Fake news

From Conservapedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by RobSmith (Talk | contribs) at 23:47, September 11, 2020. It may differ significantly from current revision.

Jump to: navigation, search

"Fake news" refers to liberal bias in the media that is so misleading that it is actually false. It can also include assertions of a non-political nature that seem believable but are untrue. It often incorporates the use of questionable or unnamed (and most often, non-existent) "anonymous sources" that present one or more of the following characteristics: extreme bias, consistent promotion of propaganda/conspiracies, poor or no sourcing to credible information, or a complete lack of transparency.[1]

Hollywood fake news is in the form of "docudramas" that mix factual content with falsehoods such that viewers are misled into thinking that the falsehoods are true, as in the upcoming Mrs. America miniseries. Mainstream fake news has liberal bias that goes beyond reporting of facts and commentary; it can take the form of headlining a manufactured crisis to obscure real news in the daily news cycle. Clickbait, a sensational headline with a body of reporting based on half-truths designed to lure a reader into a commercial website, is another form of fake news.

The motive of fake news is to manipulate public opinion using false reporting and bias for the purpose of profit or influence.[1] It can be sourced by anonymous government leakers or political operatives, or entirely fictional. The motive can be as simple as confirmation bias – pandering to an ideological viewership to distribute talking points or maintain ratings.

The Hill is seen here tweeting an outrageous claim proved false by their own provided image; while it has been deleted after being called out, the tweet has been archived.

Examples of major mainstream fake news stories in the recent past are:

  • Drivers caught in traffic during Black Lives Matter protests are white supremacists using vehicles to attack peaceful protesters.[2]
  • Rioters are not protesters, and riots are not "peaceful protests."
  • Russians hacked the DNC and gave Podesta emails to WikiLeaks.[3]
  • Fake news media spread the rumor, which Nancy Pelosi also picked up on and claimed, that President Trump suggested injecting people with Lysol to kill the coronavirus, irresponsibly twisting what Trump actually said out of context to suit their anti-Trump narrative.[4] When Hillary Clinton also picked up on that fake news story and made a fool of herself by parroting it on Twitter, she was roasted for it on her Twitter account.[5]
  • The leftwing Chinese Communist Party claim that the Chinese coronavirus originated in the United States and reporting the Wuhan coronavirus is "racist".
  • The "hoax" hoax: Both Politico and MSNBC claimed that President Trump called the coronavirus a hoax.
  • That President Trump's national security and public health travel bans are "racist".
  • In ten debate appearances, Elizabeth Warren was never asked once about her false claims of Native American heritage.[6]
  • Pete Buttigieg won the 2020 Iowa Caucus.[7]
  • Bernie Sanders said "a woman can never be president." CNN manufactured that hit on Sanders then used it as a debate question a few days later.
  • There is no "second whistleblower" for the same reason there was no first: (a) The President is not a member of the intelligence community, (b) is not subject to oversight by the intelligence community inspector general, (c) his actions do not concern “the funding, administration, or operation of an intelligence activity", (d) and do not arise in connection with any such intelligence activity at all."[8]
  • As the impeachment inquiry was ginned up, both the Washington Post and Lawfareblog's Ukrainian collusion timelines claim that Hunter Biden joined Burisma in May 2014, whereas Burisima's own website and Deutsche Welle[9][10][11][12] reported that Hunter Biden's hiring was just four days prior to Vice President Biden's pledging $50 million in U.S. taxpayer provided funds to Ukraine.[13][14] Democrats issued phoney subpoenas to build an impeachment case.
  • By precedent, Congress must have a floor vote to authorize an impeachment inquiry. Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced an "impeachment inquiry" with no floor vote; and media reported it as a duly authorized inquiry.[15] The unprecedented change in House Rules results in excluding Republicans from cross examining witnesses in drafting Articles of Impeachment.
  • The hostile opinionated misrepresentation and speculation of President Trump's intentions for celebrating the July 4th, 2019 holiday with a military parade and fireworks display in Washington DC as an occasion for self-aggrandizement, before the events occurred.[16] Mr. Trump planned and delivered festivities as a "Salute to America" to honor the U.S. military, prominent Americans and American accomplishments of the past 243 years.[17]
  • the liberal media widely reported that actor Jussie Smollett was a victim of a hate crime when it subsequently appeared to have been a hoax;
  • that a high school student wearing a pro-Trump Make America Great Again hat at the March for Life somehow "acted improperly" when he stood smiling while a professional protestor persistently beat a drum in his face;[18]
  • calling the "Washington's Birthday" holiday the made-up name "Presidents' Day," which it never was under federal law;
  • the deliberate manipulation of President Trump's live Oval Office broadcast by a local Fox affiliate editor/technician;[19]
  • the uncorroborated, obscene sexual allegation published by The New Yorker as part of the Kavanaugh smear;
  • the panic reporting for several days prior to the 2018 Midterm elections that a dozen fake bombs mailed to prominent Democrats were real;[20]
  • the New York Times story that the investigation of President Trump began after James Comey was fired and not in the Spring of 2016.
  • On the day documents were released verifying that the late Sen. John McCain was a major player in the coup plot against President Trump,[21] the MSM reported Trump's reaction as if it were some petty vendetta related to McCain's POW status or McCain's vote to save Obamacare.
  • Fake news media adopted the talking points of the totalitarian Chinese Communist Party against the Hong Kong democracy movement.[22]

Political fake news is designed to push an agenda, typically the liberal one. Non-political clickbait is designed to attract internet traffic, attention, or sales. Clickbait websites often lack known publishers hindering lawsuits against them for libel or slander.[23] In many cases, clickbait websites resolve to IP addresses located outside the United States.

Amidst the CCP pandemic when Donald Trump touted hydroxychloroquine as an effective treatment for COVID-19, CNN showed strong signs of HCQ denial syndrome when citing fake "studies" until they were forced to admit otherwise.

2020 Presidential election

See also: 2020 Presidential election, Fake news in the 2020 presidential election, and Russia 3.0
  • After the failure of the Mueller Report, The New York Times founded The 1619 Project in August 2019 to serve the Democratic party's objective of painting Donald Trump as a racist as a key issue for the 2020 presidential election. The 1619 Project claims that the United States was founded in the year 1619 A.D. on the basis of racism.
  • ABC News had to walk back claims it made about President Trump in the Biden-Ukraine collusion scandal.[24]
  • NBC News falsely reported that the Trump campaign attacked The Squad saying "This is our country, not theirs".[25]

Leftwing riots

See also: 2020 Leftwing insurrection

During the Marxist insurrections of 2020 NPR made the false claim that alleged "white supremacists" were using vehicles to run down alleged "peaceful" rioters based on an edited video from Louisville, Kentucky.[26] The allusion was intended to bring to mind a 2017 Charlottesville incident in which a protester was run over. In Alamosa, Colorado a 27 year old white Black Lives Matter protestor shot an innocent driver in the head who was trying to avoid protesters blocking the street at an intersection.[27] Another was shot in Provo, Utah.[28] After riling leftists with false reporting, NPR later had to walk back its claim about the Louisville incident when it was discovered that the driver, who was black, was in fact the victim of a violent leftist assault.[29]

Chloroquine

See also: Hydroxychloroquine denial

NBC, CNN, CBS and Axios all reported that a man died after drinking fish tank water which President Trump had recommended as a cure for Covid-19. In response to reporters' questions at a press briefing President Trump answered that the Food and Drug Administration was looking into the possibility of using an approved drug for human consumption, hydroxychloroquine as a possible treatment for the Chinese coronavirus infection. Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) was approved decades ago as an anti-malaria medication. A couple in Arizona, not under a medical doctor's supervision, drank fish tank water containing chloroquine phosphate, a chemical used to kill algae and fish parasites. The husband died. NBC, CNN, CBS, Axios and other leftist outfits reported that President Trump had recommended chloroquine phosphate as a miracle cure.[30]

CCP coronavirus

Fake news in American media: Chinese Communists claim that reporting the Wuhan Coronavirus is "racist".[31]
See also: CCP global pandemic and CCP propaganda war

CBS News used footage of the "worst hit" hospital in Bergamo, Italy purporting it to be a report about the coronavirus outbreak in New York.[32]

ABC News chief Washington DC narrative engineer Jonathan Karl was the rotating head of the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) during the CCP global pandemic. The WHCA has a customary and traditional role of selecting the journalists who will participate in the White House daily briefing. Karl invited Youyou Wang, a known propagandist for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) claiming to be a "reporter", into the briefing room to question President Trump. The Hong Kong/Cayman Islands based Phoenix TV, for which Karl's fellow traveller works and who falsely claimed her employer was "privately owned", is actually owned in large part by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and by a former CCP propaganda officer.[33][34] The very next day, the WHCA brought in a propagandist from the state-controlled Dragon Television in Shanghai, China, Ching-Yi Chang, who did not disclose who he was working for when asked by President Trump who he worked for but, assuming that he was asking which country he was from, stated he was from Taiwan.[35]

In July 2020 MSNBC producer Ariana Pekary quit, calling the network fake news and a cancer that risks human lives, even in the middle of a pandemic. Pekary said President Trump became the primary focus of the coronavirus coverage instead of “science itself.” “As new details have become available about antibodies, a vaccine, or how COVID actually spreads, producers still want to focus on the politics. Important facts or studies get buried,” she wrote in her resignation letter.[36]

CCP misinformation

Only Axios corrected it's fake news story that President Trump had recommended fish tank cleaner as a cure for Covid-19. NBC, CNN, and CBS never corrected their fake news reporting.[37]
See also: CCP propaganda war

The first case of COVID-19 was medically verified in China on December 8, 2019 and first death occurred on December 9. The doctor who reported on the first verified cases posted on social media was forced to plead guilty to "rumormongering" and disrupting social order in late December 2019. The Beijing central government attempted to hide the outbreak from the people of Wuhan and the world. The Chinese Communist Party finally admitted publicly that a full blown pandemic was occurring in Wuhan on January 23, 2020, and the doctor who first warned the public and was convicted of a crime for doing so died on February 4, 2020. Eight hundred million people expressed their condolences on Chinese social media in 24 hours after his death was announced.

To save face for the Communist regime's deliberately incompetent handling of the COVID-19 outbreak in their country, the Chinese foreign ministry falsely accused the United States of being responsible for the corona virus outbreak.[38] On March 12, 2020 the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman initiated a conspiracy theory that the US military started the coronavirus in China,[39][40] Leftist media in the United States aided Chinese propaganda efforts by calling those who link the virus' origin to China were it originated as "racists".[41][42]

April 7, 2020 NBC News tweeted Communist Chinese propaganda when it was well known the Chinese Communist Party was being illusive and deceptive in its reporting on the CCP global pandemic.[43][44]

The 'hoax' hoax; Biden still spewed this lie and many others on the campaign trail in 2020.

The 'hoax' hoax

President Trump referred to Democrats' efforts to politicize the coronavirus outbreak as their new hoax;[45] liberal media and Democrats immediately and deliberately twisted President Trump's words out of context to fit their narrative by claiming that he called the coronavirus a "hoax".[46]

Politico and MSNBC willingly peddled the Trump "hoax" story,[47] as did Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg, Pete Buttigieg, Rep Ted Lieu, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and former Democrat Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe.[48]

As the outbreak progressed in the United States, the anti-Trump mainstream media were more concerned with instilling panic and blaming President Trump than informing the public on critical precautionary measures to avoid unnecessary strains on the healthcare and economic system.

Primaries

See also: 2020 Democrat primaries

Bloomberg News, owned by then-Democrat presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg, tried blaming Trump supporters for the Iowa caucus fiasco[49] after Democrat insiders stole election results from Bernie Sanders and attempted to hand a victory to Pete Buttigieg.[50] Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee blamed Russia.[51] The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), working in coordination with state elections officers, have an existing relationship to ensure computer systems and data collection systems are safe and secure. The DHS reported their offer to review the data system was rebuked by the Iowa Democrat Party.[52]

Russiagate 3.0 was formally announced by the media-intelligence complex on February 21, 2020.
My message is not about going back to where we were,” he said.

For a lot of people, “‘normal’ has been a real problem for a very long time, and I think the failures of the Obama era help explain how we got Trump.[55]

The news set Twitter afire. Within hours the LA Times censored the itself and altered the quote.
  • MSNBC aided Mayor Pete Buttigieg based on his white privilege when the racist reporting at MSNBC consistently snubbed Andrew Yang, an Asian American, to help Buttigieg surge in early 2020 presidential primary polling of Iowa.[56][57] During the pre-primary debates, MSNBC cut off Yang's microphone.[58]
  • In ten debate appearances, Elizabeth Warren was never asked once about her false claims of Native American heritage.[59]
  • In order to pander and mislead the vital Black female demographic for the Democratic party, CNN's April Ryan reported that Stacey Abrams was being interviewed and vetted by the Biden team for the vice president spot when in fact Abrams herself no shall call, interview, or vetting process had taken place.[60]

Impeachment sham

CNN claimed Amb. Sondland implicated President Trump in a bribery scheme and quid pro quo when President Trump in fact did not.
Main article: Impeachment sham

Speaker Nancy Pelosi explained the origin, tactics, and methodology behind the 2019 impeachment sham of President Trump:

You smear somebody with falsehoods and all the rest, and then you merchandise it. And then you [the media] write it, and they'll say, 'See it's reported in the press that this, this, this and this'. So they have that validation that the press reported the smear. It's called the wrap-up smear. Now I'm gonna merchandise the press' report on the smear that we made. It's a tactic... and it's self-evident.[61]

This same collusion between the Democrat Establishment and the mainstream media was used to (a) obtain the Carter Page FISA warrant; (b) remove Gen. Michael Flynn from the Trump administration; (c) secure the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller after the firing of James Comey; (d) attack Judge Brett Kavanaugh during his nomination hearings.

2016 Presidential election

For a more detailed treatment, see Mainstream media and Donald Trump.

In the synergy between the U.S. intelligence apparatus and their media agents, the CIA, DOJ and State Department have specific outlets assigned to public relations.

A long-tracked pattern reflects the DOJ and FBI leak their PR needs to the New York Times. The preferred outlet for the U.S. State Department is CNN; and the Washington Post generally comes out first with leaks in defense of the CIA agenda. This pattern has been remarkably consistent for years.

Trump-Russia collusion hoax

FBI / CIA spy Joseph Mifsud (left) with UK prime minister Boris Johnson (center) two weeks after George Papadopoulos' plea agreement in the Mueller investigation.[62] The entire Trump-Russia conspiracy hoax was hatched by Obama CIA director John Brennan on the false allegation that Mifsud was a Russian agent. Mifsud had been working for Brennan and Jimmy the Weasel Comey all along.[63]

It has been confirmed that many fake news sites were actually created and managed by liberal Democrats ("false flag" operations) who support Hillary Clinton and oppose Donald Trump who engage in their deception in an attempt to discredit conservatives and Trump.[64][65] One of them, Jestin Coler, a Democrat and Clinton supporter who owns the company Disinfomedia, runs several fake news sites that create "conservative" fake news stories.[64]

A topic of fake news stories after the 2016 election was whether there was violence between Trump supporters and opponents. After the 2016 election, several violent and disturbing anti-Trump attacks occurred throughout the nation against Trump supporters or supposed Trump supporters. Despite these attacks, liberals and leftists only focused on alleged "attacks" by Trump supporters against minorities and others (the leftist narrative, although being blatantly false and one-sided, fits their manufactured narrative that Trump supporters are "racist" and "evil" and that leftists are "tolerant" and "forgiving"). Fox News found that despite the number of real anti-Trump attacks which went largely unreported, several of the "pro-Trump" attacks were hoaxes.[66]

One widely shared fake story, spread by the mainstream media, that Trump's election had led to a rise in anti-Semitism by white supremcists—it turned out that bomb threats at a synagogue were actually carried out by "an African-American left-wing journalist" and a "Jewish teenager in Israel, with dual citizenship in the U.S."[67]

Following the 2016 election in which Trump won, liberals, the mainstream media, and social media had misapplied the term "fake news" to make the false accusation that alternative news and Russian sources are "deliberately lying" to their readers, listeners, and viewers, and that these "lies" helped elect Donald Trump President of the United States. The liberal-pushed "fake news" accusations are a form of conspiracy theory. However, the mainstream media itself publishes and promotes fake news stories,[68] from appearing in its nightly network newscasts, on its cable news channels, in its newspapers and on its websites (including Facebook). The MSM has allegedly been adopting safeguards to prevent itself from reporting fake news stories,[69][70] but it has been unsuccessful based on more recent examples.

Russia hacked the DNC

The Mueller probe provided no evidence that Russia hacked the DNC. In fact, Special Counsel Robert Mueller was threatened with contempt of court by federal Dc district court Dabney Friedrich for making public statements that the government of Russia was involved in so-called "Russian meddling" in the 2016 elections.

No evidence has ever been presented the Russians, Russian entities, or the Russian government ever hacked, or attempted to hack, the servers of the Democratic National Committee. Russians did, however, make failed efforts to hack into the voter rolls of state election boards, notably those maintained by Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp. The Obama White House, however, at the direction of Susan Rice and others, conflated the issue of Russian attempted hacking of state election boards with the release of DNC emails by WikiLeaks.

Disgraced FBI director James Comey testified to Congress that the FBI never examined DNC servers to determine if they had indeed been hacked, and by who. Evidence suggests the public disclosure of John Podesta, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and other Democratic operatives' emails came from an inside whistleblower source. Some speculate the inside leaker was Seth Rich, whose murder, like the DNC breach itself, was never fully investigated. The fake news narrative of "Russia hacked the DNC," was coined by a private security firm hired by the DNC after the security breach was discovered.

The only known evidence that exists points to an inside leaker, who downloaded the DNC emails on a flash drive and likely forwarded them to WikiLeaks.

Russia and James Comey

DgKWrfIVMAANg8k.jpeg
See also: FBI scandal

Former FBI Director James Comey, during his testimony to Congress, debunked two fake news stories on The New York Times[71] and CNN,[72] respectively.

After several inaccuracies and flaws were found in a CNN article that attacked Trump and his allies over a Russia fund, CNN retracted the article.[73][74] Three CNN employees resigned due to the resulting scandal.[75][76]

ABC News ran a banner headline claiming Paul Manafort pled guilty to five counts of manslaughter.

The Washington Post falsely reported in August 2018 that the Trump Administration was denying passports to Hispanic Americans along the border with Mexico,[77][78] and The New York Times falsely reported in September 2018 that UN Ambassador Nikki Haley spent $53,000 on curtains when they actually were approved during the Obama Administration.[78][79]

Transition and Presidency

See also: Trump Transition

At his first press conference as president-elect, Donald Trump described CNN as "fake news." Since becoming president, Trump has accused major news organizations with "fake news" and "very fake news." On February 17, 2017, Trump tweeted:[80]

ABC News Anchor George Stephanopoulos caught on air signaling to cut off Trump attorney Jay Sekulow during an impeachment sham trial break.[81]
The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!

On November 27, 2017, President Trump tweeted:[82][83]

We should have a contest as to which of the Networks, plus CNN and not including Fox, is the most dishonest, corrupt and/or distorted in its political coverage of your favorite President (me). They are all bad. Winner to receive the FAKE NEWS TROPHY!

The Washington Post reported in June 2017 of a meeting held between President Trump and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai that never occurred.[84]

Also in June 2017, The New York Times falsely stated that 17 U.S. intelligence agencies agreed with an assessment that Russia made hacks into the 2016 presidential election – the actual number was four, with one dissenting from the report's conclusions.[85] The Associated Press reported, and retracted, the same falsehood.[86] Obama Administration Director of National Intelligence confirmed that "the report itself makes it clear that it was the three agencies plus the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that put this intelligence community assessment together."[87]

In May 2018, left-wing activists and some members of the mainstream media, such as New York Times Magazine editor-in-chief Jake Silverstein and NPR, shared pictures of detained illegal immigrant children sleeping in cages and blamed the Trump Administration for it despite those pictures having been taken during the Obama Administration.[88] An Associated Press report discussing alleged abuse at an illegal immigrant detention center left out the fact that Obama was president when the abuse happened.[89] Other media sources have published fake news about President Trump's immigration policies.[90][91]

When President Trump criticized liberal environmental idiocy and forest management for failure to clean up fallen dead wood which provided the fuel for deadly California wildfires,[92] mainstream fake news organizations reported it as if the President was criticizing firefighters.[93] CNN reported the bald face lies that the President had "attacked firefighters" and was "threatening to withhold aid to the victims."

In June 2019, while attending the G-20 summit in OSAKA, Japan, President Trump and Vladimir Putin briefly discussed Fake News. President Trump offered disdain for the assembled media, during a meeting between the two nation leaders. This occurred shortly after Putin had celebrated the rise of the populist right in Europe and the United States and that, in his opinion, traditional "Western-style" liberalism had "become obsolete.” Trump stated, “Fake news is a great term, isn’t it? You don’t have this problem in Russia, but we do.” However Putin insisted in English, "We also have, It’s the same." When Mr. Trump was then asked by a news reporter if he would tell Russia not to meddle in American elections, Trump responded, “Yes, of course I will.” Mr. Trump then turned to Mr. Putin and said, "Don’t meddle in the election, President." Mr. Trump then pointed at another Russian official and repeated, “Don’t meddle in the election.” [94] The follow up media coverage of the light-hearted warning Mr. Trump made to Mr. Putin resulted in claiming Trump is a national security risk and that he had "triggered a fresh furor over his accommodating approach to Russia."

In July 2019, Speaker Nancy Pelosi violated House Rules in a failed attempt to pass a House Resolution condemning President Trump for alleged "racist" tweets. Mainstream fake news sources used the events to categorically refer to President Trump's "racist attacks."

Crisis on the border

In January 2019 President Trump made a nationally televised address from the Oval Office to request funding from the Democratically controlled House for the growing humanitarian crisis on the Southern border.[95] Democrats and the mainstream media called it a "manufactured crisis,"[96] denying such a crisis existed.[97] After a photo of the bodies of a father and his 23 month old daughter who drowned in the Rio Grande river trying to enter the United States illegally was widely published,[98] some Democrats, most notably Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, falsely charged the U.S. with maintaining "concentration camps" on the Southern border since the Obama era,[99][100] forcing migrants to drink toilet water,[101][102] and then voted against bills to provide funding for humanitarian relief.[103]

Other examples of fake news

While many examples of fake news appeared during Donald Trump's presidency, the problem existed long before his election.[104]

One of the more infamous examples of fake news was when former CBS News anchor Dan Rather used forgeries of the Killian Documents on George W. Bush's service record in order to sway the 2004 election, which resulted in his firing after being exposed. See Rathergate for more details.

Obama National Security Advisor Susan Rice putting out the fake news narrative that a planned terrorist attack and massacre of Americans was only a spontaneous riot spawned out of a peaceful demonstration.

Obama National Security Advisor Susan Rice appeared on the five major network Sunday talk shows to put out an official fake news narrative that a terrorist attack against Americans two months before a presidential election was only a peaceful demonstration that turned into a riot. Despite evidence the contrary, many mainstream news organizations adopted the fake news narrative as fact for its viewers and readers and branded skeptics as conspiracy theorists and racists who opposed a black president.

The most common example of fake news is the "click bait" ads that appear on social media sites saying "Hollywood prepares to say good-bye to [name of celebrity]" implying that the celebrity has just died. People then click on the ad to visit a website to learn about the celebrity's death, which boosts the number of page views on that site. However, the fake news will trend if more people start re-tweeting or sharing the item without visiting the underlying website in the belief that the celebrity has just died.

Fake news is frequently used by radical Islamic terrorists to recruit new adherents. The terrorists will either create or embellish fake news accounts of anti-Islamic acts to radicalize members in target populations. For example, terrorists would spread news accounts of people urinating on the Koran at U.S. military prisons. Another fake news item was that a U.S. company was hiring mercenaries to kill ISIS militants.[105] Again, the emotional impact of the fake news assured that it would spread quickly through social media.

According to FBI cyber experts, during the 2016 presidential election, Russians used armies of Twitter bots to spread fake news using accounts that seem to be Midwestern swing-voter Republicans.[106] Leading up to the March 15, 2017 election in the Netherlands, Russia was found to use social media to spread "fake news" to influence public opinion.[107]

While buildings burned behind him, Ali Velshi of MSNBC reported with a straight face that "protests" during the 2020 leftwing riots were "not generally speaking unruly."[108]

One possible example of fake news was the announcement by the mainstream media that Fidel Castro died at age 90 on November 25, 2016.[109] In fact, the Obama Administration and major news outlets were likely aware that Castro had died of a terminal illness many years earlier. Indeed, Obama did not even mention, let alone visit, Castro during Obama's visit to Cuba in March 2016, and neither the president, vice-president, or other high-ranking elected official of the United States attended Castro's "funeral".

One fake news item from Freedom Daily in February 2017 was: "BREAKING: Federal Judge Just Officially Ruled CNN Is FAKE NEWS And Forces SHOCKING Punishment On Them!" However, this was a misreporting of a Georgia federal district court judge denying CNN's motion for summary judgment in a defamation action filed by a hospital executive against CNN. No "shocking punishment" was involved and the case will go to trial on the merits.[110]

A poorly-sourced February 4, 2017 Washington Post article claimed a feud existed between DHS Secretary John F. Kelly and Steve Bannon, when in fact, none existed. The article's author was forced to admit his error.[111] In June 2017, the Associated Press reported, and later corrected, a story that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt met with Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris – something which did not actually happen.[112]

In November 2017, The Washington Post claimed that the conservative Breitbart News created the nickname "Mr. Perfect" when referring to Jared Kushner, while in reality, Kushner's own companies created the nickname to promote themselves in China.[113] Also in November 2017, MSNBC's Morning Joe show was caught broadcasting a pre-taped post-Thanksgiving show while pretending on air to be broadcasting live.[114]

In April 2018, the Associated Press and The Washington Post falsely claimed that the NRA decided to ban concealed carry at an upcoming speech by Vice President Mike Pence at its convention, when it was actually the Secret Service that forced the organization to do so.[115]

In June 2019, MSNBC news anchor Kasie Hunt spread the Fake News narrative that 2020 Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden mentioned being able to work with Segregationists who were misidentified as "Republicans". Joe Biden did specifically name two segregationist Senators: James Eastland of Mississippi and Herman Talmadge of Georgia. However, both men were "proud, card-carrying members of the Democrat Party".[116][117]

While a relatively unimportant example, many media outlets reported December 31, 2019, as the last day of the decade when 2020 was also part of the same decade.[118]

CNN's promotion of fake news

Democrat shill Don Lemon (left); Democratic Governor Ralph Northam (in blackface) (right).

In first half of 2017, CNN's market share relative to its competitors saw a marked decline.[119] In addition, it faced repeated losses of its credibility through its lapses of journalistic judgment and ethical lapses.[120] President Donald Trump publicly says CNN produces "fake news" and he also told a CNN reporter that CNN produces "very fake news".[121] Subsequently, CNN has been derided as being "FNN: Fake News Network".[122]

In May 2017, a CNN program claimed that Islam "has always been part of the American fabric" even as far back as the American Revolution, despite the apparent contradiction with the historical record.[123]

On March 28, 2018, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo falsely claimed that "no one [is] calling for Second Amendment repeal", even though, former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, among other left-wingers, had very recently and notably called for just that.[124]

Sometime before January 6, 2017, DNI James Clapper briefed opposition research talking points, manufactured by the Clinton campaign in the Steele dossier, to Jake Tapper of CNN. The salacious innuendo lacked verification and a " news hook" for CNN to report. Clapper instructed FBI Director James Comey to brief President-elect Trump on the allegations. Clapper immediately leaked the fact Trump had been briefed, creating the "news hook" CNN was looking for to publicize the existence of the Steele dossier. FBI counter-intelligence investigator Peter Strzok then used the fake news report to justify interviewing National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and lay a perjury trap,[125] thwarting the new president's foreign policy agenda. Clapper was rewarded with a job at CNN afterward.[126][127][128]

In 2019, CNN falsely labeled liberal Democrat Virginia governor Ralph Northam a "Republican" when reporting a racist photo of himself while in medical school.[129][130]

In 2020, CNN tweeted that "Google will not be publishing a national-scale website for coronavirus testing anytime soon, contrary to claims made by President Trump during a news conference",[131] before claiming just a day later on their website that "Google will partner with US government to develop a nationwide coronavirus website".[132]

Elizabeth Warren sent a fake news tweet claiming Mark Zuckerberg endorsed Donald Trump.

After Special Counsel Robert Mueller thoroughly debunked the Russiagate conspiracy theory, CNN's Jim Sciutto attempted to resuscitate the discredited hoax alleging that the CIA had to extract a deep cover asset from Russia because of fear that President Trump would out the asset's identity to Vladimir Putin. The New York Times, Washington Post, and CIA were quick to refute the story. The extraction occurred because of John Brennan and Obama administration leaks in the early days of the Trump-Russia hoax that put in danger of exposure and the lives of CIA assets in Russia.[133][134][135][136][137]

In the Immanuel Christian School/Karen Pence hate crime hoax, a 12-year-old girl claimed that three boys at Immanuel Christian School held her down and cut her dreadlocks while using the racially charged term "nappy." The wife of Vice President Mike Pence, Karen Pence works at the school. CNN's Bakari Sellers, NBC, CBS, CNN, The New York Times, and The Washington Post all reported the incident nationwide and used the incident to attack Karen Pence.[138] The girl's family finally released a statement acknowledging the initial allegation was false. They apologized to all involved: "To those young boys and their parents, we sincerely apologize for the pain and anxiety these allegations have caused," they wrote. "To the administrators and families of Immanuel Christian School, we are sorry for the damage this incident has done to trust within the school family and the undue scorn it has brought to the school. To the broader community, who rallied in such passionate support for our daughter, we apologize for betraying your trust."[139]

Even before the Trump Presidency, CNN had also engaged in fake news as well. In particular, its coverage of humanitarian crises in Kosovo as well as locations such as Somalia, Rwanda, Haiti, Macedonia, Bosnia, Ecuador, East Timor, Kuwait, Liberia, Albania, Congo, Gabon, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, Sudan, and Iraq was strongly implied by Lt. Col. Robert "Buzz" Patterson of the Air Force to be the main reason why Bill Clinton had dispatched troops to those locations despite none of the mission parameters actually requiring direct American military aid, including the Kosovo War in the case of Kosovo.[140]

Deep state and fake news

See also: Media intelligence complex

The mainstream media has worked with the deep state intelligence agencies to promote fake news regarding the supposed Trump-Russia scandal,[141] and the alleged Russian hacking of John Podesta and DNC emails.

2018 bomb hoax

Just when things looked desperate for Democrats with unhinged mobs responding to the party's leadership, CNN reported it had received a mail bomb addressed to John Brennan, who actually works for NBC. Nonetheless, CNN opened John Brennan's mail anyway, paused to take pictures of the alleged bomb resembling a Hollywood prop, before evacuating the building in a panic. Others received mailings as well.

Republicans were quick to condemn political violence,[142] unlike Democrat leaders, who were encouraging it.[143] President Trump vowed to use all the resources of the federal government to find who was responsible.

As soon as CNN feed into the news cycle that the bombs were active, giving breaking news reports a life of their own, within hours the Associated Press reported,
"tests have determined that a powder found inside an envelope delivered to CNN along with a pipe bomb was harmless."[144]
None of this stopped CNN and other mainstream sources from failing to clarify the facts, or whipping up anti-Trump hysteria. None of the bombs were active, and the alleged bomber didn't know how to build a bomb anyway. The alleged bombs lacked a detonator device, were made with PVC tubing instead of lead, and packed with a harmless powder.[145]
A typical fake news poll.[146]

Mangled statistics

A Washington Post article claimed that 4.2 percent of American children had witnessed a shooting[147] (this is one in 24). This was based on a survey question which they (deliberately? negligently?) misinterpreted:

The actual question the researchers asked was, "At any time in (your child’s/your) life, (was your child/were you) in any place in real life where (he/she/you) could see or hear people being shot, bombs going off, or street riots?"[148]

So they mixed in "witnessed a shooting" with "heard a street riot", etc.

Identifying fake news

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) has a checklist to assist people to recognize fake news:[149]

  1. Consider the source (to understand its mission and purpose)
  2. Read beyond the headline (to understand the whole story)
  3. Check the authors (to see if they are real and credible)
  4. Assess the supporting sources (to ensure they support the claims)
  5. Check the date of publication (to see if the story is relevant and up to date)
  6. Ask if it is a joke (to determine if it is meant to be satire)
  7. Review your own biases (to see if they are affecting your judgment)
  8. Ask experts (to get confirmation from independent people with knowledge).

Reputation of the author

Ultimately, a judgment about fake news rests on the reputation of its author, and the reputation and editorial stance of a news organization or book publisher. Longevity is not in and of itself proof a publication or publishing house is an established reputable service. Newsweek magazine, for instance, was once established as a "moderate" or right-leaning weekly news source to counter the perceived leftwing bias of Time magazine. It has since ceased publication as a print journal, and the name - Newsweek - was sold as an established, existing tradename, only to reappear online as a mainstream news source for some of the most outrageous left-wing lunacy.

In the United States the New Republic, established before World War I, is considered the granddaddy of modern liberal thought, whereas the National Review established in the 1950s is considered its modern conservative counterpart. The Nation has long been deemed the voice of more marginalized progressive thinking. While staff management and editorial views have evolved over many decades, any author moving from one of these publications to another generally have professional reputations as traditional ethical journalists, unlike modern broadcast journalists, or what passes as "ethics" taught in some of the nation's most prestigious journalism and broadcast schools today.

Among book publishers, St. Martin's Press is considered a mainstream book publisher for Democrats which no other mainstream publisher would stake its reputation on, and Regnery is considered its Republican counterpart.

The challenge for young readers is to discern good, solid, factual reporting in the internet era, at a time when an explosion of anonymous blog sites are threatening the existence of a dying print and cable news broadcast industry.[150] Again the reputation of the author is all pervasive. This requires follow-up and holding the author (whether anonymous or a pseudonym) accountable, and not seeking confirmation bias in how a reader informs themselves.

Holding the author accountable

As can be seen, the reputation of a news organization or individual journalist can change over time, to either improve or lose credibility.

The New Yorker for example, once had a reputation for vigorous fact-checking. However, after such stories on the credibility of Wikipedia, its fictionalized account of the death of bin Laden, its hit piece on the person and character of American Sniper hero Chris Kyle, and it's partisan, sloppy, and outrageous attacks on Brett Kavanaugh, have called The New Yorker's viability as a reputable source into question.

Ronan Farrow, who writes for the New Yorker appeared as a bright and shining rising star in the field of investigative journalism, at a moment when public perception of journalists was at its lowest. Farrow fearlessly wrote about the deviant sexual predations of Democrat kingpins and mega-donors such as Harvey Weinstein and others, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize. Farrow even described the intimidation tactics wealthy predators use against female victims and himself by hired thugs and ex-intelligence agents to silence people. Farrow was a hero of the MeToo movement. Then Farrow tossed his reputation to the wind by signing his name to unsubstantiated smears, which his own reporting debunked, in a vicious partisan smear of Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Farrow sold out, and his actions now have the opposite effect of adding credibility to the defense and rehabilitation of Harvey Weinstein.

Circular reporting or wrap up smear

A wrap up smear,[151] also known as a circular reporting, circular journalism or an echo chamber, occurs when partisan sources leak false information to journalists then use those same published accounts to validate their claims.

Several instances in recent memory illustrate the technique during the Trump-Russia collusion hoax and the Kavanaugh smear. In Trump-Russia, a false allegation that Trump colluded with Russia was leaked by Democratic operatives to get news organizations to publicize the claim, then biased Obama administration employees used those news stories as supposed evidence to obtain FBI surveillance warrants on the Trump campaign.

CNN, the Washington Post, the New York Times and numerous other organizations reported fabricated information by anonymous sources throughout 2016, 2017, and 2018. The published reports became the basis of the Trump-Russia conspiracy hoax and FISA abuse scandal. When mainstream media published the false information, the Obama FBI, Justice Department, CIA and DNI used the fake news (originating with themselves) as supposed corroboration from "independent journalists" to begin investigations, interviews, perjury traps, seek warrants, perform Gang of Eight briefings, and appoint a Special Prosecutor to pursue political objectives.

  • Michael Sussmann who worked with the general counsel of the Clinton campaign and the DNC gave fake evidence to the FBI and New York Times that a webserver in Trump Tower was communicating with a Russian bank. The smears were found to be without foundation.[152]
  • Christopher Steele who worked for Hillary Clinton gave false evidence to the FBI and numerous mainstream media outlets that Carter Page was a Russian spy, when in fact Page was a former FBI informant who helped jail Russian spies.
  • Steele gave bogus sexual innuendo about Trump to the FBI; DNI James Clapper leaked to CNN than that Trump had been briefed on the information, thus creating a "Breaking News" story.[153]

In the Kavanaugh smear, false sexual abuse allegations were leaked by Senate Democrat committee staffers to produce sensationalized headlines and martial public pressure in an emotional cause.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein or a staffer leaked a letter from Dr. Christine Blasey Ford to the Washington Post alleging notes from a therapist and a polygraph exam were material evidence of a sexual assault, sparking a hue and cry on the Left for extended nomination hearings and FBI investigation of Judge Kavanaugh. The alleged "material evidence" was never provided to the FBI or Senate Judiciary Committee for examination and consideration, and the accuser caught in a series of conflicting sworn public statements.

Mainstream false reporting of the Russia collusion hoax and impeachment inquiry

The Russian's did not "hack the vote" as Obama administration and mainstream media sources alleged.

These mainstream journalists and news organizations in one capacity or other were willing participants in the Trump-Russia collusion hoax. The plan to exonerate Hillary Clinton of criminal charges, sabotage Donald Trump's election chances, and later his presidency, originated with corrupt elements of the Obama administration, in collusion with the Democratic party. Allies opposed to Trump's demand that NATO members give more to fund the alliance, and Russian sources feeding Democrats false information also contributed.

These journalists reported fake news from the Hillary Clinton funded Steele dossier, which Hillary Clinton paid foreign agents, including Russian agents, to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. The false information was knowingly presented by the Obama Justice Department and FBI to the FISA court to obtain retro-active approval for an illegal domestic spying operation against Obama and Clinton's political opponents. These journalists actively colluded with the Democrats seditious activity to overturn the results of the 2016 presidential election:

Ken Bensinger, BuzzFeed reporter who received Steele dossier from David Kramer, Sen. John McCain's Chief of Staff. Ken Dilanian, and Ned Price, NBC News. David Corn, Mother Jones. Michael Isikoff, Yahoo News. Ali Watkins, BuzzFeed and The New York Times. Brian Ross and Matt Mosk, ABC News. Carl Bernstein and Jake Tapper, CNN. Julian Borger, The Guardian. Peter Stone and Greg Gordon, McClatchy. Bob Little and Rachel Martin, NPR. David Ignatius, Evan Perez, Jim Sciutto, Tom Hamburger, Rosalind Helderman, and Fred Hiatt, The Washington Post. Allan Cullison, The Wall Street Journal. Rachel Maddow, Joy Reid, and Katy Tur, MSNBC. Scott Pelly, 60 Minutes. Devlin Barrett, Robert Costa Ellen Nakashima, and Matt Zapotosky.

Other willing participants were: The New Yorker, Huffington Post, Newsweek, MSNBC, Politico, Vanity Fair and Slate. All these continued to report the fake Russia collusion narrative even after it was thoroughly debunked, and none have issued retractions to their reporting.[154] The uncorroborated allegations violated every tenet of traditional, respectable journalism. None of it would have been possible without the help of several global media organizations willingly publicizing the false narrative of Trump collusion with the Russian government.[155]

On March 25, 2019 Tim Murtaugh, the director of communications for President Trump, sent out a memo to all television producers regarding the “credibility of certain guests.” In particular, the memo cited a list of “guests who made outlandish, false claims, without evidence, on your airwaves.” Included were Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), DNC Chairman Tom Perez and former CIA Director John Brennan. The memo asked the producers to “employ basic journalistic standards when booking such guests.”[156]

Participants in the Kavanaugh smear

NBC News, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, Stephen Colbert, ABC News, CBS News, USA Today.

Participants in the Covington Catholic kids smear

Main article: Covington Catholic kids

The Washington Post, The New York Times, Cable News Network (CNN), The Guardian, National Public Radio, TMZ, Atlantic Media, Capitol Hill Publishing, Ann Cabrera (CNN), Sara Sidner (CNN), Erin Burnett (CNN), S. E. Cupp (CNN), Elliot C. McLaughlin (CNN), Amanda Watts (CNN), Emmanuella Grinberg (CNN), Michelle Boorstein (Washington Post), Cleve R. Wootson Jr. (Washington Post), Antonio Olivo (Washington Post), Joe Heim (Washington Post), Michael E. Miller (Washington Post), Eli Rosenberg (Washington Post), Isaac Stanley-Becker (Washington Post), Kristine Philips (Washington Post), Sarah Mervosh (Washington Post), Emily S. Roeb (New York Times), Maggie Haberman (New York Times), David Brooks (New York Times), Shannon Doyne, Kurt Eichenwald, Andrea Mitchell (NBC/MSNBC), Savannah Guthrie (NBC), Joy Reid (MSNBC), Chuck Todd (NBC), Noah Berlatsky, Elisha Fieldstadt (NBC), Eun Kyung Kim, HBO, Bill Maher, Warner Media, Condé Nast, GQ, Heavy.com, The Hill, The Atlantic, Bustle.com, Kathy Griffin, Alyssa Milano and Jim Carrey.[157]

Reputable/verifiable sources

The following are considered reputable and verifiable source noted for good reporting:

  • Epoch Times Media Group which include assets like:
  • The Epoch Times Newspaper
  • New Tang Dynasty Televison (NTDTV)
  • China Uncensored/America Uncovered
  • Edge of Wonder
  • Shen Yun
  • The Larry Elder Show
  • American Thought Leaders
  • Declassified
  • Crossroads
  • Ben Hedges

Responses

Liberal responses

When the term first came into common usages immediately after the 2016 elections, liberals, the mainstream media, and social media misapplied the term to make the false accusation that alternative news sources were "deliberately lying" to their readers, listeners, and viewers, and that these "lies" helped elect Donald Trump President of the United States. The liberal-pushed "fake news" accusations are a form of conspiracy theory.

The mainstream media itself publishes and promotes fake news stories appearing in nightly network newscasts, on its cable news channels, in its newspapers and on its websites (including Facebook).[69][70] When fake news sites misuse the "ABC News" logo[158] or are designed to appear to be sponsored by a TV news channel, the mainstream media may also appear to publish and promote fake news stories.

The mainstream media itself can be rife with government leaked fake news stories, such as a fictional Washington Post story that Russia hacked the U.S. power grid in 2016.[159] While leftists accuse conservatives of being behind fake news stories, the evidence shows the exact opposite, although fake news is designed to appeal to audiences all across the political spectrum.

Attempts at censorship

Melissa Zimdars, a far-Left professor had compiled a list of supposedly "fake and misleading" news websites that was heavily promoted in the Mainstream Media,[160] including Breitbart, Infowars, Twitchy, The Blaze, and Bizpac Review. Even liberals, such as Will Oremus on Slate.com, criticized the list and the term itself for being far too broad, unfairly targeting numerous sites, and being an overreaction.[161] Zimdars later removed her "Fake News" list, claiming she had been "harassed" and "doxed".[162] In 2019, the George Soros-funded Poynter Institute created a list of 515 news sources – anything that was part of the left-wing media – that it claimed were "fake news" for not completely abiding by left-wing narratives.[163]

A 2017 Yale University study found that flagging news stories as "fake news" is ineffective due to the general mistrust of the media by Americans that already exists.[164]

WaPo

One attempt at broadening the meaning of the term as well as professing the likelihood of the use of what the term describes appeared on November 23, 2016 in the Washington Post:

In the wake of Donald Trump’s shock Nov. 2016 electoral victory, attention fell on the extent to which voter opinions could have been shaped by an epidemic of "fake news" websites that masqueraded as legitimate media outlets...Many fake stories proved more viral on social media than important articles from real sources.[165]

Ishaan Tharoor, the author who wrote the piece, lets the reader know that he assumes Trump's election win is so surprising (although it wasn't) that any explanation deserves to be looked at if the event has not been fully explained already. This would allow the subject which follows—his allegations of "fake news" being epidemic as well as his suggestions that they were isolated to media outlets that weren't "real sources" (by some unstated body's estimation)—to be plausible or even to be considered an especially good candidate as an explanation (to the uninformed), despite being unfounded or at least founded on exaggeration.

The election results prompted German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who represents a, establishment-globalist political party, to caution against "fake news" circulated in Social media:

Something has changed — as globalization has marched on, debate is taking place in a completely new media environment. Opinions aren’t formed the way they were 25 years ago ... Today we have fake sites, bots, trolls — things that regenerate themselves, reinforcing opinions with certain algorithms, and we have to learn to deal with them. I believe we should not underestimate what is happening in the context of the Internet and with digitalization; this is part of our reality ... We have regulations that allow for our press freedom, including the requirement for due diligence from journalists. Today we have many that experience a media that is based on very different foundations and is much less regulated.[165]

Facebook

Facebook has also responded to the alleged problem by developing a system wherein readers can flag a post they find suspicious. Once flagged the post will be reviewed by a mainstream media representative, who decides whether the news is "real" or "fake."[166]

Snopes

On January 14, 2016, the Snopes website, itself considered a fake news site by some experts, published its "Snopes’ Field Guide to Fake News Sites and Hoax Purveyors"[105] Its founder, for what brags to be the moral compass of what is "honest" reporting on the Internet, allegedly embezzled nearly $100,000 for prostitutes.[167]

SpotFakeNews.ca

A recently created Canadian website called SpotFakeNews.ca[168] claims to "help Canadians of all ages critically access online news and information, and differentiate fake news from real news", but the resources it links to link in turn to the Associated Press and other liberal-biased news "sources" and resources, thereby making that site itself a non-credible, liberal-biased resource.

DoubtIt.ca

Another Canadian website[169] which claims "to provide Canadians an understanding of the role of journalism in a healthy democracy and the tools to find and filter information online";[170] however, in its verification section,[171] the site uses the "fact checking" sites Snopes, FactCheck.org, the Associated Press website's "fact checking" section, Full Fact and PolitiFact as its resources, all of which are liberal-biased sites whose claims have been disproven and discredited as fake news when compared with similar stories from independent, non-liberal media journalists, news organizations (e.g. Rebel News and One America News Network) and news sites (e.g. Breitbart News, NewsBusters, The Daily Caller, Gateway Pundit, Canada Free Press, etc.), thus also making DoubtIt.ca itself liberal-biased, unreliable and non-credible regarding what it decides is "fake news". Another giveaway that DoubtIt.ca is not credible as a resource is that at the bottom of its website, it mentions that it is funded by liberal-biased search engine Google.

DFRLab definition

The Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab which is partnering with Facebook to promote internet censorship defines fake news as
“deliberately presenting false information as news.” We differentiate this from disinformation, which we consider to be "deliberately spreading false information;" fake news is thus a subset of disinformation. We further distinguish it from misinformation, which we take to mean the unintentional spreading of false information.[172]

European Commission

In 2018, the European Commission proposed the creation of an "independent fact-checking network" that would fight what it views as "fake news." However, this network, if created, would be funded by left-wing organizations connected to George Soros.[173]

Conservative responses

"Undoubtedly the new main psyop against independent media is flooding the web with fake news, and mainstream media putting out fake news, and setting themselves up like a super-Snopes, to be the arbiter of what's real and what’s not," countered Alex Jones from Infowars in the wake of criticism of the Alternative Media on the part of Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton supporters following Trump's win.[174]

Answers in Genesis President Ken Ham, noted that one of the most prominent and blatant examples of fake news is the media's treatment of evolution and an old Earth as undisputed scientific fact, even though numerous counterexamples exist to evolution and an old Earth.[175]

According to a 2017 Poynter Media Trust Survey, 44% of Americans believe the media creates "fake news" stories against Trump to make him look bad.[176] A Monmouth University poll released in April 2018 found that 77% of Americans believe the mainstream media reports fake news.[177]

Hypocrisy

While liberals frequently accuse conservative or alternate media sites of being dishonest, they typically gloss over the massive failings of the mainstream media to accurately and fairly cover the news, as well as its own propensity to post and report fake news itself (such as the polls they released which falsely claimed that Hillary Clinton was "well ahead" of Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election campaign in order to discourage conservative voters, despite the attendance figures of the Trump campaign rallies vs. the Clinton campaign rallies, which the mainstream media chose to ignore, proving otherwise). Although the polls may have correctly predicted Clinton's 3 million vote margin in the national popular vote, commenters ignored the fact that the election is determined state-by-state in the Electoral College. In fact, within days after Trump's victory in the election, Wikipedia's liberal editors propagated a far from neutral and heavily liberal-biased "Fake news website" article.[178]

History

Liberal, socialist, and communist slanted journalism has a long history of biased and false reporting.

"News articles" that are completely fictional have a long history. The motivation is often for the amusement of the author, or the desire to make money by selling the newspaper or handbill based on its entertainment value. Such "news articles" are sometimes purely satirical (something that has a long history), or intentionally malicious, often for political reasons. For example, malicious claims about Presidential candidates (illegitimate children, etc.) have a long history in the United States. The falsehoods have sufficient emotional impact to assure that they will be magnified in various mediums. It is debated whether or not this includes satiric news.[179][180]

Walter Lippmann, a prominent socialist, indicated that the press is supposed to utilize fake news to spin a narrative and thus manufacture public consent, claiming that news and truth are not the same thing, that it requires no real training to deal with the small pool, and that everything else is in the journalist's own discretion, which includes even promoting stereotypes.[181][182][183]

The explosive growth of the internet in the early years of the 21st century and the political divisiveness of the 2016 Presidential election saw explosive growth in fake news, far beyond supermarket tabloids, and the use of the term "fake news" to describe this.

Tabloids, hoaxes, etc

In the more recent past, but before the advent of the widespread propagation of false information through the internet, the most visible instances of "fake news" were the "supermarket tabloids" ("rag mags") that could be found at checkout counters of supermarkets. These were often full of blatant nonsense, and (nearly) everyone knew that, and bought them only for their entertainment value. Perhaps the most blatant of these was Weekly World News, which seemed obsessed with some half-human half-bat creature named "bat boy," and with extraterrestrials. They sometimes devoted entire issues to extraterrestrials, and, in one instance, had three articles relating that each of the Presidential candidates in the 1992 Presidential election (George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Ross Perot) had been taken for a personal ride in a flying saucer to see Washington, D.C. from the air.

These fake articles continue, often with an extreme political slant. Recent issues of the National Enquirer (perhaps the most blatant fake newspaper since the demise of Weekly World News) had completely false articles about Special Forces raids, carpet bombing, drone strikes, and naval assaults by American forces in the Middle East. The Globe has run headlines alleging that Hillary Clinton is a Russian spy and has a "new treason indictment", which is not supported by the corresponding article. Another headline, unsupported by any evidence in the article, stated that Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin were stopped trying to escape from the country. And there were numerous headlines during the 2016 Presidential campaign stating that they were in possession of evidence that would put Ms. Clinton in prison.

Early examples of fake news

Here are some early examples of fake news:

  1. The false claim, based on manipulation of the data, by Sir Arthur Eddington that the 1919 total eclipse of the sun proved the General Theory of Relativity.
  2. The false reporting by the bigot H.L. Mencken on the Scopes Trial.
  3. The War of the Worlds broadcast on Halloween night, 1938, in which Orson Wells dramatically described an invasion by hostile Martians in New Jersey.
  4. The New York Daily News reporting that President Gerald Ford told the city to 'drop dead' after progressive liberal socialists spent the city's finances into oblivion.[184]
  5. The fake claim that President George H. W. Bush did not know what a grocery scanner was, implying that he was out of touch.[185]

Internet age

Cybersecurity experts began using the term "fake news" to describe social media postings that attempted to spread false information regardless of the political ramifications of its content.

The widespread public use of the phrase by non-experts probably originated on November 14, 2016, in an announcement by Google. They said their advertising service was being pulled from sites whose purpose was to present as news what was solely designed to attract attention rather than conducted in a factual manner by a responsible party.[186] Fake news is also a form of "click bait". A photo would appear in an ad implying that there was a news story about the death of a celebrity, and computer users would click on the link to be taken to a website that carried heavy advertising, but no news story about the death of the living celebrity.

See also

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 Questionable Sources, https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/fake-news/
  2. https://youtu.be/DnTAO0n2FUI
  3. https://thegrayzone.com/2020/05/11/bombshell-crowdstrike-admits-no-evidence-russia-stole-emails-from-dnc-server/
  4. Pelosi Spreads Dangerous Misinformation Amid Coronavirus Pandemic: "The President is Asking People to Inject Lysol Into Their Lungs" at the Gateway Pundit
  5. Hillary Clinton Tries to Dunk on President Trump’s Comments About Injecting Disinfectants… And it Backfires Bigly at the Gateway Pundit
  6. https://www.bizpacreview.com/2020/03/06/warren-went-all-10-debates-without-one-question-about-her-native-american-claims-894450
  7. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFAQyZq0NqfCwVkRQoXpx0A/videos
  8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m70C6N1Y8Ko
  9. https://archive.is/LqxDr/
  10. http://www.dw.com/en/who-are-hunter-bidens-ukrainian-bosses/a-17642254
  11. https://archive.is/Aza4U
  12. https://archive.is/IDha1
  13. https://www.theepochtimes.com/joe-biden-obama-officials-influenced-ukraine-to-advance-own-interests_2896259.html
  14. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/23/world/europe/biden-ukraine.html
  15. https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2019/09/24/speaker-pelosi-bamboozles-base-by-announcing-enhanced-continuation-of-status-quo/
  16. Jonathan Bernstein | Bloomberg, How Is Trump’s Parade Offensive? Let Me Count the Ways, https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-07-03/trump-military-parade-betrays-american-values-on-fourth-of-july, July 3, 2019
  17. Ryan W Miller | USA Today, Tanks, military vehicles take over DC's streets before Trump's 4th of July celebration, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/07/03/4th-july-donald-trump-military-parade-tanks-seen-washington-dc/1637384001/, July 3, 2019
  18. http://wbsm.com/media-sells-soul-for-nathan-phillips-opinion/
  19. https://youtu.be/UZLs11uSg-A
  20. Officials had determined within two hours, and the Associated Press reported that the alleged bombs were fake, however days later most prominent mainstream sources continued to allege the packages contained real bombs.
  21. https://www.theepochtimes.com/deposition-reveals-late-senator-mccains-role-in-spygate-scandal_2840198.html?ref=brief_News
  22. https://www.theepochtimes.com/why-nbc-msnbcs-reporting-on-the-epoch-times-is-textbook-fake-news_3051327.html
  23. Callan, Paul. Sue over fake news? Not so fast. Retrieved on April 6, 2017.
  24. https://freebeacon.com/politics/abcs-bombshell-ukraine-story-falls-apart/
  25. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzHWjcNapnQ
  26. https://twitchy.com/samj-3930/2020/06/22/journalism-is-dead-part-9999-receipt-filled-thread-details-what-really-happened-in-louisville-with-driver-who-allegedly-struck-protester/
  27. https://krdo.com/news/2020/06/06/video-shows-moments-surrounding-alamosa-protest-shooting/
  28. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/jun/30/black-lives-matter-protester-shoots-suv-driver-in-/
  29. https://www.bizpacreview.com/2020/06/22/don-jr-calls-for-defunding-npr-after-it-gets-caught-using-wrong-photo-by-mistake-937761
  30. https://www.mediaite.com/news/media-outlets-called-out-for-misleading-reports-that-man-died-after-taking-coronavirus-drug-touted-by-trump/
  31. https://thefederalist.com/2020/03/16/the-atlantic-must-stop-covering-for-the-chinese-communist-party/
  32. https://summit.news/2020/03/30/cbs-news-uses-footage-of-worst-hit-hospital-in-italy-while-describing-new-york-coronavirus-outbreak/
  33. Chinese Communist Media Infiltrates White House Presser at One America News Network YouTube channel
  34. FACT CHECK: Trump Asked a Reporter If She Was Working For China... She Is
  35. ANOTHER Chinese Govt ‘Reporter’ Lies to Trump in White House Press Room
  36. https://nypost.com/2020/08/04/msnbc-producer-calls-network-a-cancer-after-quitting-job/
  37. https://spectator.us/trump-chloroquine-fish-tank-cleaner-media-blame/
  38. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fg7FwHteB0I
  39. https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1238150527751319575
  40. https://news.trust.org/item/20200312152307-rlv7m
  41. https://www.bizpacreview.com/2020/03/13/dems-media-warned-new-narrative-aids-chinas-new-conspiracy-us-military-started-covid-19-896694
  42. https://www.bizpacreview.com/2020/03/15/nbc-news-ny-times-running-chinese-propaganda-criticizing-us-erick-erickson-points-out-897729
  43. https://www.facebook.com/NBCNews/posts/4172210622798936
  44. https://www.foxnews.com/media/nbc-china-coronavirus-numbers-backlash
  45. https://www.nysun.com/national/a-sickening-press-tries-to-blame-trump/91035/
  46. Gutfeld on the media "hoax" hoax at Fox News YouTube channel
  47. https://checkyourfact.com/2020/02/29/fact-check-donald-trump-coronavirus-hoax-south-carolina-rally/
  48. Here Are The Politicians And Media Outlets Pushing The Claim That Trump Called The Coronavirus A ‘Hoax’ at the Daily Caller
  49. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zKEipLNGFA
  50. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYQmD39tx3A
  51. https://thefederalist.com/2020/02/06/democrat-congresswoman-blames-iowa-caucus-disaster-on-russia/
  52. https://youtu.be/v5hfbALvhMo
  53. https://twitter.com/brithume/status/1096821175701983233
  54. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny9NLAsp8yo&feature=youtu.be
  55. https://archive.is/5vXG0
  56. https://thefederalist.com/2019/11/18/msnbc-excludes-andrew-yang-from-media-coverage-despite-polling-above-other-candidates/
  57. https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/464349-yang-hits-back-after-appearing-to-be-left-out-of-cnn-msnbc-fundraising
  58. https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/06/28/andrew-yang-msnbc-cut-off-my-mic-during-debate-let-other-dems-interject/
  59. https://www.bizpacreview.com/2020/03/06/warren-went-all-10-debates-without-one-question-about-her-native-american-claims-894450
  60. https://twitchy.com/gregp-3534/2020/06/11/april-ryan-deletes-tweet-that-appears-to-contradict-stacey-abrams-on-vetting-for-vp/
  61. Nancy Pelosi explains 'wrap-up smear' tactic (June 22, 2017)
  62. https://www.politico.eu/article/boris-johnson-pictured-with-london-professor-from-fbi-russia-probe/amp/
  63. Why the Mifsud Story Matters, DECLASSIFIED with Gina Shakespeare,- The Epoch Times, Aug 5, 2019.
  64. 64.0 64.1 Sydell, Laura (November 23, 2016). "We Tracked Down A Fake-News Creator In The Suburbs. Here's What We Learned." NPR. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
  65. Dewey, Caitlin (November 17, 2016). Facebook fake-news writer: ‘I think Donald Trump is in the White House because of me’. The Washington Post. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
  66. Facebook Live attack the latest in string of anti-Trump assaults. Fox News. January 5, 2017. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
  67. Pollak, Joel (March 29, 2017). Donald Trump Vindicated: Antisemitism Surge ‘Fake News’. Breitbart News. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  68. Heinlein, Peter (May 30, 2017). Trump Frustrated by 'Fake News' That Overlooks His Accomplishments. Voice of America. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  69. 69.0 69.1 Facebook is still figuring out how to tackle fake news. Tech Crunch (Feb 14, 2017).
  70. 70.0 70.1 Barron, Rachel. "Even News Sites Fall for Fake News", American Journalism Review, April 3, 2017. 
  71. Scarborough, Rowan (June 8, 2017). James Comey debunks New York Times story that fueled unproven Trump-Russia collusion. The Washington Times. Retrieved June 9, 2017.
  72. Pollak, Joel B. (June 7, 2017). James Comey Testimony Proves Trump Right, CNN Wrong. Breitbart News. Retrieved June 9, 2017.
  73. Boyle, Matthew (June 23, 2017). Very Fake News: After Breitbart Investigation, CNN Retracts Conspiracy Theory Hit Piece Attacking Trump, Associates Over Russian Fund. Breitbart News. Retrieved June 24, 2017.
  74. Boyle, Matthew (June 24, 2017). CNN Under Fire: ‘Very Fake News’ Network Hit from All Sides as Breitbart Investigation Forces Rare Retraction. Breitbart News. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
  75. Boyle, Matthew (June 26, 2017). Three Employees Resign from CNN Amid Very Fake News Scandal. Breitbart News. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
  76. Adams, Becket (June 26, 2017). Three CNN staffers quit over retracted story. Washington Examiner. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
  77. Multiple references:
  78. 78.0 78.1 Stoltzfoos, Rachel (September 18, 2018). Legacy Outlets Add Two More Botched Hit Pieces To A Pile Of Stinky Reporting On Trump. The Federalist. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  79. Multiple references:
  80. Greenwood, Mark (February 17, 2017). Trump tweets: The media is the 'enemy of the American people'. The Hill. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  81. https://thepoliticalinsider.com/abc-news-george-stephanopoulos-makes-throat-slitting-gesture-on-camera-to-cut-away-from-trump-lawyer/
  82. Spiering, Charlie (November 27, 2017). Donald Trump Proposes ‘Fake News Trophy’ for TV Networks and CNN. Breitbart News. Retrieved November 28, 2017.
  83. Fabian, Jordan (November 27, 2017). Trump: Media should compete for 'FAKE NEWS TROPHY'. The Hill. Retrieved November 28, 2017.
  84. Moran, Sean (June 23, 2017). Fake News: Washington Post Invents Meeting Between FCC Chair Ajit Pai and President Trump. Breitbart News. Retrieved June 24, 2017.
  85. Mason, Ian (June 30, 2017). New York Times: Turns Out ‘17 Intelligence Agencies’ Was Fake News. Breitbart News. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  86. Klein, Aaron (July 1, 2017). Fake News: Associated Press Clarifies 17 U.S. Intel Agencies Did Not Assess Russia ‘Interference’. Breitbart News. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  87. Poor, Jeff (July 7, 2017). Fmr Obama DNI Clapper: Only 3 or 4 Intelligence Agencies Agreed on Russian Interference — ‘It Wasn’t 17’. Breitbart News. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  88. Multiple references:
  89. Scarry, Eddie (June 21, 2018). AP report on alleged illegal immigrant abuse at detention centers omits Obama was president at time. Washington Examiner. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  90. Binder, John (June 1, 2018). Establishment Media Issues Four Corrections After Falsely Claiming Trump Separating Families at Border. Breitbart News. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  91. Nolte, John (July 9, 2018). Associated Press Becomes Fake News Factory with Immigration Lies. Breitbart News. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  92. https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/editorials/article216320500.html
  93. https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/11/11/politics/california-wildfires-trump-tweets/index.html
  94. Peter Baker and Michael Crowley | New York Times, Trump and Putin Share Joke About Election Meddling, Sparking New Furor, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/28/us/politics/trump-putin-election.html, June 28, 2019
  95. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/president-trump/trump-makes-humanitarian-case-for-wall-calling-border-situation-%E2%80%98a-crisis-of-the-soul%E2%80%99/ar-BBRZJlh
  96. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8K8dwSt1hog&feature=youtu.be
  97. https://thefederalist.com/2019/07/03/x-times-the-media-said-there-was-no-crisis-at-the-southern-border/
  98. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PxNj4_mEVg
  99. https://www.ushmm.org/information/press/press-releases/statement-regarding-the-museums-position-on-holocaust-analogies
  100. Walter Shaub was the Obama era director of the United States Office of Government Ethics, now Senior Director of the election law organization Campaign Legal Center. https://archive.fo/tMEu5
  101. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q48Ch_6kU5A
  102. https://www.businessinsider.in/photo-shows-hybrid-of-toilet-and-drinking-fountain-in-migrant-detention-centers-where-women-allegedly-had-to-drink-from-the-bowl/articleshow/70041097.cms
  103. https://dailycaller.com/2019/06/28/ocasio-cortez-senate-mcconnell-house-border-bill-tapper/
  104. Miller, S.A. (December 30, 2018). 'Fake news' a real problem long before Trump era, media watchdogs say. The Washington Times. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
  105. 105.0 105.1 Snopes’ Field Guide to Fake News Sites and Hoax Purveyors (January 14, 2016).
  106. "How Russian Twitter Bots Pumped Out Fake News During The 2016 Election", NPR, April 3, 2017. Retrieved on April 4, 2017. 
  107. "Russia spread fake news during Dutch election: report", Politico, April 4, 2017. Retrieved on April 4, 2017. 
  108. https://hotair.com/archives/ed-morrissey/2020/05/29/msnbc-reporter-front-burning-liquor-store-protest-not-generally-speaking-unruly/
  109. https://www.cnn.com/2016/11/26/americas/fidel-castro-obit/
  110. "Did a Judge Rule That CNN Is 'Fake News'?", Snopes, Feb 17, 2017. Retrieved on April 5, 2017. 
  111. Hayward, John (February 8, 2017). Fake News: DHS Secretary Calls WaPo ‘John Kelly-Steve Bannon Feud’ a ‘Fantasy Story’. Breitbart News. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  112. Boyle, Matthew (June 30, 2017). Fake News: Associated Press Engulfed in CNN-Level Scandal as It Covers Up Invention of Imaginary Pruitt Meeting. Breitbart News. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  113. Mason, Ian (November 27, 2017). WaPo Forgets Kushners Came Up with ‘Mr. Perfect’ on Their Own. Breitbart News. Retrieved November 27, 2017.
  114. Rodriguez, Katherine (November 26, 2017). Fake News: Morning Joe Caught Pretending Pre-Taped Day After Thanksgiving Show Was Live. Breitbart News. Retrieved November 27, 2017.
  115. Multiple references:
  116. Kasie Hunt Spreads Fake News Biden’s Segregationist Pals Were ‘Republicans’, https://www.teaparty.org/kasie-hunt-spreads-fake-news-bidens-segregationist-pals-were-republicans-368762/, June 19, 2019
  117. U.S. Breaking News, Kasie Hunt Spreads Fake News Biden’s Segregationist Pals Were ‘Republicans’, https://usbreakingnews.net/2019/06/20/kasie-hunt-spreads-fake-news-bidens-segregationist-pals-were-republicans/, June 20, 2019
  118. Byas, Steve (January 1, 2020). “End of Decade” Stories Illustrate How Media Perpetuates False Narratives. The New American. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  119. Death Spiral: Along With Its Credibility, CNN Ratings Collapse, Daily Wire, 2017.
  120. Trump to CNN: "Very Fake News"
  121. 'Fake News Network': Trump Blasts CNN for Retracted Russia Story, Fox News Network
  122. Pollak, Joel B. (May 29, 2017). CNN’s W. Kamau Bell: Islam Part of America’s Founding. Breitbart News. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
  123. Multiple references:
  124. https://saraacarter.com/who-will-investigate-the-fbi-and-doj-top-secret-leaks-to-the-media/?utm=pushnami
  125. Russian Active Measures in the 2016 Election, House Permanent Sub Committee on Intelligence, March 22, 2017, pp. 107-108.
  126. Clapper Leaks Twice to CNN. Brennan Stands in the Shadows. A Russian Narrative is Born, Jeff Carlson, April 27, 2018.
  127. Anatomy of a Political Smear Confirmed – James Comey January Briefing Was Scripted by Clapper and Brennan To Create Media Narrative, by Sundance, April 20, 2018. theconservativetreehouse.com
  128. Gualtieri, Allison Elyse (February 2, 2019). CNN misidentifies Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam as a Republican during his apology for racist yearbook photo. Washington Examiner. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  129. Rodriguez, Katherine (February 1, 2019). WATCH: CNN Chyron Labels Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam a Republican. Breitbart News. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  130. https://twitter.com/cnn/status/1238718028566671360
  131. https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/13/politics/google-trump-coronavirus-site/index.html?utm_content=2020-03-14T06%3A46%3A06&utm_medium=social&utm_term=link&utm_source=twCNN
  132. https://www.redstate.com/streiff/2019/09/09/cnn-russian-spy-exfiltration-story-trips-bull-alarms-two-continents/
  133. https://hotair.com/archives/ed-morrissey/2019/09/10/wapo-nyt-contra-cnn-trump-not-reason-cia-exfiltrated-asset-russia/
  134. https://twitchy.com/samj-3930/2019/09/10/fusion-gps-hustle-timeline-of-who-met-who-and-when-in-buildup-of-cnns-latest-trump-russia-exclusive-is-all-so-damning/
  135. https://twitter.com/themarketswork/status/1171072580901453825?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
  136. https://twitter.com/aaronjmate/status/1171100680121176069?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
  137. https://freebeacon.com/politics/hate-crime-media-used-to-attack-karen-pence-is-fake/
  138. https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/6th-Grade-Girl-Says-She-Lied-About-Boys-Cutting-Her-Dreadlocks-561784531.html
  139. Dereliction of Duty by Lt. Col. Robert "Buzz" Patterson, USAF (Ret.), Chapter 6, CNN Diplomacy, page 112-128.
  140. Jasper, William F. (April 25, 2017). Deep State and Fake News. The New American. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  141. https://youtu.be/KwSGYUDQSuY
  142. https://m.imdb.com/title/tt9115480/
  143. 7:50 p.m. A law enforcement official says tests have determined that a powder found inside an envelope delivered to CNN along with a pipe bomb was harmless. The official wasn’t authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. New York City’s police commissioner said earlier Wednesday that the package sent to CNN’s offices in Manhattan contained a live explosive and an envelope containing white powder. The FBI said the package was similar to explosives sent to former President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, former Attorney General Eric Holder and billionaire George Soros. The package sent to CNN was addressed to former CIA Director John Brennan, a frequent guest on the channel. The official says that parcel contained no note or claim of responsibility.
    cd5023f89feca Tom Hays, Associated Press, October 24, 2018.
  144. https://www.nationalreview.com/news/cnn-pipe-bomb-white-powder-harmless-law-enforcement-report/
  145. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdQZkG2dOkE
  146. 19 kids are shot every day in the United States
  147. How news organizations, including this one, unintentionally misinformed the public on guns
  148. How to Spot Fake News (January 27, 2017).
  149. A prime example of Joseph Schumpeter's creative destruction.
  150. https://youtu.be/SMJdDwQlcc8
  151. https://themarketswork.com/2019/01/21/baker-testimony-reveals-perkins-coie-lawyer-provided-fbi-with-information-on-alfa-bank-allegations/
  152. https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2018/04/20/anatomy-of-a-political-smear-confirmed-james-comey-january-briefing-was-scripted-by-clapper-and-brennan-to-create-media-narrative/
  153. https://youtu.be/vYGkB329rcM
  154. https://themarketswork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/inforgraphic-838x1024.jpg
  155. https://twitter.com/jonathanvswan/status/1110254539163291648
  156. https://www.dailywire.com/news/42988/nick-sandmanns-lawyer-sends-letters-these-54-ryan-saavedra?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=benshapiro
  157. "Breitbart Duped by Fake News (Again)", Snopes, September 1, 2016. 
  158. Leetaru, Kalev, "'Fake News' And How The Washington Post Rewrote Its Story On Russian Hacking Of The Power Grid," Forbes, Jan 1, 2017.
  159. BREAKING: Liberals Create List of "Fake" News Websites Including: Breitbart, Infowars, Zerohedge, Twitchy, The Blaze
  160. Oremus, Will (December 6, 2016). Stop Calling Everything “Fake News”. Slate.com. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
  161. Dr Melissa Zimdars removes fake news list and claims she was ‘harassed’
  162. Multiple references:
  163. Church, Nate (September 12, 2017). Study: Flagging Stories as ‘Fake News’ Ineffective; People No Longer Trust Media. Breitbart News. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
  164. 165.0 165.1 Fake news threatens German election: Merkel
  165. https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebooks-fake-fix-for-fake-news-1481932361
  166. https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/09/exclusive-founder-of-snopes-far-left-moral-purveyor-of-truth-in-the-media-allegedly-embezzled-98000-for-prostitutes-during-his-divorce/
  167. http://spotfakenews.ca/
  168. https://doubtit.ca/
  169. https://doubtit.ca/about-us/
  170. https://doubtit.ca/#verification_section
  171. https://medium.com/dfrlab/fake-news-defining-and-defeating-43830a2ab0af
  172. Tomlinson, Chris (April 28, 2018). European Union Advocates For Soros-Funded ‘Independent Fact Checkers’ to Combat ‘Fake News’. Breitbart News. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
  173. Finally, Someone Is Standing Up to Fake News: Infowars
  174. Ham, Ken (March 21, 2017). The Real Fake News. Answers in Genesis. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  175. Richardson, Bradford (December 28, 2017). ‘Fake News’: Half of all Americans believe the media make up anti-Trump stories. The Washington Times. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  176. Multiple references:
  177. "Fake news website" article at Wikipedia, December 2, 2016.
  178. "Tall Tale or Satire? Authors of So-Called "Fake News" Feel Misjudged". NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/tall-tale-or-satire-authors-so-called-fake-news-feel-n689421
  179. Fake News Watch. http://fakenewswatch.com/
  180. http://progressingamerica.blogspot.com/2012/02/journalism-and-manufacturing-of-consent.html
  181. http://progressingamerica.blogspot.com/2013/03/walter-lippmann-explains-how.html
  182. http://progressingamerica.blogspot.com/2017/01/who-is-founding-father-of-fake-news.html
  183. https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/28/nyregion/28veto.html
  184. The Great George Bush Sr. "Grocery Scanner" Urban Legend Lives On. Media Research Center. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  185. Nicas, Jack (November 14, 2016). "Google to bar fake-news websites from using its ad-selling software". Wall Street Journal.

External links