Why is the American press also fooled by fake news sites?

In early May, there was a “news” that the owner of the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets basketball club, former superstar Michael Jordan, had threatened to pull the team out of North Carolina if the state did not repeal its law banning transgender people from using the restroom of their choice. However, in reality, this was just a hoax.

Illustration photo. (Source: cjr.org)

According to cjr.org, several websites impersonating major news organizations, including one that clumsily faked the ABC News logo, were among the first to spread false information about Jordan.

The story then spread to other news sites like Metro US, Elite Daily, and Dallas Voice. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel even used the fake news as a weapon in an editorial opposing the North Carolina law.

I wonder how many times fake news sites—which often call themselves satirical—have fooled journalists with stories like this. But for now, let’s forget about the hoaxers who make up fake news.

The more notable offenders are the companies that enable and reward the promotion of fake news. In an effort to attract traffic and create buzz on social media, some newsrooms prioritize sensational and intriguing stories that have little value.

This system has allowed fake news sites to develop the most sophisticated ways to trick journalists.

Facebook now allows users to report fake news stories or issue warnings on their News Feed, which has helped reduce the amount of fake news. But unless journalism culture changes from the top down, hoaxes will continue to find their way into the mainstream.

“This approach has been criticized and is not widely accepted, but the sites that pursue this strategy are large and attract a lot of people to share their content. News organizations need to recognize the value of their role as smart filters in today’s information-rich, ambiguous, and questionable world,” Craig Silverman, editor of BuzzFeed Canada, a pioneer in fighting fake news, said in a report for Columbia University’s Tow Center.

Before that happens, better mechanisms for detecting fake news are needed. Less than a month before the Michael Jordan hoax, a fake ABC news site fabricated a story that the NBA was planning to pull an All-Star game from North Carolina because of transgender bathroom laws there.

Cleveland.com, the online version of The Plain Dealer, quickly included the story in a news story without verifying the source. “If we had followed the basic steps, we would have known we were dealing with a fake ABC site,” Cleveland.com’s vice president admitted.

It’s not uncommon for major news organizations to fall for fake news. Earlier last year, Bloomberg’s politics section ran a story based on fake news about Nancy Reagan endorsing Hillary Clinton for president.

In 2013, the Washington Post was also fooled by the notorious fake news site Daily Current with the news that Sarah Palin had joined Al-Jazeera. That same year, a false story about New York Times columnist Paul Krugman’s bankruptcy appeared on Boston.com.

Fake news, the brother of fake news, also made the Los Angeles Times go crazy when it reported that the United Nations was preparing to legalize marijuana, or that mysterious artist Banksy had been arrested...

So how do fake news sites fool journalists? Many fake news sites have catchy, believable names—National Report, World News Daily Report, or Empire News.

Other fake news sites mimic the names and logos of real news organizations, such as abcnews.com.co. Some sites mix real and fake news to deceive.

Most fake news stories use multiple sources, from fictitious spokespersons to real organizations, to appear more credible. The premise of fake news is often a hot topic that attracts attention.

Another reason for journalists’ gullibility is the pressure to get the story right. Business Insider recently became the clearest example.

CNN Money reported that Business Insider management required writers to write five stories a day. Quantity was more important than quality. Many writers were required to attract 1 million page views a month.

Shane Ferro, a former employee of Business Insider, corroborated these claims, saying she was constantly faced with “stressful meetings” when she failed to meet the above goals.

“In some ways, Business Insider is an extreme version of what news organizations now expect from journalists: stories that attract a lot of readers, are produced in a short time and do not require editing,” Ferro said.

Traffic, intense requests for stories, and readership-based bonuses have invaded many news organizations in recent years. In 2014, The Oregonian introduced a system of bonuses based on article volume and readership. The Oregonian’s owner, Advance, has similar plans for at least one of its newspapers.

Arienne Thompson, an entertainment reporter for USA Today for the past 10 years, was also fooled by a fake news story about the launch of “selfie shoes” in March 2015.

Thompson doesn't make excuses for her mistakes, but she describes her job this way: “There's always a tug-of-war between publishing quality content and thinking, 'Just publish it. We need traffic.' The basic tenets of journalism now are these small goals.”

The news industry now seems to view inadvertently repeating fake news as a forgivable mistake. That’s not a bad thing; everyone makes mistakes. But what’s worse is that some newsroom owners see these incidents as collateral damage, an unfortunate price to pay for doing business in the digital age./.

According to Vietnamplus