Description
Length: min. 250 words max. 500 words
Description:
- The aim is to write a reasoned and fact-based personal opinion on one topics discussed in the course.
Things to take into consideration:
- The theme is deliberately open-ended so that you can choose your specific angle to tackle the question.
- You are free to argue whatever you want as long as:
. a) You provide arguments, evidence and facts to support your position.
. b) Your argument does not include “hate speech” , which is speech that incites hatred against a group of persons defined in terms of race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability or the like.
. c) You must address counter-arguments in your op-ed. For example, if you're arguing that online dating is bad, you must counter the people who would say that it's good. If you're saying that video game depictions of women are sexist, you must address the arguments that people have already made for why the damsel in distress trope is acceptable. If you're saying that UCSD needs more athletic advisors, imagine someone in the administration telling you that "we don't have money for that." You should anticipate this resistance and preemptively respond to it in your pieces.
- You need to provide both EVIDENCE and DATA to support your argument.
(a) This evidence cannot be anecdotal, or draw from secondary and partisan sources.
(b) If you are basing some of your argument in a news article (or another op-ed) you need to identify the primary sources for that article and make sure that the article has not misconstrued the argument for its purposes
I have attached more details, and there are some good examples to write a good Op-ed. Please look them carefully.
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Explanation & Answer
Attached.
Running head: FAKE NEWS
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Digital Media should stop misinforming Americans using Fake News
Name
Institution
FAKE NEWS
2
Digital Media should stop misinforming Americans using Fake News
Whenever an act of violence happens, especially the shootings in the recent U.S history,
many media houses and online platforms are quick to establish the background of shooters or
crime perpetrators. Google and Facebook are some of the sites that people rush to for
information in the wake of attacks as in the case of Las Vegas shooting. However, they are
increasingly becoming unreliable as they help in promoting fake news. The shooter in the Las
Vegas shooting that claimed the lives of 50 people, the largest shooting in modern American
history, was misrepresented by Facebook as a “Trump-hating Rachel Meadow fan” (Fast
Company, 2017). The post which was available at the ‘Safety Check’ page led to the
misinformation of the public on the belief system of the murderer.
Articles and information like this specific case are not uncommon in the recent past in the
U.S. When Obama was leaving office, an online news page The Boston Tribune, published a
story hoaxing Americans that Michelle’s mother would receive a $160,000 annual pension for
taking care of the president’s daughters in the White House. While some of the fake news may
be harmless and serves as a means of evoking opinions from the public, some fake news can
create controversies that are hurtful to unity. According to December 2016 survey by Pew
Research Institute, 23 percent of adults in the country have spread and shared fake news at some
point (Mitchell et al., 2016). That way, the problem of fake news is high and leads to high
misinformation of the public.
Proponents of fake news in online forums may argue that the freedom of expression
allows people to engage in whatever opinions they have of different happenings in the everyday
activities. However, fake news work to create a particular opinion and evoke emotional reactions
to even the least controversial issues in the society. When we are misinformed on sensitive issues
FAKE NEWS
such as the Las Vegas shooting, we tend to react to the information, and the result is a greater
division and the advancement of Neo-Nazism ideas in the American society. Online news
forums, led by Facebook and Google, should stop advancing fake news on terror activities and
start promoting clarity and accuracy in their presentation of events.
3
FAKE NEWS
4
References
Barthel, M., Mitchell, A. and Holcomb, J. (2016, December 15). Many Americans Believe Fake
News Is Sowing Confusion. 23% say they have shared a made-up news story – either
knowingly or not. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from
http://www.journalism.org/2016/12/15/many-americans-believe-fake-news-is-sowingconfusion/
Fast Company. (2017, October 2). Facebook’s Safety Check page for the Las Vegas
shooting promotes “alt-right news.” Retrieved from
https://www.fastcompany.com/40475749/facebooks -safety-check-page-forthe-las-vegas-shooting-promotes-alt-right-news
Attached.
Running head: FAKE NEWS
1
Digital Media should stop misinforming Americans using Fake News
Name
Institution
FAKE NEWS
2
Digital Media should stop misinforming Americans using Fake News
Online content posses much power which influences the opinions of the public. Google
and Facebook are some of the sites that people rush to for information in the wake of attacks as
in the case of Las Vegas shooting. However, they are increasingly becoming unreliable as they
help in promoting fake news. The shooter in the Las Vegas shooting that claimed the lives of 50
people, the largest shooting in modern American history, was misrepresented by Facebook as a
“Trump-hating Rachel Meadow fan” (Fast Company, 2017). The post which was available at the
‘Safety Check’ page led to the misinformation of the public on the belief system of the murderer.
Other than this case of the shooter, misrepresentations about various issues in the society
touching on celebrities, politicians, and even big events are misrepresented in the online
platforms leading to confusion.
Articles and information like this specific case are not uncommon in the recent past in the
U.S. Facebook and Google have been faulted for spreading propaganda through allowing fake
news on their platforms an...