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: 5, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 07 2017, @04:59AM
> Even more unfortunate that they chose the side of truth in the political fight.
A while back I got curious about all these claims of snopes having a liberal bias.
So I started bookmarking every story they ran where the conclusions were favorable to a conservative worldview (either debunking a pro-liberal story, or validating a pro-conservative story). Some of them were borderline as to which worldview they favored because real life isn't binary, so I tried to generous as to what would be positive for conservative viewpoints.
Here's the list for the last month and a half. Its not complete because I don't read snopes every day. Its a lower-bound.
Were Six Anti-Trump Protesters Killed by a Truck While Blocking a Freeway? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Does Donald Trump Have Klinefelter Syndrome? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Did 'Express' Use the Male Gender Symbol for a Women's Rights Cover? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Did Joel Osteen Offer to Reveal God's Plan in Exchange for $5,000? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Is the Modern Face of Jesus Modeled on a 'Gangster's Son'? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Julian Assange Maintains Russia Was Not the Source for WikiLeaks' DNC E-Mails : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Did Donald Trump Tweet and Delete New Year's Eve Regrets Over Winning? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Did Donald Trump Appoint Sarah Palin as a Science Advisor? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Did Bristol Palin Say Artists Won't Play Inauguration for Fear of Falling in Love with Trump? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Trump Tower Billboard in Mumbai : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Republican Congress Approved 'Trump TV'? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
RNC Called President-Elect Trump a 'New King' in a Christmas Message? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Trump Threatened Military Action Against Mexico? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
JetBlue Ejects Passengers After Encounter with Ivanka Trump : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Armed Officers Refused Seating at Cheesecake Factory : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Kuwait Moves Event from Four Seasons to Trump Hotel : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Trump Sons Sell Access to Father for Hunting Trip Fundraiser : snopes.com [snopes.com]
'Rudy Giuliani' Banned From Twitter for Pizzagate Tweets : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Donald Trump Threatens to Arrest Alec Baldwin : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Trump Takes Victory Tour of Moscow's Red Square : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Russian Flag at Texas State Capitol : snopes.com [snopes.com]
National Security Agencies on High Alert After Trump Caught Telling Dangerous Lie : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Salvation Army Bellringer's Sign About 'the Gays' : snopes.com [snopes.com]
John Kasich Said We Can't Entrust 'Abortion Decision' to Women? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Donald Trump Appoints Kanye West to Cabinet Position? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Muslim Teen Arrested for Filing False Report of Hate Crime : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Did Donald Trump Say the Earth Is Flat? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Trump Says Africans Are Poor Because They Think of Sex Instead of Farming? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
National Park Service Denying Inauguration Protest Permits? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Democrats File Treason Charges Against Trump? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Did Donald Trump Say He Will Cut Social Security? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Paul Ryan Said Free Lunches Give Children 'Empty Souls'? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier's Twitter Account : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Ben Carson: 'Abortions Create Baby Ghosts that Haunt Hospitals' : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Harry & David Says Company is 'Neutral' on Racism, Neo-Nazis? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Does Donald Trump Own Carrier or Its Stock? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
New York City Schools Head Disparages 'Rumors' of Trump-Related Bullying Post-Election : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Trump Cancels Obama's Muslim 'Ritual' : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Sarah Palin Calls to Boycott Mall of America Because 'Santa Was Always White in the Bible' : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Trump: 'We’re Bringing Back the Draft'? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Emboldened by Election, Texas Republicans Kill Medicaid Funding for Children with Disabilities? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Chris Christie Arrested for Keying Trump's Limo : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Melania Trump, Ivanka Trump Wearing Transparent Shirts : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Have Standing Rock Protesters Been Sprayed with Chemicals From Crop Duster Planes? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Christian-Owned Airlines Change Wing Light Colors to Celebrate Christmas? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Trump to Ban All Television Shows That Promote 'Gay Activity' : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Hillary Clinton Sponsored a Bill to Punish Flag Burning? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Burned Bible Page Found at Dollywood : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Millions of Muslims Marched Against the Islamic State : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Trump's Flip Flop on Flag Burning : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Trump's Latest Staff Pick Outed Dying Gay Brother? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Ivanka Trump Will Move Into White House 'to Fill Melania’s Vacancy' : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Rosie O'Donnell Claims Barron Trump Has Autism : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Trump Picks El Chapo to Run DEA : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Three Wisconsin Counties 'Admit' They Padded Votes for Trump? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Trump Donates 50k to Charleston Shooter Family to Move Him to Safer Prison : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Trump Promises to Pardon Dylann Roof : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Trump Tower Name Changed to 'Dump Tower' In Google Maps : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Edward Snowden Said Russia Successfully Rigged U.S. Elections In Favor Of Trump : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Ben Carson Thinks the Earth Would Have Exploded During Big Bang : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Donald Trump-Themed Ornaments Made in China : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Trump Appoints Bill Cosby as Secretary for Women’s Rights? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Ivanka Trump Said If Donald Trump Wasn't Her Father, She Would 'Mace' Him? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Fox News Banned in Canada? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Audit the Vote : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Will It Cost Taxpayers $1 Million a Day for Trump's Family to Stay In New York? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Trump Team Accidentally Reveals 'Extreme' Immigration Plan? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Sarah Palin: 'I Can See Russia from My House' : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Producers of 'Hamilton' Issued 'Non-White' Casting Call : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Texas High School Students Fake Trump Assassination : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Lady Gaga Arrested for Twitter Attack on Melania Trump : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Donald Trump Denies Rumor He Tried to Get His Adult Children 'Top Level Security Clearances' : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Gold Star Family Says They Were Booed on Flight to Retrieve Soldier's Body : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Mike Pence's 'Gay Past' : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Neighborhood Town Watch Threatens Muslim Neighbors? : snopes.com [snopes.com]
Melania Trump and the Dakota Access Pipeline Protests : snopes.com [snopes.com]
'Hamilton' Actor Brandon Victor Dixon Tweets About St. Patrick's Day : snopes.com [snopes.com]