Pizzagate, the conspiracy theory started by alt-right Twitter which alleged that John Podesta‘s emails exposed some members of the Democratic party as being part of a DC pizzeria-based child-sex ring, has made its way into Russian social networks. Now some people are convinced of the existence of pedophile lobby that […] Read more »
Most Americans Who See Fake News Believe It, New Survey Says
Fake news headlines fool American adults about 75% of the time, according to a large-scale new survey conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs for BuzzFeed News. The survey also found that people who cite Facebook as a major source of news are more likely to view fake news headlines as accurate […] Read more »
In News, What’s Fake and What’s Real Can Depend on What You Want to Believe
… Fake news, and the proliferation of raw opinion that passes for news, is creating confusion, punching holes in what is true, causing a kind of fun-house effect that leaves the reader doubting everything, including real news. That has pushed up the political temperature and increased polarization. No longer burdened […] Read more »
Google, democracy and the truth about internet search
… Google is search. It’s the verb, to Google. It’s what we all do, all the time, whenever we want to know anything. We Google it. … And 20 years ago it didn’t even exist. When Tony Blair became prime minister, it wasn’t possible to Google him: the search engine had […] Read more »
Going downhill
Since the 1970s, the Gallup Poll has asked “I am going to read you a list of institutions in American society. Please tell me how much confidence you, yourself, have in each one–a great deal, quite a lot, some, or very little?” … I don’t think anyone will be surprised […] Read more »
Covering politics in a ‘post-truth’ America
For the last two decades, the rules of political reporting have been blown up. And I’ve cheered at every step along the way. Not for me the mourning over the dismantling of the old order, all those lamentations about the lost golden era of print newspapers thudding on doorsteps and […] Read more »