Fake news

Mark Kellner, a very ethical Christian journalist, brought this forward. It attracted some wonderful comments, Fake news sites. People I know - "friends", etc. are reading these things, yellow journalism, twisted perceptions from semi factual things, opinionated sites, and they believe them.
Mark himself commented how he discerns whether a site is probably fake or not.

A lady posted about the fake news pictures, those slanderous photo shopped things that lead us into incorrect conclusions about people and their connections.

I have a few, but pre-election I was finding that the fake sites were getting way more sophisticated and difficult to identify. For example, the ones that claim to be a city newspaper and seriously look legit.

Mark A. Kellner said: I first look at the name of the alleged "news source." If it sounds off or unfamiliar, I will try to find out more on the website, such as an "about us" page. A disclaimer reading, in effect, "We mix truth and fiction because we think it's funny" might be found there.

Second, I use a common-sense test: It is highly unlikely that Hillary Clinton has a mansion on an island in the Indian Ocean, or that Pope Francis would "endorse" Donald Trump. If a claim seems too outlandish to be true, I try to find that claim on a (generally) reliable website such as The New York Times or Washington Post or BBC News. This isn't perfect, but it's a bit of a safeguard.

Finally, any news site that has ".com.co" in its URL, such as "abcnews.com.co" can generally be assumed to be totally false; someone — or some ones — somewhere have stolen a bunch of identities and set them up as ".com.co," with stories about as genuine as a $3 bill.

Those are my initial thoughts. Hope that helps!

Trudy J. Morgan-Cole said: " I actually teach a lesson on this in my Gr 11 English class -- telling real news from fake news -- although I think with the current spate of stories regarding the prevalence of fake news during the US election campaign, I may need to update it. Sketchy URLs are definitely something to watch for. Applying the test of "this is so incredible, why wouldn't a mainstream news source report it?" is usually good too, as you noted, Mark. Another good one is looking for multiple sources. If you google the news "story" and every hit you get is the same news story word for word, then they're all copied from a single source, which means there's no independent verification of it. And, of course, looking at disclaimers and the other stories carried on a particular site is important too."

Donald Hostetler said:  "I apply similar tests when deciding whether to click. That's why I read the Huffington Post's "Bernie Sanders Could Replace President Trump With Little-Known Loophole" - and discovered it was designed to attract readers and expose fake news."

http://www.fakenewswatch.com/

https://www.facebook.com/notes/melody-d-snow/spotting-fake-photos/1841504869397134

http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/11/16/fake-news-first-casualty-trump-election/PcPpY0tL7t6BqoUWGf5yJL/story.html?s_campaign#comments