From RationalWiki

[note 1] The term "fake news" appeared as far back as 1894 during the era of yellow journalism.

[1] In which the esteemed "RealTrueNews" prove that Longroom .com was DESTROYED by the Clinton Foundation — in just one .jpg.

“ ” Falsehood flies, and the Truth comes limping after it; so that when Men come to be undeceiv'd, it is too late; the Jest is over, and the Tale has had its Effect… —Jonathan Swift, 1710[2][3]

“ ” I think one of the greatest of all terms I’ve come up with is 'fake'. —Donald Trump explaining his whole presidency[4]

“ ” I do feel you should have as many news outlets as you can — especially since so many are fake. —Trump, confusing real news he doesn't like with fake news[5]

Fake news consists of "news" that is blatantly false or otherwise distorted in the hopes of getting more clicks by feeding people the headlines they didn't know they wanted, in the hopes knowledge that shamelessly pandering to an agenda often proves sufficient to suspend the readers' disbelief. Depressing amounts of clicks can be garnered from fake news, simply by virtue of it posing as 'clear-cut examples' which — if true — would lend overwhelming apparent support to one side of the relevant multi-faceted, emotionally charged and complex issue. While fake news is a threat to common decency, one must admit that it is more entertaining than most normal news.

With the growth of the 24 hour news cycle, major media outlets needed to fill numerous hours of airtime, so in addition to "news" they added opinion, commentary, analysis, speculation and forecasting often centered around media personalities. This left them vulnerable to the charge of being labeled "fake news" themselves as traditional "news" was programmed adjacent to "narrative journalism."

It is important to distinguish between fake news on the one hand, and mere biased reporting on the other.[note 2] Fake news denotes outright fabrication, while slanted reporting at least covers events which were not made up from whole cloth. Fake news should also be distinguished from yellow journalism, which may contains some truth, but is primarily intended to attract attention rather than to inform or to influence public opinion. Fake news outlets aren't just the equivalent of some leaflet guy ranting on a street corner. These are blogs, podcasts and shows which reach people in the millions — notably the young and poorly educated, unknowingly passing along the 'news' via social media — raking in tons of cash in illegitimately generated advertising revenue as a result.

This article documents fake news, clickbait news, distorted news, and satirical news.

Impact [ edit ]

Fake news has become an increasingly dangerous influence which helps to sustain out-of-touch echo chambers on the Internet — and while that 'news' isn't real, the emotions that are stirred up are. Things move fast with debunkings consistently 'behind the curve' — and by the time people figure out that some news piece was actually fake news, everyone has already moved on (though, not before internalizing 'that thing they read' as wholly confirmatory of their fears and frustrations).

And to make matters worse, in the current 'post-fact' era, the term "fake news" has devolved into a snarl word denoting "real news which conflict with my personal beliefs". A champion of misapplying the term, Donald Trump is fond of labeling any and all news outlets which report on his actual behavior as "fake news".[6][note 3] CNN is a common target, and it's common to hear the oft-repeated meme that CNN is fake news, even if it's simply reporting on events.[8] Additionally, in February 2017, Donald Trump said "all negative polls are fake news",[9] with his supporters not very far behind. This nonchalant watering down of the term is highly irresponsible — further misleading the already misled into dismissing the very phenomenon of "fake news" as being, in itself, fake news. Trump's misleading use of the term has led to (other) authoritarian regimes to also use the term for news that they don't like, including Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela, Bashar al-Assad of Syria, the Myanmar government, Chinese state media, and the Russian foreign ministry.[10] In Egypt under the Abdel Fattah el-Sisi regime, activist Amal Fathy posted a video on Facebook where she described being sexually harassed at a bank; she also criticized sexual harassment in general on the video.[11] Because of this the Egyptian government gave her a 2-year jail sentence and a $560 fine based on the criminal charge of "spreading false news".[11]

“ ” [T]he history of the Trump administration has shown that the loudest cries of "fake news" accompany the most damning journalism. Coming from [Trump], the phrase now dependably has another meaning: "all-too-accurate reporting that damages my reputation." —Margaret Sullivan[12]

Fake news and phishing [ edit ]

Phishing has utilised fake news with malware delivery for many years. A link to "Obama SHOCKS WORLD with conversion to Islam" or "Donald Trump Dead From a Fatal HEART ATTACK!" is far more likely to be clicked by a victim than a bare link to http://lolmalware.hackedsite.ru/victim.php?email=youremail@example.com.[13]

In the good old days [ edit ]

Wiadomości Brukowe: the gold standard of pavement news : the gold standard of pavement news

“ ” You may fool all the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the time; but you can’t fool all of the people all the time. —Abraham Lincoln… or maybe not[14][15]

In the world of journalism, fake news is surprisingly older than real news, as something resembling modern journalistic standards (truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity, impartiality, fairness and public accountability) did not begin until the early 20th century. Prior to that, the main concerns of journalists were selling papers and avoiding libel lawsuits. The late 19th century saw the rise of "yellow journalism" which was marked by sensationalistic headlines, fake interviews and pseudoscience.[16] Remember the Maine? In a sense, fake news can be traced back to various contestations over what was or was not historical fact, e.g., Plutarch's criticism of Herodotus' The Histories, as well as attempts at censoring the propagation of heterodox religious views within theocratic states.[17]

The earliest newspapers in anything approaching the modern sense arose during the European wars of religion (1524 to 1648 CE)[18][19] and tended to be highly propagandistic.[18] Savvy rulers soon took to censoring them to keep the people from being riled up too much. Even savvier rulers read the accounts of both or all sides to be able to better tell fact from fiction.

During the 17th century, several American colonies adopted laws that attempted to suppress "false news".[17] In 1798, John Adams and his Federalist Party passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, which criminalized false statements that were critical of the government.[17] The Acts resulted in the arrest of Benjamin Franklin Bache, the editor of the Philadelphia Aurora, a Democratic-Republican newspaper.[20]

Fake news, at least of the satirical variety, has an honorable history. The first satirical publication was the Polish Wiadomości Brukowe[note 4] (1816-1822), which was shut down by the Russian Empire. The best-known English language satire publication was the British Punch (1841-1992). The longest continually publishing satire publications are the Harvard Lampoon (1876-) and the lesser-known The Yale Record (1872-).[21]

The old guard of fake news consists of tabloid journalism. In the UK this is mainly Daily Mail, The Sun, and The Express. In the US national level, this is mainly National Enquirer, Weekly World News (defunct), and Globe. Of course, the world's most circulated newspapers are almost invariably tabloids or "boulevard" newspapers, the word "boulevard" being a reference to their method of distribution; unlike major "serious" newspapers that mostly rely upon subscribers, a classical "boulevard" paper would be sold mostly or exclusively via small newspaper and tobacco stalls, and as such, had to attract readers passing along the boulevard with big pictures, screaming headlines, crime, violence, and nude flesh.

(Programs which make satire out of news like The Daily Show also call themselves "fake news", but don't enter this article, since they talk about actual events. Thus they also differ from satirical news such as The Onion, which are fake events for the most part but just for laughs.)

An inevitable consequence of discussing fake news with people that one might call the Wild Wild West alternative news source aficionados is the claim that "The mainstream media is the real fake news"[22] or something similar.[23] This seems understandable at first, given how sensationalist, poorly analyzed, and balance-fallacy prone many major media institutions are (especially television). The problem is that this tends to result in people turning their due cynicism of damaged institutions into paranoia, and obsessive rejection of all but the most extreme and even egregiously incorrect "alternative" sources.

Reality bites the dust [ edit ]

“ ” Any negative polls are fake news. —Donald Trump turning "fake news" into a snarl word[6]

As the Internet has grown, cash-grabbing fake-news sites have popped up freely. The years 2015 and 2016 saw an unprecedented wave of egregiously false bullshit channeled through Facebook, Twitter, and good old-fashioned FWD:fwd:RE::emails ("remails"). The phenomenon has become so bad that Snopes, whose sole job is disproving this type of bullshit, admitted they could no longer cover it all. Their reason? "The bilge keeps coming faster than you can pump."[24]

Unsurprisingly, flooding the Internet with alternative facts has adverse consequences:

Oxford Dictionaries in 2016 named "post-truth" as their international word of the year. [25]

According to the author of ABCNews.com.co, "I think Donald Trump is in the White House because of me. His followers don't fact check anything ." [26]

." One communications professor named Melissa Zimdars got so tired of seeing bullshit news that she compiled a list of "False, misleading, clickbaity, and satirical 'news' sources"; however, after receiving threats against her, she removed it. [27] [28] [29]

There are innumerable examples of people believing this shit.[30][31][32]

A powerful component of the spread of fake news has been "alternative news" sources, who exploit many people's due cynicism about major media outlets that often sensationalize, fail to adequately fact check, or oversimplify news. This exploitation takes the form of reframing those failures as complete uselessness, allowing them to insinuate their own sites as the sole source of truth, regardless of their own rather unconcerned attitude towards objectivity and fact.[33]

After pushback against fake news, The Atlantic notes that many fake news outlets have taken to cynically calling professional media outlets "fake news" in order to make the term even more meaningless.[34] This is on top of how the Trump White House has found a way to perpetuate the narrative of labeling real news they don't like as fake news, according to a report by Business Insider:[35][36][37]

“ ” Wait for a draft memo of a proposal to be leaked to the press. Refuse to comment when asked about the draft. Wait to dispute a story's accuracy until the story is published. Accuse the press of never having sought comment to begin with.

Voilà, the press is now reporting the fake news that the White House provided.

Mapping the partisan brain [ edit ]

“ ” We've tried to do similar things to liberals. It just has never worked, it never takes off. You'll get debunked within the first two comments and then the whole thing just kind of fizzles out. —Jestin Coler, publisher of fake news sites[38]

There's some evidence that conservatives are more susceptible to fake news than liberals.[39] Psychologist John Jost found that several personality traits were correlated with conservatism, the most relevant of which to fake news was "need for cognition"[40] (enjoyment in critical thinking and deliberation): critical thinking was negatively correlated with conservatism in a review of 40 studies.[39] In reference to his small study on bullshit,[41] Stefan Pfattheicher, a psychologist at Ulm University, stated that conservatives "are less reflective in information processing, especially when information is consistent with [their] own worldviews."[39] Pfattheicher and Jost said that the differences were not about intelligence, and Pfattheicher further went on to say, "This seems to be more a matter of motivation to process information (or news) in a critical, reflective thinking style than the ability to do so."[39]

All that said, this research is not definitive, and some researchers (e.g. Daniel Kahan) have not found any conservative/liberal difference.[39][42] Moreover, it should be clear that this is a Hanlon's razor issue; even if conservatives are more susceptible to fake news, it would not be because they are malicious fake news mongers but instead victims of their own lack of skepticism.

How to identify fake news [ edit ]

"How To Spot Fake News" by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions

“ ” Apparently, an economy ruled by online advertising has produced its own theory of truth: truth is whatever produces most eyeballs. —Evgeny Morozov[43]

Content:

Lack of corroboration: A real piece of news will be corroborated by multiple sources that don't just copy headlines from one another. [note 5]

A real piece of news will be corroborated by multiple sources that just copy headlines from one another. Bias: If the editorial position of a site leans a certain way, they may be more inclined to create (or at the very least re-share) fabrications that support that leaning. Be especially wary of sources that support your own biases; you'll be less able to identify the bullshit. A quality news story will contain independent views, not just reporting from one side of the story.

If the editorial position of a site leans a certain way, they may be more inclined to create (or at the very least re-share) fabrications that support that leaning. Be especially wary of sources that support biases; you'll be less able to identify the bullshit. A quality news story will contain independent views, not just reporting from one side of the story. Comments: If the site allows comments, there may be helpful comments in the article that point out the article's spin or accuracy. Of course, there are unhelpful comments or comments that knee-jerk agree or disagree with the article, but pay attention how they're written, especially if they're consistent with the fake news' aims of generating outrage.

Presentation:

Overhyped consequences: Real news sites will (mostly) not wrap their stories in claims about the IMPENDING GLOBAL DISASTER or the COMPLETE DESTRUCTION of a political figure. In general, the shoutier the story, the less you should believe it.

Real news sites will (mostly) not wrap their stories in claims about the IMPENDING GLOBAL DISASTER or the COMPLETE DESTRUCTION of a political figure. In general, the shoutier the story, the less you should believe it. Appeals to emotion: The more emotionally charged a story is, the more likely it is to generate clicks. Nothing drives traffic like angry people resharing the latest "outrage" related to children. If an article makes you angry, double-triple-check it and also ask yourself about the article's intentions such as playing into your emotions and biases. People have an incentive to lie in order to make you angry or afraid.

The more emotionally charged a story is, the more likely it is to generate clicks. Nothing drives traffic like angry people resharing the latest "outrage" related to children. If an article makes you angry, double-triple-check it and also ask yourself about the article's intentions such as playing into your emotions and biases. People have an incentive to lie in order to make you angry or afraid. "Truth": Watch out for sites that liberally use "truth" to describe their content. There is none to be found. For example, the two main newspapers of the Soviet Union were Pravda (Правда, lit. "Truth") and Izvestia (Известия, lit. "News"). People would often joke, "In Pravda there is no news, and in Izvestia there is no truth." [44]

Watch out for sites that liberally use "truth" to describe their content. There is none to be found. For example, the two main newspapers of the Soviet Union were (Правда, lit. "Truth") and (Известия, lit. "News"). People would often joke, "In there is no news, and in there is no truth." Weird URLs: In particular, the (fake) domain .com.co is often abused by sites that try to pass themselves as legitimate news sources. [note 6]

In particular, the (fake) domain is often abused by sites that try to pass themselves as legitimate news sources. ALL CAPS: What more needs be said?

A 2017 analysis by researchers at Indiana University found that a small number of bots are responsible for the spread of much fake news on social media.[46]

Outright made up or completely unsubstantiated [ edit ]

“ ” Your parents in 1996: Don't trust ANYONE on the Internet.



Your parents in 2016: Freedom Eagle dot Facebook says Your parents in 1996: Don't trust ANYONE on the Internet.Your parents in 2016: Freedom Eagle dot Facebook says Hillary invented AIDS —Daniel Kibblesmith[47]

These sites make up the vast majority of the clog in people's news feeds. Sometimes they publish truth; sometimes they publish discreditable nonsense. Everything they publish, however, supports their worldview and doesn't acknowledge any valid opposing viewpoints. It should be noted that many former fake news sites are offline as of January 2018. If you still want to go have a good laugh at them, we recommend looking them up on Archive.org or archive.is.

They fall into two categories:

Earnest biased/fake news: These sites earnestly strive to present fact-devoid rants about utter nonsense in order to push a specific class of bullshit, usually pseudoscience, conspiracy theories, religious ideology, or a political ideology. (The people behind these websites may earnestly believe what they preach. That fact doesn't prevent these websites from lacking facts altogether.) Scopie's Law applies.

These sites earnestly strive to present fact-devoid rants about utter nonsense in order to push a specific class of bullshit, usually pseudoscience, conspiracy theories, religious ideology, or a political ideology. (The people behind these websites may earnestly believe what they preach. That fact doesn't prevent these websites from lacking facts altogether.) Scopie's Law applies. Opportunistic biased/fake news: These sites earnestly strive to get clicks, just clicks. If they push an agenda, they don't do it intentionally; these sites are utterly unconcerned with the truth. (Clicks and ad revenue aren't ideological; neither are these sites.) Opportunistic sites like these often invent plausible but utterly untrue (i.e. clickbait) headlines (e.g. "I was paid $3,500 to protest against Donald Trump"[48]) in order to maximize sharing on social media (and therefore clicks). Oh, and did we mention that they're just click-hungry advertisers?

Jestin Coler [ edit ]

Jestin Coler at SXSW 2017

Jestin Coler (1976–) was the owner of several fake news sites under the umbrella company Disinfomedia, Inc. using his pseudonym Allen Montgomery.[49][50][38] The sites included NationalReport.net, USAToday.com.co, WashingtonPost.com.co[note 7] and briefly the Denver Guardian. [49][38] DisInfoMedia's focus was initially on trolling the alt-right, with the aim of luring the alt-right into republishing the fake stories and thereby discrediting them.[49] As advertising revenue increased, the focus began to shift into pushing the envelope.[49] After Facebook changed its algorithm to slow traffic from fake news sites, Coler decided to switch the focus to satire.[49] Eventually, Coler closed all of his fake news sites after concluding that despite the money he was not proud of what he had done and did not appreciate the stress.[49] Coler's conclusions from the experience are:[49]

Money is the primary motivation for fake news sites.

Both ends of the political spectrum are susceptible to fake news.

"The idea of limiting speech is far more dangerous to democracy than fake news."

Paul Horner [ edit ]

In November 2016, Paul Horner (1978–2017) revealed himself to be the writer behind abcnews.com.co and other unnamed fake news sites.[52] CNN.com.de was likely one of the other news sites, since Horner admitted writing at least some of the stories there and the both ABCNews.com.co and CNN.com.de shared stories written by the pseudonymous Jimmy Rustling. Horner partly-blamed himself for the election of Donald Trump[53] In an interview, Horner indicated that he did not understand the difference between satire ("humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices") and outright fake news that is designed to deceive.[52]

Fake logo.

Real logo.

Born at an early age, Jimmy Rustling has found solace and comfort knowing that his humble actions have made this multiverse a better place for every man, woman and child ever known to exist. Dr. Jimmy Rustling has won many awards for excellence in writing including fourteen Peabody awards and a handful of Pulitzer Prizes. When Jimmies are not being Rustled the kind Dr. enjoys being an amazing husband to his beautiful, soulmate; Anastasia, a Russian mail order bride of almost 2 months. Dr. Rustling also spends 12-15 hours each day teaching their adopted 8-year-old Syrian refugee daughter how to read and write.

American News [ edit ]

ALL PRAISE REAGAN

CLINTON KISSING KKK — VERY REAL PHOTO — CLINTON CAMPAIGN IS DEAD[71] (not really[72])

Site: americannews.com Specialties:[73][74] Ridiculously exaggerated pro-conservative news

Race-baiting for clicks

Possibly attempts to make conservatives look stupid by sharing fake news

Likely satire[75] Why it's fake: Headline: "Video Leaks Exposing Hillary’s Ties To The KKK… Her Campaign Is Finished" [71]

Headline: "Obama Demanded This Admiral Not Give Out Bibles, But His Response Is Going VIRAL" [76] (debunked by Snopes [77] )

(debunked by Snopes ) Headline: "Obama Takes Down American Flag For Press Conference" [78] (debunked by Snopes [79] )

(debunked by Snopes ) Headline: "BREAKING: Obama Admits to Forging Birth Certificate After This Old Photo Leaks to the Public" [80] (debunked by Snopes [81] )

(debunked by Snopes ) Headline: "Muslims Demand Army Change Its Dress Code To Include Turbans And Beards" [82] (debunked by Snopes [83] )

(debunked by Snopes ) Post title: "Plan Launches To Make Obama Addition To Mount Rushmore" [84] (debunked by Snopes [85] )

(debunked by Snopes ) Post title: "Veteran Was Kicked Out Of His Daughter’s School Because His Uniform Was 'Offensive' " [86] (debunked by Snopes [87] )

(debunked by Snopes ) Headline: "Top Marine General Now Risking His Career To Take Down Obama" [88] (not really) [89] )

(not really) ) Headline: "Resolution Passed in this County Forcing Citizens To Pay Slavery Reparations" (debunked by Snopes [90] )

) Post title: "Obama pushes reparations for slavery on all non-black Americans." [91] (debunked by Snopes [92] )

(debunked by Snopes ) Headline: "ATTENTION Sadie Robertson In Major Car Accident, Please Pray For Her And Her Family" [93] (debunked by Snopes [94] )

(debunked by Snopes ) Headline: "RACISM: Black Panther Promises To Kill All White Babies" [95]

Headline: "Bill O'Reilly Saves The Entire Election… Proves The Liberal Media Machine Has Been Lying This Entire Time" [96]

Headline: "Black Man Murders White Family And Burns Their Home… Where's Al Sharpton Now?" [97]

Headline: "Just When You Thought You've Heard The Worst The ISIS Is Doing, This Information Leaked" [98]

Headline: "Thug Refuses To Pull Up His Pants, So Cops Immediately Teach Him A Swift Lesson"[99]

Fake logo.

Real logo.

NaturalNews [ edit ]

"Truth news bureau" sounds strangely Orwellian.

See the main article on this topic: NaturalNews

GlobalResearch [ edit ]

See the main article on this topic: GlobalResearch

Globally researching, globally wrong.

InfoWars and PrisonPlanet [ edit ]

There's a war on... and it mostly involves shitty clickbait fake news.

PrisonPlanet consists of the purest, locally-grown truth-free bullshit.

OH MY GOD, THIS ARTICLE IS TRIPPING BALLS

See the main article on this topic: Alex Jones

Sites: infowars.com

prisonplanet.com Specialties:[142][143][73] Fake or distorted news/clickbait from an anti-government, anti-"globalist", and generally pro-conspiracist stance

ALL CAPS HEADLINES (lowercased below for legibility) Why it's fake/distorted: Headline: "Why Feds Are Banning Fireplaces And Wood Stoves: Feds attempting to regulate human activity out of existence" [144]

Headline: "Video: ‘Black Lives Matter’ Rioters Target Whites For Beat Downs" [145] (debunked by Snopes [146] )

(debunked by Snopes ) Headline: "Alex Jones Harassed & Threatened With a Gun For Supporting Trump" [147] — And not because of the fact that he's Alex Jones? Find that hard to believe.

— And not because of the fact that he's Alex Jones? Find that hard to believe. Headline: "Proof: Wholesome Americana Thrives Despite Increasingly Vicious Left: Smalltown America is alive and well" [148] — Yes, those down to Earth, sane infowarriors that enjoy "honorable traditions" such as harassing gay and trans people. Damn those sick leftists, they're ruining America.

— Yes, those down to Earth, sane infowarriors that enjoy "honorable traditions" such as harassing gay and trans people. Damn those sick leftists, they're ruining America. Headline: "Soros & Hillary Launch Purple Revolution Against Trump: Globalists try to usurp power from the people" [149]

Headline: "Dems Declare War On Free Press: Big Government Libs Trying To Control Access To Information" [150] Because big-government Cons never try to hide things from the public.

Because big-government Cons never try to hide things from the public. Headline: "Shock Video: Police Force 80-Year-Old Italian Hotel Owner To House African Migrants: Government Confiscates Private Property To Accommodate 'Refugees' " [151]

Headline: "Clintons Begging Trump to Stop Investigation of Hillary Through Chelsea: Trump Must Drain the Clinton Crime Family with the Rest of The Swamp" [152]

Headline: "Clinton Campaign Admits Making False Claims Against Trump Print: Campaign intentionally conspires to deceive public" [153]

Tweet: "New York Times warns Hillary campaign in advance of stories they are about to publish." [154] (debunked by Snopes [155] )

(debunked by Snopes ) Headline: "Drunk Driver Blames Crash on Trump" [156]

Headline: "Breaking: Internal Coup In Clinton Camp Will Ruin Her" [157]

Headline: "Expert: Chemtrails Could Wipe Out Humanity" [158]

Headline: "Obama Pushes 'Fake News' Talking Point; It's a 'Threat To Democracy' " [159] (Or: "Uh oh! Obama is on to us!")

(Or: "Uh oh! Obama is on to us!") Headline: "Alex Jones: The Media is a Joke, We Have Won: Masters of Fake News Attempt to Smear Real Independent Journalism" [160] ("…With Our Help!")

("…With Our Help!") Headline: "The Mainstream Media's 'Fake News' Narrative Is Already Beginning To Collapse" [161]

Headline: "Dems Pushing Pardons For Hillary & Illegals" [162]

Headline: "DISGRACEFUL. Michael Shannon To Trump Supporters: It's Time To Die" [163]

Headline: "Fake News Alert: Bloomberg Editor Creates Libelous Trump Tweet Out of Thin Air!" — Oh, the irony![164]

Mirror Spectrum [ edit ]

Apparently, the mirror image of "factual news" is "clickbait bullshit".

International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State [ edit ]

innumerable JPEG artifacts ≠ credibility

Laura Knight Jadczyk [ edit ]

lot about conspiracies and aliens. Specifically, people who think aabout conspiracies and aliens.

See the main article on this topic: Laura Knight Jadczyk

Activist Post [ edit ]

While you're at it, interrupt your regular standards of journalistic evidence. We've got activism to post, here!

Biased or dishonest representation of real news [ edit ]

A favorite of political fake news on the marginally more legitimate sites includes completely out-of-context quotes that often say the opposite of what the in context quote says, complete misrepresentations of the intent, or cause of actions by political leaders, suggesting a recent policy or action will result in an extreme version of the policy (often freely intermingled with conspiracy theories), treating a recurring or regular event like a sudden new innovation and a threat to [insert your political affiliation here].

Oxford University researcher Phil Howard has characterized these types of websites as "junk news" when they meet at least 3 of 5 criteria:[204][205]

failing to meet the best practices of professional journalism using emotionally driven language relying on false information or conspiracy theories using highly biased reporting relying on counterfeit of established news outlets

Breitbart [ edit ]

Intellectually breit in name only.

See the main article on this topic: Breitbart

RawStory [ edit ]

Raw, uncooked and therefore unsuitable for public consumption.

See the main article on this topic: RawStory

The Rebel Media [ edit ]

Rebelling against the facts, since 2015!

Site: therebel.media Specialties:[227] Far-right (or alt-right) exaggerations of news

Far-right (or alt-right) fake news

Providing a home for failed Sun News Network employees Why it's fake/distorted: Headline: "Backlash over Trump's leaked tape is really an attack on masculinity" [228]

Headline: "Note telling offended left-wingers to 'suck it up' over Trump's win being investigated as a hate crime" [229]

Headline: " 'It’s like sex!' 10 things I love about going to church" [230]

Headline: "Millennials argue: 'Trump has to die!' " [231] (or: "Watch as totally-sober kids outside bars are interviewed about politics")

(or: "Watch as totally-sober kids outside bars are interviewed about politics") Headline: "WATCH: White CNN guest drops n-word ON AIR while trying to claim Trump, Bannon are racists"[232] (or: "Liberals said a no-no word!")

Politicus USA [ edit ]

Emphasis on "liberal" and "politics", not on "real".

Site: politicususa.com Specialty:[233] Ridiculously exaggerated pro-Democratic Party news Why it's exaggerated: Headline: "Liberal House Democrats Blast Trump For Filling His Cabinet With Misfits And Stooges" [234]

Headline: "Shocking New Poll Shows That A Vast Majority Of Trump Voters Live In Another Reality" [235]

Headline: "Yes, We're All Pretty Much Horrified That Putin, Not America, Elected Trump" [236]

Headline: "Trump Surrogate Calls on FBI's Comey to 'Crackdown' on Peaceful Protests" [237]

Headline: "Trump Said CIA Lies But Then Winks as He Makes Putin’s BFF New Fave as SecState" [238]

Headline: "No American Is Safe from Trump’s Wrecking Crew Cabinet" [239]

Headline: "Trump's Labor Secretary Pick Is Declaration Of War On America's Workers"[240]

The Washington Times [ edit ]

If you can describe a paper as "owned by the Moonies ", it's not gonna be a good paper.

See the main article on this topic: The Washington Times

Not to be confused with the legitimate (and much better) publication, The Washington Post

RT and SputnikNews [ edit ]

Retarded Today.

See the main article on this topic: RT

WND (formally WorldNetDaily) [ edit ]

Wing Nut Daily

See the main article on this topic: WND

Epoch Times [ edit ]

See the main article on this topic: Falun Gong

We are now in the epoch of promoting pseudoscience.

Owned by The Epoch Media Group[280]

Satirical news [ edit ]

This category contains open satire: satire that tells you it's satire. These are the least harmful variety of fake news, and can genuinely do some good while providing a few yucks. (Despite this, many people accidentally share stories from these while assuming they're real.[30])

The Onion & Clickhole [ edit ]

Never-ending spiral of clickbait? Exotic alien anus ? We report, you decide.

See the main article on this topic: The Onion

Sites: theonion.com

clickhole.com Specialty:[73][295] Humorous absurdism Why it's fake: Special report: "Nation Fills Up On Bread: Despite repeated warnings from federal officials not to eat too much before their entree arrives, an alarming 89 percent of U.S. citizens filled up on bread Monday, leaving them too full to enjoy the rest of their meal." [296]

Headline: "Ambassador Stages Coup At UN, Issues Long List of Non-Binding Resolutions" [297]

Blog post by Donald Trump: "When You're Feeling Low, Just Remember I'll Be Dead In About 15 Or 20 Years" [298]

Headline: "Trump Vomits Immediately After Seeing Everyday Americans Up Close" [299]

Headline: "Breitbart Traffic Down As Readers Now Getting Bulk Of News Analysis From Graffiti Scrawled Across Neighborhood" [300]

Headline: "Finding Common Ground: This White Man And This Muslim Woman Both Have 'Trump' Painted On Their Garages"[301]

The Onion was even more likely to fool someone prior to 2013, when it was published in a literal print format in numerous cities, and mixed legitimate music and film reviews with its regular satire.

The Borowitz Report [ edit ]

In which "reshuffled" means "added copious amounts of bullshit".

The Report is written by Andy Borowitz and published in The New Yorker.[302]

Specialties:[295] Humorous fake political news from a liberal slant

ALL CAPS HEADLINES (lowercased here for legibility) Why it's fake: Headline: "Cruz Delivers Early Concession Speech For Trump" [303]

Headline: "Poll: Unconscious Clinton More Fit To Be President Than Conscious Trump" [304]

Headline: "Comey Says F.B.I. Investigating Hillary's Ties To Bill Clinton" [305]

Headline: "Pence Recaptured After Fleeing Trump Campaign Bus" [306]

Headline: "Trump Confirms That He Just Googled Obamacare" [307]

Headline: "In Final Appeal To Voters, Clinton Changes Slogan To 'Won't Blow Up Planet' " [308]

Headline: "Study: Average American Can Stand Four Seconds Of Ted Cruz"[309]

The Daily Currant [ edit ]

Logo looks like it was made in Microsoft Paint? Check. News company name is a reference to food? Check. Credible source? Check.

The Shovel [ edit ]

Ah, perfect for moving bullshit around!

THE SHOVEL IS AUSTRALIA'S SATIRE NEWS SITE. By reading this content you agree that Malcolm Turnbull invented the internet.

The Good Lord Above [ edit ]

The American Tribune [ edit ]

Site: theamericantribune.org Specialty:[339] Outlandish clickbait headlines similar to those on Clickhole and The Onion. Website was parked as of March 2017. Site is offline as of January 2018. Why it's fake: Headline: "Obama Controls our Thots" [340]

Headline: "Buzzfeed Article Nominated for Pulitzer Prize" [341]

Headline: "Putin is Out of the Closet!" [342]

Headline: "Russian Spies Behind 2016 Holiday Season Celebrity Deaths" [343]

Headline: "Mariah Carey Claims Stage Was 'Hacked' by Russians After New Year's Eve Debacle"[344]

The Underground Report [ edit ]

Sites: undergroundnewsreport.com Specialty:[345] Trolling Trump supporters Website is empty as of January 2018. Why it's fake: They came out as satire on March 3, 2017 after failing to write a story too ridiculous for even Trump supporters to believe.[346][347] Headline: "Bombshell: Obama Plans To Use 'Mind Control' Drug On Trump" [348]

Headline: "Obama Mobilizing Refugee Army For Mexico" [349]

Headline: "New Evidence: Milo Yiannopolous [ sic ] Assisted Clinton Goons In Pedo Ring" [350]

Assisted Clinton Goons In Pedo Ring" Headline: "Breaking: CNN Connection To ISIS Exposed" [351]

Headline: "Report: Michelle Obama Underwent Sex Change Surgery In 2016"[352]

The Lapine [ edit ]

Why would anyone trust a fluffy white rat for their news? Find out at thelapine.ca!

Satirical news site[353]

Site: thelapine.ca Specialty: Absurd news Why it's fake: Headline: "That Annoying Friend Who Loves Winter Doomed to 6 Months of Decent Weather" [354]

Headline: "Trump Rushes Emergency Planeload of His Hats to Flood-Ravaged Louisiana" [355]

Content: " 'Sesame Street is the sort of liberal fairy crap kids are watching today,' Fox News owner Ruper Murdoch [ sic ] told Fox News entertainer Bill O'Reilly in making the announcement on-air today. 'Liberals dressed up in goof-ass costumes prancing around filling kids' heads with garbage about how special they are and how even Muslim and homosexual children are just the same as them and how the letter 'E' stands for 'Environment' and they should be kind to it.' " [356]

told Fox News entertainer Bill O'Reilly in making the announcement on-air today. 'Liberals dressed up in goof-ass costumes prancing around filling kids' heads with garbage about how special they are and how even Muslim and homosexual children are just the same as them and how the letter 'E' stands for 'Environment' and they should be kind to it.' " Headline: "Ben Carson 'Stranded' in Middle of Escalator After Stairs Stop Moving"[357]

Real News Right Now [ edit ]

Despite its name and its semi-professional layout, this is very much a satirical *fake* news website. Features absurd articles similar to those on The Onion. The site does not explicitly state that it is satire, but if headlines such as "Barack Obama Reinstated as 44th President of the United States Following Military Coup" do not make it obvious enough, it can also be inferred from the about page of the site.[358]

Site: realnewsrightnow.com Specialty: Humorous absurdism Why it's fake: Headline: "During U.S. Visit Netanyahu Garners Congressional Support to Relocate Palestine to Wyoming" [359]

Headline: "Pope Francis Orders Vatican Archives to Reveal God's Name Ending Centuries of Secrecy" [360]

Headline: "Sophia the Robot Says She Has Taken Control of World's Strategic Nuclear Arsenal" [361]

Headline: "Scientists Warn Pink Cows on the Verge of Extinction"[362]

The Babylon Bee [ edit ]

Oh bee, where is thy sting?

The Babylon Bee is a satirical site, launched in March 1, 2016, for evangelical Christians, including parodying left-wing views (including pro-abortion and transgenderism), and televangelists. The news models itself after The Onion, similar to ResistanceHole, a subsidary of Clickhole[363] (see The Onion). While it tends to mostly lampoon the left, the writers are also not afraid to poke copious amounts of fun at the other side, as well as evangelicals themselves.[364][365][366][367]

Site: babylonbee.com Speciality: Satire, absurd headlines Why it's fake/distorted: Headline: "Bigoted Boy Scouts Welcome Girls But Still Exclude All 49,247 Other Genders" [368]

Headline: "Kamala Harris Reiterates Strong Support For Separating Families At Border Of Birth Canal" [369]

Headline: "Libertarian Just Gonna Kick Back And Enjoy Watching Faith In Government Institutions Crumble" [370]

Headline: "Young Earth Creationist Parents Force Child To Play With Human Action Figures, Dinosaurs At Same Time" [371]

Headline: "House Democrats Draft Legislation That Would Make It A Hate Crime To Eat At Chick-Fil-A"[372]

RealTrueNews [ edit ]

RealTrueNews started out pretending to be a real news website but by the end of November 2016 the owner of the site, Marco Chacon, admitted that the site was satire.[373] Sometime after Chacon's article in The Daily Beast,[373] the site included "Fake, But Accurate" under its logo on the main page,[374] and including "RealTrueNews / The Resistor is Satire. It's sad we have to say this—but we do. Nothing on here is remotely real." on their "About" page.[375]

Site: realtruenews.org Specialities: Satire

Trolling Trump and Bernie Sanders supporters

Mansplaining

Poll-unskewing

Satirical fact checking ("Finally: Patrioic Fact-Checking You Can Trust. Don't Fall For the Liberal Lies and Clinton News Network 'Journolism.' Get Real. True. Facts. When Your Liberal Cousin Sends You To Snopes, Send Them Here Instead.")[376] Why it's fake/distorted: Headline: "Mansplainer: Why Didn't They Repeal Obamacare?" [377]

Headline: "Man Terrified of Learning Anything New About 'Q' " [378]

Headline: "RNC 2018 Message 'OK To Say N-Word Again' " [379]

Headline: "Let's Learn All About The #SethRich Conspiracy!" [380]

Headline: "Only Trump & Putin Can Stand Up To Hillary!![381]

Other, now-defunct fake news websites [ edit ]

longroom.com (fake polls, fake news aggregator)

Is RationalWiki a fake news site? [ edit ]

See also [ edit ]

Media and websites [ edit ]

Concepts [ edit ]

Interactives [ edit ]

Notes [ edit ]