A friend forwarded this YouTube video by Scott Adams, cartoonist of the Dilbert comic strip. Scott Adams correctly predicted way back in the summer of 2015 (possibly earlier) that Trump would win the 2016 election.
I'm going to list what I can remember from the video and if you want to see the whole thing I've given a link.
How to tell if something is Fake News.
1. Reported by only one side of the news spectrum. If a story is only reported on left leaning news outlets, it's probably Fake News. Thus, if it's on CNN, MSNBC, The NY Times, WaPo, The Atlantic, but it's not on Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Examiner, Breitbart, it's probably Fake News. Similarly, if something is only reported on Fox News, Breitbart, etc. but not on CNN, MSNBC, etc. it's probably Fake News. (Corollary: If the story is covered by both sides, it's probably real news.)
2. Predictions. If the story makes predictions, it probably Fake News. No one can predict the future, so why bother? Examples: Polar icebergs will melt in 90 years, flooding Florida. I posted an article by the NYTimes, "Trump Decision Sets up Potential Clash with CIA". It's Fake News.
3. Mind Reading. If a story claims to know what someone is thinking, it's probably Fake News. "Trump is Considering Firing Robert Mueller" or "Jerry Nadler's Threat of Impeachment has Trump Worried."
4. Quotes. Just because a news story is quoting a person it doen't mean it's factual news. Quotes can be taken out of context or else only part of the quote could be given.
5. Science. If a news story contains science, it's probably Fake News. The reporter writes a story about something a scientist SAYS, and not what the science actually researched.
6. Anonymous sources. Do I really have to expound on why this is probably Fake News? The NY Times and WaPo are guilty of this on an almost daily basis.
7. Laundry List. If a news article says something like, "List of Trump Associates Involved in Russian Collusion" and then has a list of 12 people allegedly under investigation (and just the phrase "allegedly under investigation" involves anonymous sources and mind reading, so it's layer upon layer of Fake News) it's probably Fake News. The list is made to be artificially longer in order to give an air of legitimacy to it.
8. Polls. Polls are not news. Never have been, never will be. Polls are merely a list of people's opinions. Polls are a subset of Predictions. (Polls was not on Scott Adam's list, but I put it on here because reporting polls as news has long been a pet peeve of mine.)
I'm going to list what I can remember from the video and if you want to see the whole thing I've given a link.
How to tell if something is Fake News.
1. Reported by only one side of the news spectrum. If a story is only reported on left leaning news outlets, it's probably Fake News. Thus, if it's on CNN, MSNBC, The NY Times, WaPo, The Atlantic, but it's not on Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Examiner, Breitbart, it's probably Fake News. Similarly, if something is only reported on Fox News, Breitbart, etc. but not on CNN, MSNBC, etc. it's probably Fake News. (Corollary: If the story is covered by both sides, it's probably real news.)
2. Predictions. If the story makes predictions, it probably Fake News. No one can predict the future, so why bother? Examples: Polar icebergs will melt in 90 years, flooding Florida. I posted an article by the NYTimes, "Trump Decision Sets up Potential Clash with CIA". It's Fake News.
3. Mind Reading. If a story claims to know what someone is thinking, it's probably Fake News. "Trump is Considering Firing Robert Mueller" or "Jerry Nadler's Threat of Impeachment has Trump Worried."
4. Quotes. Just because a news story is quoting a person it doen't mean it's factual news. Quotes can be taken out of context or else only part of the quote could be given.
5. Science. If a news story contains science, it's probably Fake News. The reporter writes a story about something a scientist SAYS, and not what the science actually researched.
6. Anonymous sources. Do I really have to expound on why this is probably Fake News? The NY Times and WaPo are guilty of this on an almost daily basis.
7. Laundry List. If a news article says something like, "List of Trump Associates Involved in Russian Collusion" and then has a list of 12 people allegedly under investigation (and just the phrase "allegedly under investigation" involves anonymous sources and mind reading, so it's layer upon layer of Fake News) it's probably Fake News. The list is made to be artificially longer in order to give an air of legitimacy to it.
8. Polls. Polls are not news. Never have been, never will be. Polls are merely a list of people's opinions. Polls are a subset of Predictions. (Polls was not on Scott Adam's list, but I put it on here because reporting polls as news has long been a pet peeve of mine.)
that’s fake news
Perhaps one of the more telling responses, to put it nicely. To be fake news requires that the item be presented as if it were real news. The comment was obviously not news at all, so it could not possibly be fake news. Obvious opinion, humor, commentary, etc., is not fake news.