"Fake News," Lies, and Misinformation

There are many aspects that influence our own perceptions, perspectives, and biases when we interact with the world around us, including when we engage with the news.  One of the most important influences in our understanding of the news is our cognitive biases.  Here is a partial list of cognitive biases that helps to explain our susceptibility to fake news.

• Naive Realism and the Illusion of Information Adequacy:  Many times these two types of biases are inter-related.  Naive realism describes situations where people automatically think their own reasoning is objective and that their own thinking represents what most other people believe.  The illusion of information adequacy takes naive realism one step further – If you think what you believe and what others believe is fair and objective, then you might feel like you don’t need to consider any new information.
• The Halo Effect:  In general, this is a belief that when you have evaluated a person in one way, usually positively during a particular situation/circumstance, you use that judgment to influence how you think about that person in other situations as well.  
• Affinity Bias:  Affinity bias is the tendency that some people have to gravitate toward people who share similar ways of thinking, backgrounds, and interests.  One way that affinity bias is related to fake news is that people may not be open to considering information from people who don’t share their affinities.  Another circumstance may be that a person is drawn into their affinity groups so strongly that they are not exposed to any other ways of thinking.
• Confirmation Bias:  Usually unintentional, confirmation bias is the tendency to look for, interpret, make decisions, and focus on information that is consistent with what is already believed.

Accusations of media bias are common, especially political bias.  However, journalists are bound by a professional code of ethics, and work to maintain the ideal of objective reporting. Individual news organizations also have their own codes of ethics, professional guidelines, and best practices. 

• Examples of ethical codes, AI guidelines, reporting standards, and best practices from many news media organizations
• Society of Professional Journalists code of ethics

Components of Media Bias

How do you evaluate the objectivity of the news? There is no universally agreed upon measure of media bias. However, some components of media bias include:

• Agenda Setting - the extent to which a news organization creates a sense of what is important or not by the amount of attention dedicated (or not) to a particular issue

• Framing - looking at the language used to discuss an issue or event (certain words may imply a particular viewpoint, judgement, or assumption of values)

A thorough introduction to media bias can be found here: Ciment, J. (2013). Media Bias. In Social Issues in America : An Encyclopedia. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, Inc.

Propaganda

Propaganda goes further than bias. It is designed to make you think or act a certain way, and may use misinformation and disinformation to do so. Some indicators of propaganda include: 

• Triggers an emotional response
• Excessive claims of certainty
• Presenting information out of context
• Personal attacks or ridicule
• Inclusion of only favorable evidence/data (consider what is being left out)

Learn more about propaganda: 

• What is propaganda? (Mind Over Media)
• Distinguishing among news, opinion, and propaganda (News Literacy Project)

Recognizing bias in both yourself and in the media are important steps in engaging honestly with the news.  In addition, it is important to apply this reflective critical thinking skill in your interactions with any technology that is used in the presentation of the news.  There are various communication technologies used to retrieve news in many different online environments.  Some communication/news companies use technological methods to draw users to their sites as a way of making a profit.  Finally, some technology tools are used in the gathering of the news itself.  Here is a partial list of some of the technological components to consider when engaging with the news.

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO):  SEO strives to improve search engine results, like Google Search results, by categorizing websites in a way that matches how people search for information.  This process can also be manipulated to influence which sites most commonly are the first to be retrieved in internet searches thereby providing biased search results.
• Social Media Algorithms:  The most obvious place where you can see the workings of social media algorithms are the “feeds” of your social media accounts.  Most accounts do not present information to you chronologically, but rather use machine learning to determine what you see based on your previous experiences with the site; what a typical person within their definition of your affinity group might want; and any other information you may have provided to the platform.  All of these factors might lead to biased social media feeds.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) Use in News Production:  There are many tools, including AI tools, that news producers use in the content creation and dissemination of the news.  There have been a few research studies showing that bias is introduced into news production by using these tools.

There are many books that more fully describe the relationship between bias and technology.  Consider reading Algorithms of Oppression by Safiya Noble or Race After Technology by Ruha Benjamin to learn more about the connection between technology and bias.