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  1. Feb 2022
    1. The term fake news means “news articles that are intentionally and verifiably false” [1] designed to manipulate people’s perceptions of real facts, events, and statements. It’s about information presented as news that is known by its promoter to be false based on facts that are demonstrably incorrect, or statements or events that verifiably did not happen.  Fake news “is fabricated information that mimics news media content in form but…lack(s) the news media’s editorial norms and processes for ensuring the accuracy and credibility of information” [2]. It overlaps with misinformation (false or misleading information) and disinformation (false information purposely spread to mislead people). The definition may seem a bit vague, but it’s important. People have used the term “fake news” to mean different things. Source: BBC News This definition eliminates unintentional reporting mistakes, rumors that don’t originate from a news article, suspicions/interpretations/conspiracy theories, satire, and biased (but not false) reports. It also leaves out sweeping indictments of mainstream media. The President likes to call “fake news” the reporting of uncomplimentary things that seem distracting or insignificant, which cast him in a negative light in the context of successes that he thinks should be made more prominent.

      The term fake news has been thrown around lightly by people today and it is our responsibility to know its formal definition or what it entails. Among the many contexts it is used to today, it has assumed a political cloak wherein it is used to incite emotions rather than provide facts, and provide biased reports. This is misleading because it is more related to information disorders like misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation as the term 'fake news' is not limited to only news but to information in general. It has only taken on the form of mainstream media that is why people are mistaken of the term in general.