Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/795366
For students, it's confusing. "Kids fall victim to fake news because it looks official and they are naive," student Marina Ortega explains to Julie Shankle, her journalism instructor at North High School in Torrance. e class recently discussed an online story about a pizzeria with a pedophilia ring involving Hillary Clinton. Students knew it was fake, but were stunned to learn some peo- ple believed it, and one man drove to D.C. from North Carolina, entered the restaurant and fired shots with an assault rifle. Stu- dents asked why anyone would write something like that — or believe it to be true. (News flash: Reports say Macedonian teens are a big source of fake news stories for pay.) Along with blatantly fake news is an alarming trend in main- stream news of spreading unsubstantiated reports, which cause just as much damage as fake news, says Shankle, Torrance Teach- ers Association. "Voters who were on the fence were influenced, I believe, by the steady stream of unfounded and oft- repeated claims that Hillary Clinton had acted illegally with her emails. We heard about it over and over in unsubstantiated reports." Some describe this as the "continued influence effect," where it's difficult to prevent information someone knows to be false from affecting their judgment, because they hear it so often. Social media, media bias and talking heads Using social media makes students even more susceptible to fake news, says Mitch Ziegler, a Redondo Union High School journalism teacher, because students hear misinformation from online "friends." Ziegler agrees with experts that social networks create an echo chamber, where people only follow tweets and postings of those on the same political page. When someone with a similar point of view shares "news," it's then likely to be viewed as more credible, explains the Redondo Beach Teachers Association member. According to BuzzFeed News (recently accused of publishing fake news about allegations against Donald Trump), 23 of the 50 top news hoaxes on Facebook focused on politics — and fake news about politics accounted for 10.6 million of 21.5 million total shares and Facebook comments. Facebook has vowed to address false news. News reporters who strive for objectivity may find it difficult if they work at partisan news sites. Ziegler displays a chart in his classroom depicting the political leanings of news organizations, with Fox News as conservative, MSNBC as liberal, and CNN in the Billie Joe Wright, who teaches high school social studies, says the line between TV anchors and reporters and "talking heads" has blurred. " I tell them they can either be the player or get played, and I'm helping them realize how not to get played." — Billie Joe Wright, Hacienda La Puente Teachers Association 36 cta.org Continued on page 38 teaching & learning