Fake News: Home

Disinformation: false information deliberately and often covertly spread (as by the planting of rumors) in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth.  

Disinformation. (2012). In Merriam-Webster's collegiate(R) dictionary (11th ed.). Merriam-Webster. Credo Reference: https://saintleo.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/mwcollegiate/disinformation/0?institutionId=796

Misinform (verb) and misinformation (noun): to provide with incorrect information. 

Misinform. (2016). In Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries (Ed.), The American Heritage (R) dictionary of the English language (6th ed.). Houghton Mifflin. Credo Reference: https://saintleo.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/hmdictenglang/misinform/0?institutionId=796

The ability to tell accurate news from fake news is an important skill that you'll use for the rest of your life.  This LibGuide will give you valuable insight in telling fact from fiction online, plus a chance to exercise your newfound skills. 

Why should you care about whether or not your news is real or fake?

1. You deserve the truth.  You are smart enough to make up your own mind - as long as you have the real facts in front of you.  You have every right to be insulted when you read fake news, because you are in essence being treated like an idiot.
2. Fake news destroys your credibility.  If your arguments are built on bad information, it will be much more difficult for people to believe you in the future.
3. Fake news can hurt you, and a lot of other people.  Purveyors of fake and misleading medical advice like Mercola.com and NaturalNews.com help perpetuate myths like HIV and AIDS aren't related, or that vaccines cause autism.  These sites are heavily visited and their lies are dangerous.
4. Fake news is expensive.  Every year, Americans lose $39 billion in investment funds as a result of fake news, according to University of Baltimore professor Roberto Cavazos.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please note that I do not give permission for any part of this LibGuide to be used for any for-profit endeavors, including publication.The original version of this guide was created by K.T. Lowe, Librarian at Indiana University.  https://iue.libguides.com/fakenews/index

This guide has been changed and adapted by Christine Woods, Online Reference and Instruction Librarian, Saint Leo University.