A brief introduction to fake news stories and how to spot them.

1. •We live in a world where we have access to more
information, more quickly than ever before.
•But that same information explosion makes it
possible for people to share false information just as
easily as facts.
•Have you ever been fooled by a fake “news story”?
What’s News?

2. Anyone remember this news story?
Did you click? Did you believe it? Why or why
not?

3. Try this quiz:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/tanyache
n/quiz-is-this-canadian-headline-
real-or-fake
Can you tell a real headline
from a fake one?

4. •...a lot of real “news” stories are pretty
quirky and odd, which makes it easier
for people who make up fake news
stories to sound convincing.
•But why make up “fake news” in the
first place?
As the quiz illustrates ...

5. 1. Satire
2. Hoaxes
3. Fringe opinions
“Fake News” falls into
three broad categories:

6. •Satire is the use of humour, irony or exaggeration to
make a point – often to criticize what the writer sees as
a problem in society.
•Satire “news” sites post false news stories for
humourous effect.
•Often, they make the reader laugh at something
ridiculous in our contemporary world.
SATIRE

7. •Though some people are fooled into thinking satire
stories are real, the main intent is not to deceive, but to
amuse.
•Satire sites clearly advertise that what they write is
satire (though you may have to look around for the
disclaimer).
SATIRE

8. One of the original satirical news websites, and still one
of the best-known, is The Onion, famous for headlines
like ...
Here, the target of satire is American “real” news network CNN. Many
people feel network news overemphasizes stories that create fea; the
Onion story satirizes this tendency.

9. There’s a lot of (real) controversy over what should and shouldn’t be
taught in school sex-ed courses. That provided a perfect opportunity
for Canadian satire radio show “This is That” to produce the
following satire piece ...
LISTE
N

10. Check out the radio story on the Saskatchewan
“kissing classes” at the link below (you’ll need to
copy and past the link). Notice how the piece is
structured to sound very much like a genuine
radio news report.
http://tinyurl.com/hwwqarn

11.  Watch the video that follows.
What is the target of satire in this
“news story”?

12. •While a “hoax” may also involve a fake
news story that looks like a real one, the
intent is different.
•The purpose of a hoax is to fool the
reader/viewer
HOAX

13. •This may be done to make money (many sites
earn advertising revenue just by getting people
to click on their page)
•Other times, people create hoaxes just for the
fun of proving they can fool people
HOAX

14. British Scientists Clone
Dinosaur
 From the Newshound website, March 2014
Scientists at Liverpool's John Moore University have
successfully cloned a dinosaur, a spokesman from the
university said yesterday. The dinosaur, a baby
Apatosaurus nicknamed "Spot," is currently being
incubated at the University's College of Veterinary
Medicine. The scientists extracted DNA from preserved
Apatosaurus fossils, which were on display at the
university's museum of natural science. Once the DNA was
harvested, scientists injected it into a fertile ostrich
womb. "Ostriches share a lot of genetic traits with
dinosaurs," said Dr. Gerrard Jones, a biology professor
at LJMU and the project's leading scientist.

15. British Scientists Clone
Dinosaur
 From the Newshound website, March 2014
Scientists at Liverpool's John Moore University have
successfully cloned a dinosaur, a spokesman from the
university said yesterday. The dinosaur, a baby
Apatosaurus nicknamed "Spot," is currently being
incubated at the University's College of Veterinary
Medicine. The scientists extracted DNA from preserved
Apatosaurus fossils, which were on display at the
university's museum of natural science. Once the DNA was
harvested, scientists injected it into a fertile ostrich
womb. "Ostriches share a lot of genetic traits with
dinosaurs," said Dr. Gerrard Jones, a biology professor
at LJMU and the project's leading scientist.
How do we know this is a
fake?
Known hoax site
No record this guy exists at that
university
Also, it turns out this is a picture
of a baby kangaroo

16. Many hoaxes are harmless, but others can
provide dangerous misinformation...
...especially since real news outlets are sometimes fooled and
repost these stories as if they are true (this is a growing problem
since newspapers and TV channels have less money than they
once had to hire fact-checkers)

17. In the 2016 US Election, “fake
news” (intentional hoaxes) played
a big role
 In fact, many people believe that fake news stories may
have had enough influence to affect the outcome of the
election.
 Some analysis showed people were more likely to click on
hoax news stories online than real news.

18. In the 2016 US Election, “fake
news” (intentional hoaxes) played
a big role
 In the weeks following the election, several hoax-
writers were interviewed. They admitted to writing
fake headlines like these, mainly for the
advertising revenue. Often the hoax writers were
shocked at how many people believed them.
 Some experts now suggest that Russia may have
been involved in helping this American “fake
news” to become popular, with the goal of helping
to elect Donald Trump. Only time will tell the truth
of these claims, but it makes it even more
important to be a smart news-reader and able to
spot hoaxes!

19. The whole issue of “fake news” has
become very political
 As Google and Facebook announced that they were trying
to crack down on “fake news” on their sites, hundreds of
people responded online by claiming that any news media
they disagreed with was “fake.”
 While there’s always room for different opinions, remember:
if a “news” story claims something happened, and there’s
no evidence that that thing actually did happen, it’s FAKE
NEWS.
 But it’s getting a lot harder to tell the difference!
 Notice what the site “Politicops” does: they advertise that
they are a news/satire hybrid, and offer a button that allows
you to turn on and off the “facts” in story. For example,
check out:
http://politicops.com/gop-candidate-calls-melania-trump-to-
sterilize-the-white-house-after-the-animals-departure/
 How many people do you think share Politicops stories
without noticing either the disclaimer or the button? Would
you have noticed???

20. There was a time when people assumed if you saw
a photo or video, that proved the story must be true
...
This fake image of the British royal family taking a selfie went viral – and
this one didn’t even require any photoshop tricks. Just a bunch of royal
family lookalikes and a good photographer!

21. Even video can’t be trusted!
The viral video that follows
was shared by millions of
people online ...

22. ...but it was quickly revealed
as a clever hoax, as you’ll see
in the next video.

23. 1. Is the site reporting it a reliable site? Check their
“About” section. Most satire websites carry a disclaimer;
many hoax sites don’t. Also, check other stories on the
same site.
Questions to ask if a news story
seems sketchy ....

24. Questions to ask if a news story
seems sketchy ....
2. Are other sites carrying the story? If you find the
story on more than one site, go on to ask:
3. Are all the stories word-for-word identical? If so,
they’re all cut-and-paste copies of the original
story, which is a bad sign.

25. Questions to ask if a news story
seems sketchy ....
4. Are any of the sites mainstream news sites? (In
Canada, think of sites like cbc.ca , globeandmail.com
, etc.). If not, ask yourself, why is the mainstream
media not carrying this story?
5. Do the facts of the story check out? While it takes
some special skill to analyze pictures to see if they’re
photoshopped or videos to see if they’ve been faked,
it’s not hard to Google names in a story to see if you
can independently confirm the facts.

26. Questions to ask if a news story
seems sketchy ....
6. Have sites like snopes.com, hoax-slayer.com,
or urbanlegends.about.com reported on it? The
people who run these sites have often done some
of the background research for you.

27. The Urban Legends page suggests these
five signs that a viral video might be a fake:
 The post promotes lurid, shocking or offensive content:
“BREAKING NEWS!” “SHOCKING VIDEO!!” “YOU
WON’T BELIEVE THIS!!!”
 It’s got a weird URL: "HotBootyVideos.cz,"
"BreekingNews.ph,“ or something equally sketchy.
 You click the link and you’re redirected to a page that
looks like Facebook (or another trusted social media
site), but isn’t. Again, check the URL.

28. The Urban Legends page suggests these
five signs that a viral video might be a fake:
 You’re asked to share a video BEFORE you can view
it. This is both spam and a scam – the goal is to get
you to spam your friends’ pages with this fake “news
story” or “shocking video.”
 You’re prompted to complete a marketing survey or
download software. Now the scammers are making
their money from you.

29. A third category of “fake news” is more controversial because,
unlike satire or hoaxes, the people who post these stories
genuinely believe they are true. They represent perspectives
that people sincerely believe, but that are not supported by
most experts or most evidence.
Everyone has a right to an opinion. But opinions have to be
backed up by evidence. What about opinions that don’t match
up with mainstream views?
FRINGE OPINIONS

30. Most people believe ...
But a few people believe
...
 Human use of fossil
fuels is leading to
disastrous climate
change.
 American astronauts
landed on the moon in
1969.
 The World Trade
Center in NYC were
destroyed by terrorists
linked to Al-Qaeda on
Sept. 11, 2001.
 Vaccines are an
important tool to
prevent the spread of
infectious diseases.
 Climate change is a
hoax; it either isn’t
happening or is
caused naturally.
 The moon landing
was a clever fake.
 The 9/11 terrorist
attacks were an
“inside job” by the US
government.
 Vaccines are
dangerous and should
be avoided; they don’t
help prevent disease
and can have deadly
side effects.

31. You may know people who believe some of these
“fringe opinions” (or even believe some of them
yourself)
 Again, everyone has a right to an
opinion.
 But, be aware that if you want to
convince anyone of your opinion, you
need evidence.
 When most experts hold a different
opinion, ask yourself: which position is
best supported by the evidence?

32. You may know people who believe some of these
“fringe opinions” (or even believe some of them
yourself)
 When you read a news story that promotes a
non-mainstream point of view (for example, a
story that says a climate scientist denies
global warming), do a little digging!
 The majority isn’t always right, and throughout
history, a few “fringe opinions” have turned out
to be true. But don’t assume someone’s telling
the truth just because they claim to have
some secret knowledge everyone is covering
up!

33. So, a quick recap ...
 SATIRE stories are produced with the intention of
making you laugh, and maybe poking fun at an
issue people take seriously. Satire websites
usually state plainly that what they publish is
satire, but some people are still fooled into
thinking they’re reading real news stories –
especially if the satire piece supports an opinion
they already hold. Strong opinions can make us
miss the obvious satire clues, because we want
the story to be true.

34. So, a quick recap ...
 HOAX stories are produced with the intention of
deceiving people into thinking they’re real, often
as a money-making scam. Hoax sites don’t always
clearly advertise that their stories are not true and
often don’t insert obvious jokes like satire sites
do – so people are more often fooled by them
(after all, that’s the point!)

35. So, a quick recap ...
 FRINGE OPINIONS are posted by people who
sincerely believe what they are posting is true –
but it often doesn’t line up with mainstream
knowledge and may be poorly supported by
evidence. Remember to evaluate everything you
see, hear, and read with a critical eye!

36. There’s no foolproof way to avoid
being fooled every time ...
 ...but if you learn to read and view everything with
a little skepticism, you’ll be less likely to be fooled.
 Check the source! Where are you getting your
“information”?
 Check what other people have to say about the
story.
 Do a little digging – if it seems too good/bad/weird
to be true, it often is! (Though, reality can be
pretty weird too)

37. There’s no foolproof way to avoid
being fooled every time ...
 Examine your own biases – we’re more likely
to fall for hoaxes and misinformation when the
stories line up with something we already
believe.
 Don’t share a story until you’re sure it’s true.
That way, you don’t add the problem of
misinformation!

38. And, a final thought some of
you may remember from
childhood ...