Fake news presentation

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TDeborah Kozdras: University of South Florida Stavros CenterVisual Texts and

Deborah Kozdras:dkozdras@usf.edu USF Stavros CenterThank-you to State Farm for generously sponsoring this workshop.Fake It till You Make It: From the Boogie Man to Bogus News

Jodi Pushkindkozdras@usf.edu USF Stavros Centerhttp://tinyurl.com/fakenewsworkshop

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/national/politifacts-2016-lie-of-the-year-fake-news/2306159

Was Napoleon Short?http://r.hswstatic.com/w_907/gif/false-history-11a.jpghttp://history.howstuffworks.com/history-vs-myth/10-false-history-facts10.htm

"Napoleon complex."For years, the history books listed Napoleon's official height as 5 feet, 2 inches (1.6 meters), indisputably in "shorty" territory. But that's because they mistakenly believed that a French "foot" was the same as an English foot.When the measurements are properly converted, Napoleon stretches to a respectable 5 feet, 7 inches (1.7 meters)3

Did Benjamin Franklin discover electricity while flying a kite?http://r.hswstatic.com/w_907/gif/false-history-11a.jpghttp://history.howstuffworks.com/history-vs-myth/10-false-history-facts10.htm

But one thing that he definitely didn't discover was electricity. Electricity was a known phenomenon in Franklin's day, although not completely understood. Franklin believed that electric current was a "fluid" that went from one body to another and that lightning was simply a more dramatic form of static electricity [source: Avril].Did Franklin actually test his theories by flying a kite in a thunderstorm? No one is sure. We know that he published his groundbreaking diagrams for a lightning rod in May 1752, a month before his alleged kite escapade [source: Avril]. The main source for the kite story is Franklin's friend, scientist Joseph Priestley, who wrote about it 15 years later [source: USHistory.org].4

1782, Benjamin Franklin concocted an entirely fake issue of a real Boston newspaper, the Independent Chronicle. Franklin fabricated a story from the New York frontier : American forces had discovered bags containing more than 700 SCALPS from our unhappy Country-folks. There were bags of boys, girls, soldiers and even infants scalps, all allegedly taken by Indians in league with King George.Sent copies to his colleagues insisting it was true.https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/fake-news-thats-a-very-old-story/2016/11/25/c8b1f3d4-b330-11e6-8616-52b15787add0_story.html?utm_term=.de1971e180cc

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-37-02-0132

Wrote to a friend (Richard Price) about the power of the news . . .The ancient Roman and Greek Orators could only speak to the Number of Citizens capable of being assembled within the Reach of their Voice: Their Writings had little Effect because the Bulk of the People could not read. Now by the Press we can speak to Nations; and good Books & well written Pamphlets have great and general Influence. The Facility with which the same Truths may be repeatedly enforcd by placing them daily in different Lights, in Newspapers which are every where read, gives a great Chance of establishing them. And we now find that it is not only right to strike while the Iron is hot, but that it is very practicable to heat it by continual Striking. https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-37-02-0299

What Used to be Ridiculous . . .

Now Looks True: This is a supermarket in Venezuela or not?https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--s0ipN7PV--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/gb2bfoikis3fntlrv1u1.jpg

Economics: Why Do They Do It?

Other fake news had less convoluted origins. Paul Horner runs a string of websites, some looking deceptively like mainstream news organizations. He created a post that said protesters at Trump rallies were paid $3,500 to disrupt the rally as a dirty tricks plot. He told the Washington Post he knew it wasn't true but wrote it as a parody that could make him money if people actually believed it. "I just wanted to make fun of that insane belief, but it took off," he said.What happened next is classic: Trump himself repeated the claim about paid protesters at a rally.

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Economics: Why Do They Do It?

Other fake news had less convoluted origins. Paul Horner runs a string of websites, some looking deceptively like mainstream news organizations. He created a post that said protesters at Trump rallies were paid $3,500 to disrupt the rally as a dirty tricks plot. He told the Washington Post he knew it wasn't true but wrote it as a parody that could make him money if people actually believed it. "I just wanted to make fun of that insane belief, but it took off," he said.What happened next is classic: Trump himself repeated the claim about paid protesters at a rally.

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http://www.tampabay.com/features/media/facebook-and-google-take-action-against-fake-news-sites/2302881

Ask: What does the phrase fake news mean? When have you or someone you know fallen for or shared fake or inaccurate news of some kind? Why does it matter if we cant tell real news from fake news?

Read T

FindingsNearly four in 10 high school students believed, based on the headline, that this photograph of deformed daisies provided strong evidence of toxic conditions near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan, even though no source or location was given for the photo.

Stanford SHEG: Evaluating Evidence

Stanford SHEG Project: Home Page Analysis

https://sheg.stanford.edu/upload/V3LessonPlans/Executive%20Summary%2011.21.16.pdf

Stanford SHEG: Claims on Social Media

New York Times: Fake News Activity

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/19/learning/lesson-plans/evaluating-sources-in-a-post-truth-world-ideas-for-teaching-and-learning-about-fake-news.html

Understanding Different Types of Unreliable News: Are Some of These More Dangerous Than Others?

Satirical news from a site like The Onion The daily clickbait from social mediaNews that shows a biasOutright invented news

Click Bait

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Follow a Case Study in How Fake News Spreads

Wikileaks: releasing emails from John Podesta Social media users on Reddit & 4chan scan emails; see words pizza and dinner plans4chan user links the words cheese pizza to cp, (on chat boards child pornography)Users linked pizza to Comet Ping Pong and the owner James AlefantisNews swept through about neighboring businesses involving secret underground tunnels, satanic cults, cannibalism . . .28-year old arrives with gun, finds nothing, surrenders.Online stories continue . . .

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/20/business/media/how-fake-news-spreads.html

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Economic Costs

CostsBenefitsCostsBenefits

American Press Institute:Six Critical Questions for Media Type: What kind of content is this?Source: Who and what are the sources cited and why should I believe them?Evidence: Whats the evidence and how was it vetted? Interpretation: Is the main point of the piece proven by the evidence?Completeness: Whats missing?Knowledge: Am I learning every day what I need?

In MSM: Fact vs Opinion

News vs News Analysis