The reality of fake news: Revised Draft Emily Rios ENG122: English Composition II Instructor Allison Boldt August 7, 2017 Fake News: Rough Draft First and foremost, fabricated stories that are meant to imitate accurate and concrete news are known as fake news. The sole purpose of these articles or reports is to attract revenue for the writer and to also, to mislead their audience. (Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary, 2017) Fake news is frequently used to describe a political story which is damaging to an agency, entity, or person. However, it is by no means restricted to politics and seems to have currency in terms of general news. This does not include known satirical websites such as The Onion that is a parody fake …show more content…
The fact that it is used to promote false information and perpetuate conspiracy theories has had its consequences. To illustrate, the conspiracy theory that was created in 2016 accusing Hillary Clinton and other political officials of running an underground child trafficking ring in a pizzeria located in Washington D.C. Political propaganda such as this contributes to the distrust of the government by most of its citizens. This helps make an article such as this one conceivable. The belief in this conspiracy theory drove Edgar Maddison, a 28-year-old traveled to the Pizzeria to conduct his own research on the conspiracy theory. He walked into the pizzeria with an AR-15 Assault Rifle where he fired few shots at the workers. Furthermore, this goes to show how there is a barrier created between journalist and its audience. This distrust of the unknown or questionable puts those who are committed to accurately representing issues on a wide range of topics in the public interest from human rights to climate change in jeopardy. Believing what is fake and distrusting what is credible is harmful to …show more content…
The circulation of fake news is detrimental to the readers and legitimate media sources such as a journalist. It also influences its audience due to the fact that they are impressionable. However, it is not only the job of the platform to distinguish fake news from real. It is also the readers duty to determine whether it is credible. We must be knowledgeable on the impact on how to recognize bogus stories and how they have an impact on real