The internet is an incredibly powerful source for news and information, but sadly not everything on the internet is reliable. Lots of things you view online may appear to be genuine, but often they are not. “Fake news is any news story or hoax created deliberately to misinform, confuse, or deceive the reader,”
There are two sides to the fake news coin. The term fake news can be used to discredit news that is unfavorable or embarrassing. The term can also be used to describe the intentional spreading of false information for political or financial reasons, or simply for the fun of it. When those in power use the words fake news to brush over unflattering reports they pit themselves against the journalist in a battle to win public support, …show more content…
Benjamin Franklin then wrote a fake letter from the great Navel War Hero John Paul Jones stressing the importance of independence because the king “engages savages to murder their defenseless woman and children.
Another example of early American Fake news is the Spanish-American War. In the 1890s revolutionaries where fighting for independence from Spain in Cuba, the rebels where cast by the media in the same mold as patriots who fought for independence in America. Spanish atrocities where played up, and rebel atrocities ignored, the editorial line read that America should aide the rebels. In 1898 the US battle ship, the USS Maine, blew up off the coast of Havana
Cuba, killing more than 250 Americans. Although the cause was never discovered the media immediately jumped to the conclusion that the Spanish deliberately sunk the Maine, creating the slogan, “Remember the Maine,” which eventually drove public opinion toward …show more content…
The work of a journalist is known as the 4th power, the first 3 being the legislative, executive and judicial powers. This means that society needs journalism to be democratic. This also means that journalists are supposed to facilitate and promote democracy. The free press is one of the best tools to combat corruption. One example is the Pentagon papers. In the 1970s the Washington Post fought a battle with the government and the courts to release the classified documents known as the Pentagon papers. The papers included controversial information about the 30 year involvement of the US in Vietnam. Richard Nixon and his administration abused their powers and the powers of the court to prevent the truth gleaned from the pentagon papers. The truth that the US determined early on that the conflict in Korea could not be won, but continued to send troops in anyway. This is an example of ethical reporting, the reporter found a wrong that needed to come to
There are two sides to the fake news coin. The term fake news can be used to discredit news that is unfavorable or embarrassing. The term can also be used to describe the intentional spreading of false information for political or financial reasons, or simply for the fun of it. When those in power use the words fake news to brush over unflattering reports they pit themselves against the journalist in a battle to win public support, …show more content…
Benjamin Franklin then wrote a fake letter from the great Navel War Hero John Paul Jones stressing the importance of independence because the king “engages savages to murder their defenseless woman and children.
Another example of early American Fake news is the Spanish-American War. In the 1890s revolutionaries where fighting for independence from Spain in Cuba, the rebels where cast by the media in the same mold as patriots who fought for independence in America. Spanish atrocities where played up, and rebel atrocities ignored, the editorial line read that America should aide the rebels. In 1898 the US battle ship, the USS Maine, blew up off the coast of Havana
Cuba, killing more than 250 Americans. Although the cause was never discovered the media immediately jumped to the conclusion that the Spanish deliberately sunk the Maine, creating the slogan, “Remember the Maine,” which eventually drove public opinion toward …show more content…
The work of a journalist is known as the 4th power, the first 3 being the legislative, executive and judicial powers. This means that society needs journalism to be democratic. This also means that journalists are supposed to facilitate and promote democracy. The free press is one of the best tools to combat corruption. One example is the Pentagon papers. In the 1970s the Washington Post fought a battle with the government and the courts to release the classified documents known as the Pentagon papers. The papers included controversial information about the 30 year involvement of the US in Vietnam. Richard Nixon and his administration abused their powers and the powers of the court to prevent the truth gleaned from the pentagon papers. The truth that the US determined early on that the conflict in Korea could not be won, but continued to send troops in anyway. This is an example of ethical reporting, the reporter found a wrong that needed to come to