Donald Trump has complicated the fake news issue by effectively co-opting the term itself, as he has repeatedly used it as a slur or epithet for mainstream news outlets (and individual reporters) whose coverage he finds objectionable, especially CNN. This is a problematic trend, both because it adds an extra step to debunking fake news stories and because it has the potential to blur the distinction between professional reporting and actual fake news production, at least in some people's minds.
No news outlets are entirely free of political bias (as no people are), and bias colors news stories. However, a news institution that is guilty of mild-to-moderate bias, but strives for factual accuracy is not "fake news." The following TED Talks video addresses these and other issues.
Those who produce fake news may have any number of personal or political agendas. However, many if not most fake news writers are driven primarily by monetary gain. By running ads on their sites, they can potentially make a significant amount of money against the minor costs of starting a simple website. The following brief video explains how this works:
The following articles also illustrate the entrepreneurial aspect of fake news. (The statements of the writers interviewed should be taken with a grain of salt, though, for the simple reason that they produce fake news.)
Some potentially fake news stories, such as those in video form, may call for more advanced tactics. CBS Senior Director of Editorial, Growth & Engagement Markham Nolan demonstrates verification techniques employed by professional journalists - and shares some interesting thoughts on the nature of truth - in the following TED Talks video:
Facebook, Google, and their contemporaries use algorithms to track user preferences (i.e., what we click on and the search terms we choose). In turn this influences the news, updates, and advertising that shows up for us. This has led to the emergence of "filter bubbles" and consequent "echo chambers" in online communities, in which consumption of particular kinds of Web content is constantly reinforced regardless of its quality. Internet activist Eli Pariser describes this phenomenon in the following TED Talks video.
Since it is not against the law to produce fake news, it is difficult to keep it from spreading. However, in 2017 Facebook and Google began to take steps to eliminate fake news from their users' feeds, starting in France and Germany, as described in a brief Reuters article, "Facebook, Google join drive against fake news in France," by Gwenaelle Barzic and Sudip Kar-Gupta. In 2018, Facebook discontinued its "trending topics" feature.
One way to avoid getting filtered results from Web searches is by using DuckDuckGo, a search engine that does not track user information.
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