You might not be as good at spotting fake news as you think
You probably think you can tell the difference between real and fake news.
Research shows a lot of folks can’t.
Nearly 87 percent of Middle Georgians said in a recent survey that they could detect fake news. But when given three different headlines and asked to identify the one that was fake, respondents had some trouble.
Take a moment and quiz yourself. Can you spot the fake headline?
A. Hothead jailed over lack of BBQ sauce at Waffle House
B. Man says cops ordered him to cut off his dog’s head
C. Macon gang initiation: Shoot white women at mall
If you answered “C,” congratulations! You’re correct. That’s the fake one. Those other two stories were really in The Telegraph and on macon.com.
If you got it wrong, you’re in good company.
Fifty-two percent of respondents thought “C” was a real headline.
That’s despite news reports that dispelled the rumor at the time and an article on Snopes debunking the myth.
It’s getting harder to tell the difference on the Internet between what’s real and what isn’t. A lot of people get fooled. This is not about shaming anyone. We want to build your trust and help. We, like you, want to know what’s true.
That’s why The Telegraph is taking part in a project that seeks to understand ways that we can improve transparency, engagement and mutual understanding with our community. Our sister papers in Kansas City, Missouri, and Fresno, California, also are participating.
The community survey I just mentioned is part of the project. The survey, conducted by the Center for Media Engagement at the University of Texas and the News Co/Lab at Arizona State University, also found that:
“Fake” was the first word that came to mind for one in five people who saw the word “news” — but “fake” was not associated with “local news” or their local newspaper;
People consume local news much less than national news;
Readers have a tough time telling the difference between opinion and news;
On average, people rated their local news organizations as not very credible, trustworthy, balanced, fair or transparent; and
People rated their local news organizations poorly for how much they engaged with their communities.
Those last two hurt.
We report the news because we want to keep you informed and better our community. But we can’t do that without your trust.
So here’s what we’re doing in response to the survey.
In July, we launched Macon Me Curious with the Center for Collaborative Journalism at Mercer University and Georgia Public Broadcasting Macon. The idea is simple: You ask us questions, and we get you answers.
So far, we’ve answered almost a dozen questions as part of the project — ranging from how Macon-Bibb County’s millage rate compares to the rest of the state to the history of the Underground Railroad movement in Macon. Ask us your question at macon.com/curious.
On Sept. 7, we’ll host a training session to provide librarians with the tools they need to help you make sense of the news. The Center for News Literacy at Stony Brook University will teach librarians in the Middle Georgia Regional Library System, in collaboration with ASU’s News Co/Lab and Mercer’s Center for Collaborative Journalism.
The goal is for the library to then host sessions for the community teaching news literacy, including how to recognize opinion and fake news.
Later in September we’ll launch a project called Macon FoodStory in collaboration with our partners in the Center for Collaborative Journalism, including GPB Macon and 13WMAZ. The project will engage the community around the topic of food, specifically in areas of health, access, culture and history.
Our first event — A Taste of Southern Food History featuring Michael W. Twitty, author of “The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South” — will be Sept. 14 at Hutchings Career Center. It’s free, but space is limited. Admission is on a first come, first serve basis. Come join us!
Finally, we’ll be experimenting over the next year with different ways to engage with you and build your trust. We were fortunate to welcome Report for America corps member Samantha Max to Macon in June as a health reporter, and she is eager to get to know our community.
Please reach out to her with health-related ideas at smax@macon.com. You can follow her on Facebook at facebook.com/samantha.max.9 and on Twitter @samanthaellimax.
And if you have ideas of ways we can do better, please don’t hesitate to reach out. My email address is jburk@macon.com. I look forward to hearing from you.
Jennifer Burk is senior editor for The Telegraph.