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I found an interesting article on fivethirtyeight.com about fake news and how to address it. It's a long article but worth the read. This bit is near the end:
Media outlets keep trying to debunk fake news. This won't work, particularly for readers who have already decided that the traditional press is fake news — and, fair or not, partisan. Research suggests that the more partisan a topic, the more likely people who identify strongly with one side will double down on their argument even if they are presented with facts that counter it.
Maybe, instead, the media should do a better job of distinguishing real news from fake news, to regain readers' trust. Click-based advertising has left us adrift in a sea of inaccurate, sensational headlines, even at legitimate news outlets; this makes it easier for dramatic fake news headlines to survive. Aggregation has us spreading stories with no original research or corroboration, and it makes everyone look bad when outlets fall for fake bait. Over the holidays, a heartwarming story about a Santa Claus who visited a child's deathbed went viral. Three days later, the Knoxville News Sentinel, which originally published the story, retracted it, but not before it had spread to CNN, Fox, USA Today and more.
Maybe the news should stop trying so hard to entertain.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 07 2017, @02:20AM
> Maybe the news should stop trying so hard to entertain.
Easier said than done. News has become a consumer industry. And as long as its consumer-driven then its going to be all about entertainment.
> Each time you like a Facebook post, your connections become a new audience. And it has your implicit signature of approval.
The problem there is that "liking" something is just one bit of information. Facebook added a couple more bits recently, but they really need to go further.
Let people create their own pre-defined types of "likes" so if they want to share news stories they can have one that says "holy shit! this is seriously bad" and another that is "no way this is true, but its funny as a fuck!" etc. Turn "liking" into actual commentary. That's the way we do it in real life. Facebook has over-simplified all the nuance of real life away. That's made everybody stupider.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 07 2017, @08:12AM
Stupid people make the best consumers.
That's Ok, citizen, don't strain your mind too much trying to understand the above. Better spend your disposable income on an Avengers/Iron Man/Transgormers movie ticket, attend a comic-con and don't forget to post photos of it on your FB page: time and money well spent, the world will be so much better because of this!