What makes a news story fake?
Four quick ways to identify a fake story are:
It can’t be verified. A real story cites or links to its sources. A fake article has no links or only links to articles on its website, but no outside sources.
It appeals to emotions. If readers are emotional, they won’t do any fact-checking. A fake article will appeal to emotions (angry, afraid, happy) inciting readers to react, not think.
Who is the author? Real articles list the author. If there is no author listed for a news article, that’s a poor sign. If there is an author, a quick search will tell you if they are a real person.
Everyone reports. If a story is real, it is reported by news sources everywhere. Fake news stories can’t be found on other new sites.
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