The news is that you believe “fake news” is “real news.”

Either one of two things are true:

The mainstream media are correct, that when you see a headline that reads “Obama To Authorize Sterilization Of All Republicans,” or “Trump Pledges Loyalty To American Nazi Party” you believe it. Completely. And you share it with all your gullible friends and it goes viral and has enough power to affect the outcome of a presidential election. The proliferation of “fake news sites” is annoying and irritating, but easy to spot and merely a distraction from genuine problems within the mainstream media itself.

It’s not really that hard to figure out if a site is “fake,” the problem is that the mainstream media wants to include conservative news and analysis sites on the list as “fake.”

The list (which included hoax sites and non-hoax sites) has since been taken down, mainly because it was so shockingly unfair and inaccurate.

So first, let’s break down the pretty easy ways of telling if a news site or story is fake. Here are the top four ways you can tell that a story you’re reading is likely a hoax:

If the story doesn’t have any sources. All of the stories on TheFederalistPapers.org are extensively cited. You can find out where we got our information from, and unless we made a huge mistake, it’s a reputable news source. If the other stories seem just as crazy as the one you’re reading. Let’s say you click on a story that says “Bill Clinton Admits To Fathering Three Children.” Given Bill’s history, that’s not entirely unbelievable. But on that story page, there are links to other stories that are even more outlandish, like “Al Gore Admits Climate Change Is A Hoax,” or “Newt Gingrich Comes Out As Gay,” it might be a fake site. If the site contains an enormous amount of advertising. Not just one pop up here and there, but all sorts of irritating “pop-up” and “pop-under” ads that don’t seem to go away. Reputable sites try not to permit that kind of advertising. If you’ve never heard of the site before, be careful. There are plenty of new and perfectly reputable sites out there, but if it’s called the “Denver Guardian,” and you didn’t think Denver had a paper called the “Guardian,” be careful. (It is a completely fake site that seems to have cleared their page of anything but a title page now.)

But maybe there’s the possibility that the mainstream media is blaming so-called “fake” news sites because their “real” news has become so questionable.

For example, we know that Donald Trump didn’t call all Mexicans “rapists” and “drug dealers.” (He didn’t; he said some of the illegal aliens who cross the border are). But the “real news” didn’t report it that way. Not The Washington Post, not The BBC. Politico actually had the headline: “Donald Trump’s Wrong. Mexicans Aren’t Going To Rape You.” Gee. Talk about click-bait.

Maybe – just maybe – it’s the mainstream media’s obsession with characterizing Donald Trump as a racist. When David Duke (who receives zero attention from anyone except the leftist press) came out and endorsed Trump, Donald took more than 3.5 seconds to disavow the endorsement. He pointed this out on CNN, rebuking Duke as fast as he possibly could so he wasn’t considered a “racist.”

“Because last time with another person in this position, I did it very quickly. And they said, ‘He didn’t do it fast enough,’ ” Trump said. “Rebuked. Is that OK? Rebuked, done.”

RELATED: REAL REASON Democrats Complain About Cost of Protecting Trump

Maybe it’s that Donald Trump was a joke. Mocked by the media elite and counted out from the moment he began his campaign. Pollsters said there was practically no way he would win the election. He was too stupid, too sexist, too vulgar, too racist. All of those accusations accompanied by cleverly edited soundbites and innuendo.

He was a joke. A clown. He would never win. That’s what the mainstream media told us over and over again. Check out this great video:

For this and many other reasons, the mainstream media lost this election. And they’re damned well not going to blame themselves. So they’ll blame the fake, news sites instead of their insincere and biased coverage.

The mainstream media has failed us. They no longer serve as the objective “gatekeepers” of news – presenting us with the facts in an unbiased manner. Now, they filter the news through a leftist lens that completely distorts reality.

So is it any wonder the American people are turning to “alternative” news sites for information?

It’s a shame that some of those sites are genuine fakes, and frauds and hoaxes. But the media have only themselves to blame for this. I think the American people are smart enough to figure out the difference.

H/T: RedState.com





