscasts
The Guardian
BBC News and its website
(Some of these sites seek donations.)