Contemporary American society depends on various sources of news media because every person has to receive timely updates on what occurs in their area or across the country. Even though traditional news outlets are not as popular nowadays, there are people who prefer reading newspapers and magazines to learn the latest news (Tandoc Jr et al., 2019). It means that news media providers have to appeal to at least two cohorts of the population by sharing the updates both online and offline. A larger number of audience members prefer to go to social media to learn the latest news. Nevertheless, the chances are high that a negligent user would repost fake news and help spread misinformation. It is a crucial threat that has not been mitigated to a reasonable extent (Di Domenico et al., 2021). The only way for the audience to avoid being affected by fake news is to learn how to distinguish between the real and the fake and help other social media users do the same.
The key responsibility of the news media is to validate all the information before posting it and make sure that the source is credible. This duty stems from an increasing volume of information that has to be processed by the audience. Hence, news media sources should serve as cleaning agents and get rid of all fake information for the sake of a healthier society (Tandoc Jr et al., 2019). Data conveyed through newspapers and magazines might be wrongly perceived as correct and truthful at all times, which is not correct. Knowing that little to no young people read newspapers, publishers might exert efforts to appeal to their long-time readers by sharing bizarre, borderline inappropriate stories. Even though it might drive publicity, it would destroy the news media outlet’s credibility at the same time.
A similar approach has to be taken when discussing the approaches taken by social media news accounts, as the volume of fake information on the Internet is even higher. Thus, online news anchors can be held fully liable for their Facebook posts and Twitter tweets. The larger the audience, the greater the news media’s responsibility should be, as the public is not hard to direct and confuse. The majority of users tend to pay attention to the header without checking the remainder of the article and the wording (Di Domenico et al., 2021). This is why social media platforms have to remain vigilant and create an environment where fake news would be banned instantly. The problem is that the age of digital innovation imposes certain limitations on the human capacity to distinguish between what is real and what is fake. Therefore, the validity of social media news should be questioned even when the source is available.
One example of fake news being spread was Donald Trump noting during his press conference that bleach could be utilized to inject COVID-19 patients to help them get well. This piece of news is covered by O’Reilly (2020), who claimed that Trump got most of his information from social media and did not take the time to fact-check that information prior to the conference. Another example of fake news also relates to the pandemic and how popular opinions might affect the public health sector. According to Morrison (2020), Eamonn Holmes, a Northern Irish broadcaster, sided with a conspiracy theory related to how COVID-19 could be spread using 5G towers. He went even further and suggested that it was beneficial to the state to keep people under control. There are numerous dangers to social media news because influencers could eventually affect how the majority of users perceive information.
References
Di Domenico, G., Sit, J., Ishizaka, A., & Nunan, D. (2021). Fake news, social media and marketing: A systematic review. Journal of Business Research, 124, 329-341.
Morrison, S. (2020). Eamonn Holmes under fire for saying 5G coronavirus conspiracy ‘easy’ to dismiss because it ‘suits state narrative’. Evening Standard. Web.
O’Reilly, L. (2020). Trump bizarrely suggests injecting disinfectant as coronavirus treatment before experts quickly debunk claim. Evening Standard. Web.
Tandoc Jr, E. C., Jenkins, J., & Craft, S. (2019). Fake news as a critical incident in journalism. Journalism Practice, 13(6), 673-689.