T
Deborah Kozdras: University of South Florida
Stavros Center
Visual Texts and
Deborah Kozdras:
dkozdras@usf.edu
USF Stavros Center
Fake It ‘till You Make It:
From the Boogie Man to
Bogus News
Jodi Pushkin
dkozdras@usf.edu
USF Stavros Center
http://tinyurl.com/fakenewsworkshop
http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/national/politifacts-2016-lie-of-the-year-fake-news/2306159
Was Napoleon Short?
• http://r.hswstatic.com/w_907/gif/false-
history-11a.jpg
http://history.howstuffworks.com/history-vs-myth/10-false-history-facts10.htm
Did Benjamin Franklin discover electricity while
flying a kite?
• http://r.hswstatic.com/w_907/gif/false-
history-11a.jpg
http://history.howstuffworks.com/history-vs-myth/10-false-history-facts10.htm
• 1782, Benjamin Franklin concocted
an entirely fake issue of a real
Boston newspaper, the Independent
Chronicle.
• Franklin fabricated a story from the
New York frontier : American forces
had discovered bags containing
more than 700 SCALPS from our
unhappy Country-folks.” There were
bags of boys’, girls’, soldiers and
even infants’ scalps, all allegedly
taken by Indians in league with King
George.
• Sent copies to his colleagues
insisting it was true.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/fake-news-thats-a-very-old-story/2016/11/25/c8b1f3d4-b330-11e6-8616-52b15787add0_story.html?utm_term=.de1971e180cc
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-37-02-0132
Wrote to a friend (Richard Price)
about the power of the news . . .
The ancient Roman and Greek Orators could only speak to the
Number of Citizens capable of being assembled within the Reach
of their Voice: Their Writings had little Effect because the Bulk of
the People could not read. Now by the Press we can speak to
Nations; and good Books & well written Pamphlets have great
and general Influence. The Facility with which the same Truths
may be repeatedly enforc’d by placing them daily in different
Lights, in Newspapers which are every where read, gives a great
Chance of establishing them. And we now find that it is not only
right to strike while the Iron is hot, but that it is very
practicable to heat it by continual Striking.—
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-37-02-0299
What Used to be Ridiculous . . .
Now Looks True:
This is a supermarket in Venezuela or not?
• https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-
media/image/upload/s--s0ipN7PV--
/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/gb2bfoiki
s3fntlrv1u1.jpg
Economics: Why Do They Do It?
Economics: Why Do They Do It?
http://www.tampabay.com/features/media/fa
cebook-and-google-take-action-against-fake-
news-sites/2302881
Ask:
• What does the
phrase “fake news”
mean?
• When have you or
someone you know
fallen for or shared
fake or inaccurate
news of some kind?
• Why does it matter
if we can’t tell real
news from fake
news?
Read T
Findings
Nearly four in 10 high
school students
believed, based on the
headline, that this
photograph of
deformed daisies
provided strong
evidence of toxic
conditions near the
Fukushima Daiichi
nuclear plant in Japan,
even though no
source or location was
given for the photo.
Stanford SHEG: Evaluating Evidence
Stanford SHEG Project: Home Page Analysis
https://sheg.stanford.edu/upload/V3LessonPlans/Executive%20Summary%2011.21.16.pdf
Stanford SHEG: Claims on Social Media
New York Times: Fake News Activity
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/19/learning/lesson-plans/evaluating-sources-in-a-post-truth-world-ideas-for-teaching-and-learning-about-fake-news.html
Understanding Different Types of Unreliable News:
Are Some of These More Dangerous Than Others?
• Satirical news from
a site like The Onion
• The daily clickbait
from social media
• News that shows a
bias
• Outright invented
news
Click Bait
Follow a Case Study in How Fake
News Spreads
1) Wikileaks: releasing emails
from John Podesta
2) Social media users on Reddit
& 4chan scan emails; see
words pizza and dinner plans
3) 4chan user links the words
“cheese pizza” to cp, (on chat
boards “child pornography”)
4) Users linked pizza to Comet
Ping Pong and the owner
James Alefantis
5) News swept through about
neighboring businesses
involving secret underground
tunnels, satanic cults,
cannibalism . . .
6) 28-year old arrives with gun,
finds nothing, surrenders.
7) Online stories continue . . .
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/20/business/media/how-fake-news-spreads.html
Economic Costs
Costs
Benefits
Costs
Benefits
American Press Institute:
Six Critical Questions for Media
1. Type: What kind of content is this?
2. Source: Who and what are the sources cited and
why should I believe them?
3. Evidence: What’s the evidence and how was it
vetted?
4. Interpretation: Is the main point of the piece proven
by the evidence?
5. Completeness: What’s missing?
6. Knowledge: Am I learning every day what I need?
In MSM: Fact vs Opinion
News vs News Analysis
Fake news presentation
Fake news presentation
Fake news presentation

Fake news presentation

  • 1.
    T Deborah Kozdras: Universityof South Florida Stavros Center Visual Texts and Deborah Kozdras: dkozdras@usf.edu USF Stavros Center Fake It ‘till You Make It: From the Boogie Man to Bogus News Jodi Pushkin dkozdras@usf.edu USF Stavros Center http://tinyurl.com/fakenewsworkshop
  • 2.
  • 3.
    Was Napoleon Short? •http://r.hswstatic.com/w_907/gif/false- history-11a.jpg http://history.howstuffworks.com/history-vs-myth/10-false-history-facts10.htm
  • 4.
    Did Benjamin Franklindiscover electricity while flying a kite? • http://r.hswstatic.com/w_907/gif/false- history-11a.jpg http://history.howstuffworks.com/history-vs-myth/10-false-history-facts10.htm
  • 5.
    • 1782, BenjaminFranklin concocted an entirely fake issue of a real Boston newspaper, the Independent Chronicle. • Franklin fabricated a story from the New York frontier : American forces had discovered bags containing more than 700 SCALPS from our unhappy Country-folks.” There were bags of boys’, girls’, soldiers and even infants’ scalps, all allegedly taken by Indians in league with King George. • Sent copies to his colleagues insisting it was true. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/fake-news-thats-a-very-old-story/2016/11/25/c8b1f3d4-b330-11e6-8616-52b15787add0_story.html?utm_term=.de1971e180cc
  • 6.
  • 7.
    Wrote to afriend (Richard Price) about the power of the news . . . The ancient Roman and Greek Orators could only speak to the Number of Citizens capable of being assembled within the Reach of their Voice: Their Writings had little Effect because the Bulk of the People could not read. Now by the Press we can speak to Nations; and good Books & well written Pamphlets have great and general Influence. The Facility with which the same Truths may be repeatedly enforc’d by placing them daily in different Lights, in Newspapers which are every where read, gives a great Chance of establishing them. And we now find that it is not only right to strike while the Iron is hot, but that it is very practicable to heat it by continual Striking.— https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-37-02-0299
  • 8.
    What Used tobe Ridiculous . . .
  • 9.
    Now Looks True: Thisis a supermarket in Venezuela or not? • https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker- media/image/upload/s--s0ipN7PV-- /c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/gb2bfoiki s3fntlrv1u1.jpg
  • 10.
    Economics: Why DoThey Do It?
  • 11.
    Economics: Why DoThey Do It?
  • 13.
  • 14.
    Ask: • What doesthe phrase “fake news” mean? • When have you or someone you know fallen for or shared fake or inaccurate news of some kind? • Why does it matter if we can’t tell real news from fake news? Read T
  • 15.
    Findings Nearly four in10 high school students believed, based on the headline, that this photograph of deformed daisies provided strong evidence of toxic conditions near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan, even though no source or location was given for the photo.
  • 16.
  • 17.
    Stanford SHEG Project:Home Page Analysis https://sheg.stanford.edu/upload/V3LessonPlans/Executive%20Summary%2011.21.16.pdf
  • 18.
    Stanford SHEG: Claimson Social Media
  • 19.
    New York Times:Fake News Activity https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/19/learning/lesson-plans/evaluating-sources-in-a-post-truth-world-ideas-for-teaching-and-learning-about-fake-news.html
  • 20.
    Understanding Different Typesof Unreliable News: Are Some of These More Dangerous Than Others? • Satirical news from a site like The Onion • The daily clickbait from social media • News that shows a bias • Outright invented news
  • 22.
  • 23.
    Follow a CaseStudy in How Fake News Spreads 1) Wikileaks: releasing emails from John Podesta 2) Social media users on Reddit & 4chan scan emails; see words pizza and dinner plans 3) 4chan user links the words “cheese pizza” to cp, (on chat boards “child pornography”) 4) Users linked pizza to Comet Ping Pong and the owner James Alefantis 5) News swept through about neighboring businesses involving secret underground tunnels, satanic cults, cannibalism . . . 6) 28-year old arrives with gun, finds nothing, surrenders. 7) Online stories continue . . . https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/20/business/media/how-fake-news-spreads.html
  • 24.
  • 26.
  • 27.
    American Press Institute: SixCritical Questions for Media 1. Type: What kind of content is this? 2. Source: Who and what are the sources cited and why should I believe them? 3. Evidence: What’s the evidence and how was it vetted? 4. Interpretation: Is the main point of the piece proven by the evidence? 5. Completeness: What’s missing? 6. Knowledge: Am I learning every day what I need?
  • 32.
    In MSM: Factvs Opinion
  • 33.
    News vs NewsAnalysis

Editor's Notes

  • #4 "Napoleon complex." For years, the history books listed Napoleon's official height as 5 feet, 2 inches (1.6 meters), indisputably in "shorty" territory. But that's because they mistakenly believed that a French "foot" was the same as an English foot. When the measurements are properly converted, Napoleon stretches to a respectable 5 feet, 7 inches (1.7 meters)
  • #5 But one thing that he definitely didn't discover was electricity. Electricity was a known phenomenon in Franklin's day, although not completely understood. Franklin believed that electric current was a "fluid" that went from one body to another and that lightning was simply a more dramatic form of static electricity [source: Avril]. Did Franklin actually test his theories by flying a kite in a thunderstorm? No one is sure. We know that he published his groundbreaking diagrams for a lightning rod in May 1752, a month before his alleged kite escapade [source: Avril]. The main source for the kite story is Franklin's friend, scientist Joseph Priestley, who wrote about it 15 years later [source: USHistory.org].
  • #11 Other fake news had less convoluted origins. Paul Horner runs a string of websites, some looking deceptively like mainstream news organizations. He created a post that said protesters at Trump rallies were paid $3,500 to disrupt the rally as a dirty tricks plot. He told the Washington Post he knew it wasn't true but wrote it as a parody that could make him money if people actually believed it. "I just wanted to make fun of that insane belief, but it took off," he said. What happened next is classic: Trump himself repeated the claim about paid protesters at a rally.
  • #12 Other fake news had less convoluted origins. Paul Horner runs a string of websites, some looking deceptively like mainstream news organizations. He created a post that said protesters at Trump rallies were paid $3,500 to disrupt the rally as a dirty tricks plot. He told the Washington Post he knew it wasn't true but wrote it as a parody that could make him money if people actually believed it. "I just wanted to make fun of that insane belief, but it took off," he said. What happened next is classic: Trump himself repeated the claim about paid protesters at a rally.