TINA DAHELEY:'I'm Tina Daheley, a journalist for 鶹Լ news. 'Social media is full of news stories 'but can you trust everything you read online? 'The answer is no 'because some of these stories are fake news.'
TINA DAHELEY:'So what is fake news and how can we tell which news stories are fake and which are genuine? Megha Mohan, works for 鶹Լ trending. She's going to help me separate the fact from the fiction.' So Megha, what is fake news?
MEGHA:Fake news kind of is what it says on the tin. Which is, these are stories that are spread on the internet which are deliberately misleading. They are either partly incorrect or completely untrue.
TINA DAHELEY:Why do people make up fake news?
MEGHA:Well there's three main reasons we've found. One being to get more clicks onto a website
MEGHA:and that drives up advertising and makes them more money and secondly they might want to influence your opinion
MEGHA:one way or another.
TINA DAHELEY:About people in the public eye, for example.
MEGHA:Absolutely. Yeah, high profile people, famous people, things like that. And the third reason is spoof or satire
MEGHA:which is making fun of an important person in a position of power.
TINA DAHELEY:'So when people see these stories on social media they don't know that they're not supposed to be taken seriously. They're taken out of context.'
MEGHA:'Absolutely, so they appear to be a legitimate news story from a trusted source and they can be shared and hence go viral.'
TINA DAHELEY:'Is fake news a big problem?'
MEGHA:It can be, we found that there was a large increase of fake news stories during the US election of 2016 and these were shared on social media tens of millions of times during that period. Here's an example of a story that was shared prior to Donald Trump winning the US election. It says that Pope Francis endorsed him and was supporting him
MEGHA:to be the US president and it's set out like a genuine news article. 'There's a headline, there's photos 'and the news provider's name is at the top.'
TINA DAHELEY:Megha, how can you tell this story isn't genuine?
MEGHA:Well a quick internet search will show that this is not a real news provider. It's actually a satirical website and secondly, verify the story. Can you find the news story on a credible news site?
TINA DAHELEY:'So, it is possible to spot fake news if you know what you're looking for but these stories can be convincing and really try to lure us in. So, the fight is on to tackle fake news. I've come to this karate club to see if we can smash it, once and for all.' So, do you think you could spot a fake news story from a real one?
ALL:Yes.
TINA DAHELEY:OK, let's put it to the test, you can join in too. Story, number one. This is a story about Barack Obama's wife, Michelle Obama, deleting Hillary Clinton from twitter because she's involved in an FBI investigation.
FEMALE KARATE STUDENT #1:I don’t really think somebody like Michelle Obama would say something like that.
MALE KARATE STUDENT #1:There's no proper logo, so it doesn't look like a very professional news story.
TINA DAHELEY:'OK, so it doesn't come from a trusted news source we all recognise.' What about the language, it's written in the present tense. What does that tell us?
MALE KARATE STUDENT #2:It gets to the point quick which makes the reader want to read it.
TINA DAHELEY:Do you think this story is fake?
TINA DAHELEY:or fact?
ALL:Fake.
TINA DAHELEY:This actually comes from an untrustworthy news site. So you're all right, this story's fake.
MALE KARATE STUDENT #2:Nice job guys.
TINA DAHELEY:This is a story about more people getting into relationships and using a dating website after Donald Trump won the US election. What do we think?
FEMALE KARATE STUDENT #2:It doesn't seem biased, one way or another, it just seems to be presenting the facts.
TINA DAHELEY:'OK, so the headline is paraphrasing a quote' from the dating website, eHarmony.
MALE KARATE STUDENT #3:Also, the 鶹Լ news, we listen to it every day and we know quite a lot about it. So, they could be telling the truth.
TINA DAHELEY:So we know that the 鶹Լ is a trustworthy news source that verifies its stories and checks the facts.
MALE KARATE STUDENT #3:Yeah.
TINA DAHELEY:So, what do you think, Fake or Fact?
ALL:Fact.
TINA DAHELEY:I can reveal, this story is true.
MALE KARATE STUDENT #1:Yeah.
MALE KARATE STUDENT #4:Woo!
MALE KARATE STUDENT #2:Nice, good job.
TINA DAHELEY:Hillary Clinton saying she would like to see her opponent, Donald Trump, run for office. She apparently said this back in 2013. What are our thoughts on this?
FEMALE KARATE STUDENT #2:Seems unlikely that Hillary Clinton would have said that three years ago.
TINA DAHELEY:Does anyone think using a quote makes it seem like a stronger news story?
FEMALE KARATE STUDENT #1:Yeah.
TINA DAHELEY:Why?
FEMALE KARATE STUDENT #1:Because if it's a quote people will think that they actually said it and it's more convincing.
MALE KARATE STUDENT #2:The line there, says "written by eli." Normal news sources would have the full name.
TINA DAHELEY:That's a really good point there. We don't have the journalist's full name so we might question where it's actually come from. It's time to decide, do we think this is fake or fact?
ALL:Fake.
TINA DAHELEY:I can reveal, this story is actually… fake.
MALE KARATE STUDENT #2:Yes.
TINA DAHELEY:It's based on an interview Hillary Clinton did in 2013 but the actual quote is completely made up.
TINA DAHELEY:This is a story about how much money Donald Trump spent on holidays in one month.
MALE KARATE STUDENT #3:Well there I think the inference is that you should dislike Donald Trump for what he's done. So it's trying to influence your opinion.
TINA DAHELEY:So that makes you suspicious.
MALE KARATE STUDENT #3:Yeah.
TINA DAHELEY:OK, any other thoughts?
FEMALE KARATE STUDENT #1:I think it could be real–
TINA DAHELEY:That's interesting.
FEMALE KARATE STUDENT #1:Because Donald Trump is really rich.
TINA DAHELEY:A billionaire.
FEMALE KARATE STUDENT #1:Yeah.
TINA DAHELEY:OK.
FEMALE KARATE STUDENT #1:So–
TINA DAHELEY:We think its believable because he's a billionaire.
FEMALE KARATE STUDENT #1:Yeah.
TINA DAHELEY:Anyone else agree, disagree?
MALE KARATE STUDENT #4:Fake.
TINA DAHELEY:Why?
MALE KARATE STUDENT #4:Because there hasn't been anything in the news about him going on holiday.
TINA DAHELEY:OK, so different opinions here.
MALE KARATE STUDENT #2:It doesn't say where it's from. it has no title of news site or no logo.
TINA DAHELEY:So if this popped up on your news feed one day, on social media, for example, what would you think?
MALE KARATE STUDENT #1:I would probably click on it because it's something interesting
TINA DAHELEY:You want to know where Donald Trump goes on holiday.
MALE KARATE STUDENT:Yeah, it's eye catching.
TINA DAHELEY:So lots of interesting opinions, what do you think is this fake or fact?
ALL:Fake.
TINA DAHELEY:Well I can reveal, it's actually true. If you do a search, you'll find the same story on lots of different credible news sites.
MALE KARATE STUDENT #1:Ow.
MALE KARATE STUDENT #3:Oh.
TINA DAHELEY:So how did you get on? Do you think you're a black belt at separating fact from fiction? 'The art of spotting fake news is to check where it's come from.'
TINA DAHELEY:'Is the news source reliable? If the story is from a news provider like the 鶹Լ Then it's probably OK but sometimes, the news provider might be less trustworthy. They might even be completely made up. Who's shared the story with you? Are they someone you trust? Are they someone you know?'
TINA DAHELEY:'Verify the news source. Can you find the same story elsewhere'
TINA DAHELEY:'from a different, credible news provider?' Most importantly, use your common sense If the story seems fake, then it probably is. Hi Gary, can you hold this for me?
10200:07:45:21 00:07:46:23GARY:Certainly.
Tina Daheley looks at what fake news is and gives students a guide to determining which stories are fake and which can be relied on.
She talks to Megha Mohan, a senior broadcast journalist from 鶹Լ News, who helps her separate genuine and fake news.
They show how deliberately misleading stories are often presented as real news stories and unpicks some of the reasons why fake news exists.
The main drivers of money-making, influencing readers’ opinions and satire are explored with a look at stories about high profile people.
Several examples of stories that appear to be from trusted sources are shown and the problems with these stories are discussed.
They then look at some of the fake news stories that appeared around the time of the 2016 US election campaign that were shared on social media.
They discuss how features of genuine news stories are used in fake news, such as headlines, photos, and the names of news providers.
Advice is given about searching online for the news providers and finding an example of the same news story on a credible news site.
Fake news can be convincing and Daheley explores how we can avoid being lured in by false stories.
A group of young people are shown a sequence of fake and real news stories and they attempt to sort them.
They discuss the importance of logos, trusted news sources, bias and language.
The young people also talk about the trustworthiness of news stories and fact checking and how the use of quotations and opinions can make a story seem more convincing.
This clip is from the series Making the News.
Teacher Notes
Look at several trusted news websites and identify the features of these – include headlines, photos, logos, and quotes from reliable sources.
Discuss the problem of fake news.
Some questions to explore include: Why do people set up fake news? What dangers are involved with fake news? Why would readers believe fake news?
Give students a selection of news stories to read and sort into fake and real, in the same way that the young people in the clip are asked to.
Students should explain which features of real news are used by each of the stories and discuss how a story might be convincing even when it is fake.
Curriculum Notes
This series is relevant for teaching English and Media Studies at Key Stage 3 in England, Northern Ireland and Wales and at Level 3 in Scotland.