The massive sharing of fake news via social networks makes the
responsability of journalism more essential than ever.
“I’m not going to waste my time meeting a president who will not be
president anymore in 6 months - Trump tweets about Hollande”. I found
this post on my Facebook feed this morning, shared by one of my old
acquaintances. But a quick check on the internet had made clear it was only
propaganda. The number of “fake news” has exploded on the net and the articles
are massively often shared without taking into account what is written,
or for the veracity of the article. The only thing that counts is that the
title suits with our convictions. And it’s dangerous !
Indeed, most people get the news from Facebook. And even for those who read
the press, social networks are still a major means of communication and
information. And what determinates what appears on our timeline ? Our tastes
and preferences. It’s a vicious circle : the more you click on such content -
because the first time, the title intrigued you - the more of those
articles you will see. For example, Paul Horner, the owner and chief-editor of
one of the “fake news” sites claims to the Washington Post he is one of
the causes of Trump’s election : “My articles were picked up by Trump
supporters all the time. I think Trump is in the White House because of me. His
followers don’t fact-check anything — they’ll post everything, believe
anything. His campaign manager posted my story about a protester getting paid
$3,500 as fact.”
It may be too late to prevent the inevitable emergence of these articles,
but some means are setting up to dissociate what’s true and what’s not. Some
newspapers as “Le Monde” created ‘fact checking’ sections : “Les Décodeurs”.
But readers need to be still careful, these ‘fact-checking’ sections are not
all unbiased. Other newspapers, as “Libération” and its section “Désintox” only
target the politicians with opposing points of view (so often the right side of
the politics there). When even the one supposed to give us the truth does not
play its role, we don’t know who to believe.
The fundamental concept of checks and balances which is permitted by
journalism seems to be disappearing more and more. Some will say it is a real
danger for the democracy, that we are becoming lemmings believing in everything
that is shown to us.
One thing is undeniable : check the sources before sharing an article on
social networks... including this one !
Loïcia Bluteau
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