Fake News on Social Media

I.         I.  How has fake news on the media and biased news affected and influenced the current political and social climate in America today.
II.          Technology has changed the way news is delivered. Everyone has a platform to be heard; they could say something that goes viral, and can have a lasting impact on an entire country. A great amount of people gets their news from biased news sources which leads to divisive topics in our country, and could influence an entire election.
III.          Outline:
1.      Introduction Section
a)     Social Media and technology are changing how we think and carry on daily activities without us even realizing it.
b)     Thesis: The current state of media in this country has proven to be a bias and untrustworthy source of news time after time and leads to divisiveness in America.
1.      I plan to cover Impeachment & political warfare, Jussie Smollet and hate crimes in America fueled by the media, and Police brutality and murder of innocent people (how the media reports these issues)
c)     https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23738871.2018.14623952.      First Body Paragraph- Jussie Smollett and the way the Media reported the incident
a)     Controlling idea: Media reports on some stories before getting all of the facts
b)     When Jussie Smollett was reported attacked by Trump supporters the media was all over the story. When it came out to be false it was too late to undo the damage
1.      It could potentially discourage real victims from coming forward out of fear of not being believed.
2.      It could fuel a hatred of Conservative America
c)     https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/jussie-smollett-case-s-far-reaching-consequences-worst-possible-thing-n974751
&https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD0DM7LStAw3.      Second Body Paragraph- Impeachment
a)     Controlling idea- How impeachment was covered by the mainstream media. They choose and pick sides.
b)     The impeachment was unfairly reported on
·       The 3 biggest news outlets ABC, CBS, and NBC reporting 100% negative coverage of trumps defense team and 95% positive reporting of the team prosecuting Trump.
·       46% Americans said the media’s coverage of the impeachment was biased against Trump, compared to 12% who thought coverage was actually biased in favor of the president.c)     https://dailycitizen.focusonthefamily.com/bias-revealed-media-covered-trumps-impeachment-defense-team-100-negatively/
4.     Third Body Paragraph- Why is the media biased?
a)     Monetary gain
1.     Liberal, conservative, and corporate biased
2.     Sensationalizing News for corporate profit even if the story may not be true
(Its gotta sell)
b)    Majority of journalists typically lean to the left
1.     To lean their reporting to one side of the spectrum is a conflict of journalism ethics.
2.     Any journalists that chooses to challenge the status quo is silenced by activist groups (‘aka’ Special interest groups).
·       Ex. Dox an independent journalist ---- Corporations such as YouTube, twitter, and google will make it hard for journalist to gain momentum with his/her reporting by silencing them or deleting their account.
c)     PR Industry
1.     Corporate news outlets and the stories they cover
2.    The relationship between the news outlets and industries is bad for the public
d)  https://fair.org/about-fair/whats-wrong-with-the-news/
Conclusion         
Although the media and journalist are very biased towards what they report on, I think that corporate America has gotten too close with the news outlets to the point where its dangerous for our democracy. Its no longer about the truth anymore, but about how the news makes you feel to the point where you are conditioned to fit the agenda of the elites. Modern day news has to report in a way that will benefit the establishments that put money into them. They wanted to get the president out of office so they covered the prosecuting side with 95% positive ratings. The prosecution of Jussie Smollett began to dissipate from the mainstream news fairly quickly after it was proven to be a false claim of a hate crime. From these occurrences, I think that the news outlets in this country have gotten too far away from the moderate and independent viewpoint, that they began to skew their facts to far to the progressive left. It seems as if they have thrown all journalism ethics out the window, resulting in a very polarized country— politically and socioeconomically.
 
    The fake news in America is very widespread and the people that want the manipulate the news are those that benefit from the destruction of institutions.  Internet platforms hold such large amounts of power and are not counted as a media platform because they identify as independent. The Russia ‘disinformatzya’ tactics and the targeting of the 2016 elections was thought to be for financial gain over seas but Trump had nothing to do with the corrupt behavior although the media covered the story like he hired these people to work for him.
 
"Fake News on Social Media." Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2019. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/OBOYIA996440220/OVIC?u=ggcl&sid=OVIC&xid=9c2aa0d5. Accessed 18 Apr. 2020.
      News that is false is know as ‘fake news’. News stories that are False but are delivered as if they were true news stories to the public in order to deceive them and spread disinformation.
 

Annotated Citations

Morgan, Susan. “Fake News, Disinformation, Manipulation and Online Tactics to Undermine Democracy.” Journal of Cyber Policy, vol. 3, no. 1, 2018, pp. 39–43., doi:10.1080/23738871.2018.1462395.

Madani, Doha. “Jussie Smollett Indicted over 'False Reports,' Chicago Special Prosecutor Announces.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 12 Feb. 2020, www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/jussie-smollett-indicted-over-false-reports-special-prosecutor-announces-n1135206.

           (This is just a backup citation for myself)

“Best REACTIONS To Jussie Smollett's Hoax.” YouTube, 19 Feb. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD0DM7LStAw.

           This video is a compilation of Fox News, Ben Shapiro and other well-known sources. The video was published in 2019, making it accurate for what my topic is on. Jussie Smollett was apparently attacked two trump supporting white men but it later came out that his police report was a hoax and he was facing 6 felony charges but they were eventually dropped. This false report made by Smollett could have left other people of color in danger for not being heard and downplaying the seriousness of something like this.

Mettler, Zachary. “Bias Revealed: Media Covered Trump's Impeachment Defense Team 100% Negatively.” Daily Citizen, 30 Jan. 2020, dailycitizen.focusonthefamily.com/bias-revealed-media-covered-trumps-impeachment-defense-team-100-negatively/.

            This source is reliable cause of the date and time of the publishing. The information is also fact checked. The trump impeachment trial was reported on with a left leaning bias over many news outlets. The majority of the reporters were left leaning and favored the prosecuting team, giving Trumps defense team little to no positive coverage.

Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. “What's Wrong With the News?” FAIR, 8 Nov. 2019, fair.org/about-fair/whats-wrong-with-the-news/.

            This source is reliable and accurate. They have been running since 1886 and this article was published recently. They bring up a lot of things that take place and why the media is biased whether its conservative or liberal. Journalist are no longer able to report what they feel is the non-biased thing to report. They are told what to report on by the media corporation and are given little to no time to find the facts; Its really just about sensationalism.