“You are Fake News!” Donald Trump declares as he refuses to take a question from CNN reporter Jim Acosta during a 2017 press conference. Throughout his campaign, inauguration, and the beginning stages of his presidency, Trump has shown a strong disdain for the media. The term “Fake News” has become a staple in conversation surrounding modern journalism because this past year’s election was the first to genuinely be affected by it. Anonymous sources publish false stories online in the hopes of furthering their political agenda or making a profit. These stories, primarily posted and shared on social media, are meant to grab the attention of users through absurd headlines. FBI Agent Suspected in Hillary Email Leaks Found Dead is just one example of a fake news piece that surfaced on social media and was seen by millions of people. Despite obvious differences between reputable media companies and fake news websites, American citizens have started to lose faith in journalists’ capability of providing them with true information. This has been aided by President Trump’s constant reminder to his constituents to not believe the “Failing New York Times” or “Fake News CNN”. Informing the public with truthful information is one of the core responsibilities of the media. Journalism has come to be known as the fourth branch of American government. Those who work in the field serve as watchdogs of corruption, hold up a mirror to society’s wrongdoings, and provide a safe marketplace for differing ideas. If our democracy relies on a well-working government based on the concept of checks and balances, fake news has the power to allow political corruption to go unnoticed. The rise of individuals deliberately writing and publishing fake news has caused the American government to look down on the media, therefor lessening their responsibilities and the reputation they once had. The advancement of fake news into social media, the 2016 election, and modern media all illustrate the importance of informing citizens with correct information. A functioning democracy requires a trustworthy media because political, economic, and social decisions should solely be made by a correctly informed public

It is difficult to log onto a website such as Facebook without seeing attention grabbing headlines. Fake news has gradually made its way into the world of social media, and the stories spread like wild fire due to the ability of users to share stories with their followers and friends. Although Facebook executives see that this is a problem, there is little motive to fix the situation because of economic incentive. Every click, share, or comment that these articles receive brings revenue to Facebook and other companies. In the scholarly, peer reviewed article “Getting Serious About Getting Rid of Fake News”, author Joshua Benton states that the stories circulating around social media are “driven purely by the economic incentive structure Facebook has created”. Facebook’s website listed that an average of 1.23 billion people were daily users of their website or mobile application as of December 2016. Having the ability to reach that many people on a daily basis should urge Mark Zuckerberg and other decision-makers to understand the implications of their business decisions. Facebook is currently in the process of implementing a “flagging” system on their website. Users will be alerted that a fake news story was “disputed” by other publications, however the story will not be removed. Despite this being a move in the right direction, there will still be a number of people who disregard the warning and believe the story to be true. In order for Facebook to reduce the impact of fake news, they should immediately take downs links to stories such as FBI Agent Suspected in Hillary Email Leaks Found Dead or Pope Francis Shocks the World, Endorses Donald Trump. 

Facebook, Twitter, and other social media websites have always had a publication-centered mindset when it comes to providing content for their users. Instances of original material generated strictly from these websites are rare, so instead people choose to get their content from other sites and use Facebook to share it with their friends. Michael Rosenblum argues in his opinion piece “Fake News is Not a Problem – It is an Opportunity” that due to the advancement of fake news, flagship newspapers such as The New York Times or The Washington Post should shift from producing content to publishing content. He asserts that these newspapers specifically should get their content from “independent bloggers and news providers worldwide” as opposed to writing their own stories. Who are these other news providers, and will every newspaper and media company be publishing the same material if they did adopt this business model? Rosenblum writes for The Huffington Post, which is a relatively new and large news aggregator that balances publishing content written by their employees, blogs submitted by individuals, and stories from other news sites. Publishing outside material is common in his work environment, but he may not be aware of the dangers of having a strictly publication-based company. If publishing is the main goal, all news outlets will slowly make the transition into more social media-like sites. Although it is unlikely The Huffington Post would release an unverified or fake piece, a publishing centered business model runs the risk of doing so. Writing stories is one of the main appeals to enter the journalism field, so it would be a bold move to take away the ability to do that for large media companies. Now, more than ever, is when the country needs reporters who are passionate about what they do and are passionate about writing the truth. 

Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump had genuine supporters who believed in their ideology and their ability to run our country. However, both of them were also met with a large group of voters who believed the opposite. Donald Trump was labeled as a sexist and a racist while Hillary Clinton was labeled as a criminal. Fake news and the election went hand in hand as both candidates were the perfect subjects for such fabricated stories. The events leading up to election day and the results of the polls led the public to believe Hillary Clinton would be the next leader of our country. Most of The United States was shocked to learn that Donald Trump would become our next president. In the scholarly, peer reviewed article “Fake News Freakout”, author Joseph Uscinski states that although a lot of wrong assumptions can be made about fake news, it is clear that voters received inaccurate information during the campaign. Due to some of his actions, many conservatives had a difficult time voting for Donald Trump. Stories accusing Clinton of ridiculous actions such as running an underground child sex ring or working with ISIS pushed skeptical voters in the direction of Trump. A man actually believed the story accusing Hillary Clinton of running an underground child sex ring. Dubbed “Pizzagate” by the media, a man brought a gun into the pizzeria where this crime was said to be taking place. He opened fire and was promptly arrested, but he claimed he was “self-investigating the crime”.  Receiving inaccurate information, like Usinski said, led more people to changing their vote. Trump was deemed to be the “lesser of two evils” by this portion of society. Although most of the people did not actually believe those stories, Clinton registered in the back of their mind as someone not holding good morals.

Some may argue that the extent of the impact of fake news is not large enough for society to really care about.  In January 2017, a study titled “Social Media and Fake News in the 2016 Election” was released by Hunt Alcott and Matthew Gentzkow.  Alcott and Gentzkow are both professors of Economics at New York University and Stanford University, respectively. They determined that “only” 8% of Americans believed fake news headlines regarding the election, and that this margin was not enough to sway the results (27). It is concerning to think that 8% is not a serious figure to them considering how close this past election was. Yes 8% is a small number, however in a race where one candidate wins the popular vote and the other wins the electoral college every vote matters. If that said 8% of adults were from swing states, the results of the election could have been different. Being experts in the field of economics, they would be more qualified to discuss the profit the authors and distributors make from fake news. The study also listed that Trump supporters were more likely to believe fake news, which is a concerning observation considering he won election.  

Fake News had an undeniable presence during the 2016 campaign trail, but may people think that this phase of media begins and ends during that time period. People fail to understand that although there may not be as many crazy and attention grabbing stories being spread, the impact of fake news still exists in the journalism community today. News organizations are starting to adapt to a new form of media after the election because executives believe the industry is headed in a different direction. BuzzFeed was recently scrutinized for releasing the article “These Reports Allege Donald Trump Has Deep Ties to Russia”, which contained an unverified dossier regarding the actions of Donald Trump. In this dossier, Trump was accused of having “Golden Showers” with prostitutes and committing illegal acts concerning his involvement with Russia. Although author Ken Bensinger warned readers that the “allegations are unverified”, a large portion of the public simply believed it to be true. Editor in Chief at BuzzFeed Ben Smith then proceeded to do press conferences and interviews to defend the actions his company made. During an interview on the NBC show Meet the Press, Chuck Todd tells Ben Smith that he “made a knowing decision to put out an untruth”. Smith has repeatedly claimed that the journalism industry is moving toward transparent media, and that the public deserves to know all of the tips and anonymous stories that they receive. This is not what the journalism industry is built on, as it is the duty of journalists to inform the public with verified information. An informed public is necessary if our democracy truly wants to be efficient. Citizens are supposedly the ones who make the political, economic, and social decisions regarding our country’s future. If companies such as BuzzFeed release unverified information, and some people consider it to be true without fact checking it, the repercussions could mirror the repercussions of fake news in the last presidential election.

The media is the first to alert the country of any wrongdoing by someone in a position of political, economic or social power. Moving forward, there needs to be a trust between the public and the journalists to provide them with accurate information. Trump merging his definition of fake news with the actual definition of fake news has his constituents confused as to where the line is drawn in journalism. Liberal media organizations like The New York Times are the first to bring attention to his or any of his affiliates wrongdoings. Conservative news outlets such as Fox News have no issue with Trump, and he has shown that by almost exclusively conducting interviews with them. The public has a right to know political truth, and fake news is beginning to diminish that right. Our democracy relies on correctly informed citizens to make essential decisions regarding the future of our country in a sound way. 

The available research surrounding this topic is just the beginning of a future investigation as to how fake news affects our society. Last year’s election provided a clear example of the dangers this issue brings and raised awareness to the topic. In the coming years of his presidency, numerous parts of society will have different roles in maintaining peace and making changes. While it is the journalists’ responsibility to raise awareness to the issue, it is up to the American government to enact actual change. It may take some time to accomplish this due to Congress members’ lack of ability to come to agreement and the complexity of the First Amendment. The American people both need to realize what is happening and media and be able to count on reputable news outlets to bring them true information. Some people may think that fake news does not affect them, and there is a part of society that isn’t directly affected. Elderly people, for example, may not be as involved with the internet and social media as Generation X or Millennials. Political decisions made by any citizen could affect the country as a whole, so in reality the impact of fake news extends further than many realize. The next time Donald Trump refers to a reputable media company as “failing” or “fake”, try to remember that his version of fake news is not the one society should be worried about. 
