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Encyclopedia > Fake news

Distorted news or planted news are terms in journalism for two deviated aspects of the wider "news media" wherein media outlets deliberately present false data, evidence, or sources as factual, in contradiction to the ethical practices in professional journalism. It applies to any media organization wherin either corporate or government propaganda masquerade as genuine news reports produced by media organizations. Journalism is a discipline of collecting, verifying, reporting and analyzing information gathered regarding current events, including trends, issues and people. ... The news media is a term used to describe print media (newspapers, magazines); broadcast media (radio stations, television stations, television networks), and often Internet-based media (World Wide Web pages, weblogs). ... Journalistic standards or journalism ethics, include principles of ethics and of good practice to address the specific challenges faced by professional journalists. ... Journalism is a discipline of collecting, verifying, reporting and analyzing information gathered regarding current events, including trends, issues and people. ... A corporation (usually known in the United Kingdom and Ireland as a company) is a legal entity (distinct from a natural person) that often has similar rights in law to those of a Civil law systems may refer to corporations as moral persons; they may also go by the name... North Korean propaganda showing a soldier destroying the United States Capitol building. ...


The distortion of fact does not violate any such code of ethics in the public relations industry (there is none), and the corrolary term of that trade is "news management," where the business of the public relations office is to use various means control what is reported in the news media. The similar term fake news commonly refers to news satire, but also may include aspects of the infotainment trade, including but not limited to infomercials, televangelism disguised as news reports, etc. Public relations (PR) is the aspect of mass-marketing that deals with the control or manipulation of public opinion, through processes that control the presentation of the image and message presented by a client. ... News management is the process by which individuals and organizations (especially political parties) control information and their interactions with the news media to achieve some strategic objective. ... Several programs, webzines and organizations regularly create fake news, solely with the purpose of entertainment and fun. ... Infotainment (a portmanteau word formed from information and entertainment), also known as soft news, provides information in a way that is entertaining to its viewers. ... Infomercials are television commercials that run as long as a typical television program (roughly thirty minutes or an hour). ... In the USA, a televangelist (television evangelist) is a religious minister (often a Christian priest or minister) who devotes a large portion of his (or her) ministry to TV broadcasts to a regular viewing and listening audience. ...

Contents

Purposes

Fake, planted or distorted news can be invented or manipulated with a variety of purposes, among which the following can be pinpointed :

  • political or ideological reasons
  • partisan agenda
  • religious motivation
  • commercial motivation
  • personal benefits to the journalist (corruption)
  • in wartime, national security reasons (usually accompanied by information censorship)
  • as a technique used to fulfill the absence of ideas or work by an individual journalist (see journalistic fraud)
  • as a means of producing humoristic or satirical news.

Censorship is the systematic use of group power to broadly control freedom of speech and expression, largely in regard to secretive matters. ... Journalistic fraud includes practices such as plagiarism, fabrication of quotes, facts, or other report details, staging or altering the event being putatively recorded, or anything else that may call the integrity and truthfulness of a piece of journalism into question. ...

Governmental use of prepackaged news

In the United States, according to a report by The New York Times' David Barstow, the George W. Bush Administration has been increasingly criticized for the aggressive use of a tool typical of public relations: previously prepared, ready-to-serve news that big corporations regularly distribute to TV stations in order to sell products or services. What is referred to by the report as propaganda is usually distributed through the use of a Video news release (or VNR). The New York Times editorial (March 16, 2005) entitled "And now, the counterfeit news" affirms that at least 20 U.S. federal agencies, like the Department of Defense and the U.S. Census Bureau, produced and distributed hundreds of TV news reports since 2001 that were aired as if they were produced by the media. The same report says that this practice was also utilized by the Clinton Administration. Another report [1] (http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/21909/) details the use of this practice by the Department of Agriculture. The United States of America — also referred to as the United States, the U.S.A., the U.S., America, the States, or (archaically) Columbia—is a federal republic of 50 states located primarily in central North America (with the exception of two states: Alaska and Hawaii). ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... Order: 43rd President Vice President: Dick Cheney Term of office: January 20, 2001 – present Preceded by: Bill Clinton Succeeded by: Incumbent Date of birth: July 6, 1946 Place of birth: New Haven, Connecticut First Lady: Laura Welch Bush Political party: Republican George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the... Public relations (PR) is the aspect of mass-marketing that deals with the control or manipulation of public opinion, through processes that control the presentation of the image and message presented by a client. ... North Korean propaganda showing a soldier destroying the United States Capitol building. ... A video news release (VNR) is a television video program used to promote or publicize a product or viewpoint. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... The United States Department of Defense, abbreviated DoD or DOD and sometimes called the Defense Department, is a civilian Cabinet organization of the United States government. ... The United States Census Bureau (officially Bureau of the Census) is a part of the United States Department of Commerce. ... Mass media is the term used to denote, as a class, that section of the media specifically conceived and designed to reach a very large audience (typically at least as large as the whole population of a nation state). ... Order: 42nd President Term of Office: January 20, 1993–January 20, 2001 Preceded by: George H. W. Bush Succeeded by: George W. Bush Date of birth: August 19, 1946 Place of birth: Hope, Arkansas Date of death: Place of death: First Lady: Hillary Rodham Clinton Political party: Democratic Vice President... The U.S. Department of Agriculture, also called the Agriculture Department, or USDA, is a Cabinet department of the United States Federal Government. ...


False corporate news presented as media news reports

Journalistic fraud

Fake news can also be the object of journalistic fraud, when the reporter or journalist individually invent or distort a story fabricating false facts, evidences or data. In early May 2003, for example, New York Times reporter Jayson Blair resigned after being confronted with evidence of fabricating quotes and details in at least 36 articles, leading to the subsequent resignation of editors Howell Raines and Gerald Boyd. As a result of the scandal, in September, 2003, the newspaper created a new post, the Standards Editor, appointing Allan M. Siegal to the post. In the words of new executive editor, Bill Keller, Siegal would serve as ‘‘the main internal sounding board for staff members who have doubts or complaints about the paper’s content, whether already published or in the works’’. On his defense, Blair argues in his website (http://www.jayson-blair.com) that he had a manic-depressive mental disorder called bipolar disorder at the time he produced the journalistic offenses. The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... Jayson Blair (born 1976) is a former New York Times reporter considered to have been a star reporter, until he admitted to journalistic fraud when the San Antonio Express-News caught him plagiarizing one of its stories. ... Howell Raines was Executive Editor of The New York Times from 2001 until his resignation following the Jayson Blair scandal in 2003. ... Bipolar Affective Disorder, also known as manic depression, or BPAD is a disorder of the brain resulting in unusually extreme highs and lows of an individuals mood, i. ...


Satirical fake news

Main article: News satire Several programs, webzines and organizations regularly create fake news, solely with the purpose of entertainment and fun. ...

"News management"

Main article: News management News management is the process by which individuals and organizations (especially political parties) control information and their interactions with the news media to achieve some strategic objective. ...

"News management" is a term in the public relations business for the process by which individuals and organizations (especially political parties) control information and their interactions with the news media to achieve some strategic objective. Public relations (PR) is the aspect of mass-marketing that deals with the control or manipulation of public opinion, through processes that control the presentation of the image and message presented by a client. ... A political party is a political organization subscribing to a certain ideology or formed around very special issues. ... News is the reporting of current events usually by local, regional or mass media in the form of newspapers, television and radio programs, or sites on the World Wide Web. ... Mass media is the term used to denote, as a class, that section of the media specifically conceived and designed to reach a very large audience (typically at least as large as the whole population of a nation state). ...

Announcements reaction and publicity

Press releases, public speeches and the like designed to draw attention to a particular topic (and thus away from others), and convey certain information in a certain way. Publicity is one of the variables that comprise the promotional mix. ... A news release or press release is a written or recorded communication directed at members of the news media for the purpose of announcing something claimed as having news value. ... Public speaking is speaking to a group of people in a structured, deliberate manner. ...


Sources

  • New York Times editorial (http://www.nytimes.com) ("And now, the counterfeit news") - March 16, 2005, by David Barstow and Robin Stein.

Further reference

Media watching organizations

See also

Ad Council Americas Army, video game produced by the U.S. government with the stated aim of encouraging players to become interested in joining the U.S. Army. ...

Movies

  • Wag the Dog (1997) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120885/)
  • The Insider (1999) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0140352/)

See also


  Results from FactBites:
 
AlterNet: MediaCulture: Fake News Is No Joke (4463 words)
Concealed ads posing as news is bad; even worse is the daily drivel that passes for 'real' news.
And it seems to me that the wide-spread proliferation of the fake news and the no-news news might be the natural part of the corporatization process and the communications evolution.
In the process these new formats are removing the news control from the hands of a few networks and putting them in the hands of the people.
Still Not the News: Stations Overwhelmingly Fail to Disclose VNRs | Center for Media and Democracy (1380 words)
The report, "Fake TV News: Widespread and Undisclosed," named 77 TV stations that aired at least one of 36 VNRs tracked over a ten-month period.
Knowing that previous public scrutiny had resulted in little change in the production or use of VNRs (see "The Professional Opposition" section of "Fake TV News: Recommendations"), CMD sought to determine whether the broadcast PR firms that create VNRs and/or the TV newsrooms that air them were changing their practices.
The results are especially interesting, in light of a coordinated industry attack on CMD's initial report and allegations that the report and resulting FCC investigation have had "a chilling effect" on TV newsrooms.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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