False News on the Internet

With the internet offering such an easy way to view and spread the latest news, it also allows inaccurate rumors to be spread.

There is an example of this in an American Journalism Review article (AJR) in which it discusses the Piers Morgan rumor that was started by a false tweet.

That tweet follows, "Exclusive: @PiersMorgan suspended from his CNN show while investigations continue following new revelations on alleged phone hacking claims".

The rumor spread from there and it is just one example of how journalists can easily be led astray from the truth.

According to the AJR article titled, "Steering Clear of Misinformation" it says, "Dan Silverman, author of "Regret the Error" and founder of the website RegretTheError.com and Mandy Jenkins, social news editor for The Huffington Post, taught several ways to help journalists avoid the pitfalls of online falsity."

The two gave a presentation titled "B.S. Detection for Journalists" during the Online News Association Convention in Boston on Sept. 3rd. This presentation went over ways that journalists can figure out if a story is true or if it is B.S.

With the ease of rumor spreading via internet today, journalists need to be on top of their game when it comes to spotting or researching a fake story.

Photo from Creative Commons