More often than not, the validity of the media has come into question. This has especially come about with Donald Trump taking office, and various opinions of him and his administration seeping into the corners of the Internet. Terms like "fake news" come into conversations more and more, and suddenly people are suspicious of their sources of information. But what exactly is "fake news?"
Collin's Dictionary defines fake news as "false and sometimes sensationalist information presented as fact and published and spread on the internet." Now, to clarify, this doesn't apply to things like blogs and opinion pieces, although there is sometimes false information there as well. However, places such as these are usually very clear on the fact that they are in fact writing an opinion piece and that differing opinions or sources could change the perspective of the entire article. False news is more of an issue in the journalism world, where people settle in every evening to catch up on the goings on of the world. This practice can give people false information, which influences uninformed opinions that can be destructive if enough people develop a train of thought that is (unknowingly) awry because of misinformation.
Breaking news can sometimes become false news, but this isn't intentional. Because we're in an age where the general public has instant access to information, publishers are eager to be the first company/group to break a story--especially if that story then goes viral. These articles lack sources and support, namely because there aren't sources when a story hasn't been released.
This results in something called Post Truth. In essence, because there is such a push to release breaking news as soon as possible, the solid facts tend to come out a few days after the story has broken. Journalists have been able to do background checks, research and are able to validate or invalidate what had been previously stated
Additionally, because humans tend to want to voice personal opinions, it is very rare that there is a completely objective perspective of a situation. A news channel may seem unbiased, but another news channel may present the story in a completely different light. People are more likely to want to interact with others who are like-minded, which can reinforce beliefs, but it sometimes means that the bigger picture isn't seen for what it is. There are two sides to every story, and in some cases, more than that. Obviously, humanity isn't one minded, but humans tend to surround themselves with people similar to themselves, meaning that sometimes differing opinions aren't always readily available--and not everyone wants to discuss that sort of disagreement, either.
So while Fake News and Post-Truth are issues that can be plainly seen in today's media, as well as subjective tainting of pieces that should be objective for the sake of the audience, readers do not have to fall victim to this. Check sources. Read articles about the same subject from different places and see what another writer has to say. The more research that is done, the more likely people are to be informed. This can also call the headlines that aren't correct into the spotlight.
Who knows--maybe being informed will help fix the problem.
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Bruce D. Itule, Douglas Anderson and James Simon. "News Writing and Reporting For Today's Media" (2006)
