The rise of left-wing, anti-Trump fake news

[mage21]

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-39592010

Since the US election presidential race, fact checking websites report what seems like an increase in anti-Trump, 'liberal fake news'. The fact-checking site Snopes told BBC Trending radio that in the past week, for example, they have debunked many more anti-Republican party stories than pro-Republican ones.
One example of an incorrect story is the unflattering, digitally-manipulated image, which suggested that US President Donald Trump had diarrhoea during a recent golf outing. Another falsely suggested that President Trump profited from the US missile strikes in Syria.

It's hard to gather definitive data on the political bias in fake news stories, so the evidence for a rise in 'liberal fake news' is essentially anecdotal. But a recent study did effectively debunk the stereotype that fake news tends to be shared more by uneducated people or those with right-leaning politics, as compared to other groups.

"Fascinating and frightening"
"It [fake news] affects both the right and the left. It affects educated and uneducated. So the stereotypes of it being simply right-wing and simply uneducated are 100% not true," says Jeff Green, who is the CEO of Trade Desk, an internet advertising company that was recently commissioned by American TV channel CBS to investigate who is reading and sharing fake news online.
His company did this by initially putting out two fake news stories - one from the left which falsely stated police had raided a protestors camp at Standing Rock and burnt it down, and the other from a right-wing website about false claims there was a congressional plot to oust Donald Trump.

By using specialist software, the company's researchers then followed readers' online behaviour to get an idea of who and where they were. "On the left if you're consuming fake news you're 34 times more likely than the general population to be a college graduate," says Green. If you're on the right, he says, you're 18 times more likely than the general population to to be in the top 20 percent of income earners. And the study revealed another disturbing trend: the more you consume fake news, the more likely you are to vote. It's "fascinating and frightening at the same time," says Green.

Confirmation bias
One of the reasons for the growth in liberal fake news is financial.
"Those people who generate this kind of fake news don't care about politics. They just care about generating clicks, and so sometimes they generate similar messages for the right and the left," says Filippo Menczer, a professor of Informatics and Computer Science at Indiana University who runs the fake news tracking site Hoaxy.

As for where the market for liberal fake news comes from, according to Claire Wardle, who is a research director at First Draft - a non-profit organisation which is looking for solutions around trust and truth in the digital age - the appetite stems from so-called confirmation bias.
"People like to share information that makes them feel good, " she says.
"Many people on the left right now are feeling overwhelmed and fearful and unsure of what's going to happen next. While they're scrolling through their information feeds at speed on small mobile phones their critical functions are not kicking in, and they're seeing information that makes them feel immediately connected with other people who think similarly to them. And without doing the usual checks that they would do, they're sharing and very quickly passing on similarly false and problematic content that we were seeing before the election."

Brooke Binkowski, who is managing editor at Snopes website, warns newsreaders to stay aware of the emotions they feel when consuming content.
"If you are a newsreader or someone who likes reading news but you don't know immediately what may or may not be fake, ask yourself by reading the headline, what emotions do I feel? Am I really angry, scared, frustrated, do I want to share this to tell everybody what's going on? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then check your sources."

I wish our discourse could be more honest and open, but the truth is that even if there were no utilization of bonafide "fake news" stories by either side, you'd still be left with dishonest media. It's a tough spot we're in folks, where narrative trumps truth.

[Super Friendly Kitty Cat]

Liberals are still going on an on about "muh russians", and constantly prattling on about Trump being impeached any day now.


It's quite comical to watch.

[Flatspriest]

Yeah, the true media often tends to post opinion pieces as news instead of as opinion.

[Moralgy]

We went through 8 years of it from the right, prepare yourself for 4-8 years of it from the left. Though I do find it odd that "fake news" has only become a hit term once fake news was used against the right. It wasn't a big deal when big name people were calling Obama various things and claiming he isn't really American for some reason. Or even when people were claiming there was a child sex trafficking ring in some pizza place during the election(people still believe that on /r/the_donald lol).

[Sky High]

So same as it ever was? Just the reverse from Obama? Shocking, truly.

[callipygoustp]

WTF, I am clearly checking the wrong news sites. How the hell did I miss:

One example of an incorrect story is the unflattering, digitally-manipulated image, which suggested that US President Donald Trump had diarrhoea during a recent golf outing.

Edit:
Good job Snopes! You successfully debunked an April Fools joke as a fake news!
Photo of Donald Trump Getting Diarrhea on Golf Course Is A Digital Fake

Now if Snopes could clean up The Onion, that would be great!

[purebalance]

We went through 8 years of it from the right, prepare yourself for 4-8 years of it from the left. Though I do find it odd that "fake news" has only become a hit term once fake news was used against the right. It wasn't a big deal when big name people were calling Obama various things and claiming he isn't really American for some reason. Or even when people were claiming there was a child sex trafficking ring in some pizza place during the election(people still believe that on /r/the_donald lol).

You do realize that the Hillary campaign was the one who started the birther issue right? That wasn't something the right started.

- - - Updated - - -

Anyway, what really needs to be addressed is that even non fake news is ridiculously misleading like how pretty much every single black incident with cops is on the major news outlets when white encounters are pretty much ignored which somehow gives people credence to it being a black issue. That should be included as fake news because it is pretty much faking an idea.

[Elba]

Liberals are still going on an on about "muh russians", and constantly prattling on about Trump being impeached any day now.


It's quite comical to watch.

Watergate took two years.

[Garnier Fructis]

It's refreshing that the right is finally complaining about actually fake news for once, instead of the usual reporting that they just don't like.

[Moralgy]

You do realize that the Hillary campaign was the one who started the birther issue right? That wasn't something the right started.

- - - Updated - - -

Anyway, what really needs to be addressed is that even non fake news is ridiculously misleading like how pretty much every single black incident with cops is on the major news outlets when white encounters are pretty much ignored which somehow gives people credence to it being a black issue. That should be included as fake news because it is pretty much faking an idea.

Who gives a shit who started it, it was skyrocketed to fame by the right and no one was screaming FAKE NEWS FAKE NEWS from the right but a very small portion. Talking heads and politicians taking it 100% serious and even demanding the president's birth certificate was simply insanity, yet now these same people are screaming fake news left and right.

It is generally why I don't give a shit about these complaints from the right about "fake news" because it happened for 8 years and there was silence from them.

[Unholyground]

From Canada we watch and smoke our weed. It is an interesting sight to see. I kinda feel bad for the US but not really lol.

[Arainie]

The fact-checking site Snopes told BBC Trending radio that in the past week, for example, they have debunked many more anti-Republican party stories than pro-Republican ones.

Am I the only one who finds it odd that the comparison is made between anti-Republican and pro-Republican fake news rather than anti-Republican and anti-Democratic fake news? Certainly, fake news is more likely to be crafted to smear others rather than to further your own cause. If your (media, party, individual) fake news about others is debunked you can always claim unreliable sources or conflicting reports and most likely get away with it, but if fake news crafted to benefit you is debunked you're left with your pants down looking like a real clown (alternative facts springs to mind).

[Garnier Fructis]

You do realize that the Hillary campaign was the one who started the birther issue right? That wasn't something the right started.

This article isn't a fact check, but goes through pretty much all the claims and 'smoking guns' on this and points out why it's all a bunch of bullshit.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-me...still-no-ther/

[Manabomb]

Ultimately? Trump made his bed and Republicans joined him and now they are sleeping on it. Their media outlets spouting fake news about Obama and Democrats for 8 years straight ultimately resulting in the hard red shift we have seen is only going to rebound on them ten fold.

Did they honestly think they can drag MSM through the mud and not expect backlash? It's free press for a reason. Free to speculate all about Trump-Russia and how deep that goes.

[Dispraise]

Media makes it's money by selling a product to the people who want to buy it, same as any other business. If you don't want to endorse this kind of behavior, stop giving money to the people who do it, whether they're on "your side" or not.

[mvaliz]

You do realize that the Hillary campaign was the one who started the birther issue right? That wasn't something the right started.

Who gives a shit when it was your Deplorable lord and master who kept perpetuating the lie for 8+ years, regardless of evidence, just to manipulate tools like yourself who are ruled more by feelings of hatred and fear than rational logical thought.

[PACOX]

Don Cheeseheads sure do love making strawmen.

[mage21]

WTF, I am clearly checking the wrong news sites. How the hell did I miss:


Edit:
Good job Snopes! You successfully debunked an April Fools joke as a fake news!
Photo of Donald Trump Getting Diarrhea on Golf Course Is A Digital Fake

Now if Snopes could clean up The Onion, that would be great!

Pizzagate was just a 4chan prank, bro! Why so serious? I guess we can just make up any damaging news story we like as long as it's just for fun.

[NoRest4Wicked]

Liberals are still going on an on about "muh russians", and constantly prattling on about Trump being impeached any day now.


It's quite comical to watch.

About as entertaining as watching the same thing for 8 years of Obama taking our guns and being impeached, eh?

[Fahrenheit]

Liberals are still going on an on about "muh russians", and constantly prattling on about Trump being impeached any day now.


It's quite comical to watch.

If by liberals you mean the FBI and and both a bipartisan House and Senate committee.