In case you didn’t know, everyone has been put on notice by the media police to stop misusing the term, “fake news.” The term was floated to explain Hillary Clinton’s surprise loss and place the blame on a couple of fictitious stories being passed around on social media.
Of course, things got out of hand when the public started applying the “fake news” label to bogus stories being reported by respected media outlets. By then, establishment media had pivoted to the narrative that Russian hacking had cost Clinton the election, but the fascination with fake news lived on.
Slate, for example, published a piece this week on teaching young people “media literacy,” thus equipping them with the skills to contend with misinformation.
How to teach high-school students to spot fake news: https://t.co/0G13yZAE8G pic.twitter.com/ibMzV0iHQS
— Slate (@Slate) December 24, 2016
That’s a valuable skill, seeing as Slate was one of the sites that promoted the hoax about a young Muslim woman harassed by drunk Trump supporters on a New York City subway.
Someone might consider sending Slate’s reporters back to school to learn about terms like “claimed,” “alleged,” and “reportedly.” For its part, Slate did apply the disclaimer “apparently” to the claim that the Trump supporters who did not exist and therefore did not yell anti-Islamic insults were drunk at the time.
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Sure, it’s a holiday for many, but Slate might want to update its running list of hate crimes, which even includes a submission form. It seems they need to correct the story about a Jewish family feeling the county after being harassed — it turns out they left home on vacation, just as planned.
Isn’t there some quick and easy way to help high school students identify fake news?
https://twitter.com/Ed_Demolay/status/812772261514121216
https://twitter.com/sean_lalor/status/812773599765549056
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Related:
FAKE NEWS ALERT: Jake Tapper busts Slate over bogus slam against Kellyanne Conway https://t.co/XpTJfmFfOy
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) December 8, 2016
Slate offers unique entry-level opportunity for anyone with knowledge of abortions Trump paid for https://t.co/qH5TT4lLla
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) November 16, 2016
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