Through my eyes

Fake News or "Alternative Facts"

We live in interesting times, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the year 2000 and beyond will be reflected on with a certain amount of scrutiny and bewilderment in the years to come.

Last Sunday while contemplating my 'fair' game of golf on the 19th hole at Zimbali Country Club, someone mentioned 'Fake News' and the seemingly relaxed vibe in the members bar turned into a full blown debate.

Terms such as "fake news", "alt-right" and "post-truth" have entered mainstream use, andkicked up debates about what they actually mean in the process.

Truthfully, fake news is exactly what you think it is, and it's a tactic as old as the written word. Fake news is editorialised content thought up by some random guy, who is being paid to distribute 'news' or disinformation on a certain subject.

For all the noise people are making about fake news right now, no one is really asking how it came to prominence — and that's exactly the problem.

The answer is that the 'fake news' rise to power didn't happen solely because a bunch of idiots started indiscriminately sharing horrible links on Facebook. Fake news' prominent foothold is really the result of a perfect storm of both internet thumbsuck news and the diminishing quality and integrity of our own, more legitimate, more established news media, which sadly is so stretched to the limits and underpaid and under huge pressure to produce sensational stories.

But how do we dig ourselves out of this fake news nightmare

First, it starts with us. On the whole, we need to be more discerning media consumers. We need to learn how to spot the difference between real and fake news, but more importantly, we need to stop buying into the bullshlaka. We need to do something about our media literacy right now. Period.

Forbesrecently released a brief but mostly accurate guideto learning how to spot fake news websites and stories.

They say; "First, understand what "news" is. It's a development, somethingnewthat has happened. When actual journalists report the news, they follow certain guidelines. These guidelines include reporting what people have said and done, yes. But they also include obtaining comment from other people, especially experts in the particular subject area of the news"

The advent of "fake news" as a problem, coincides with the current low trust consumers have about the news. To be able to credibly solve the fake news problem, the level of trust would clearly need to be higher. When we speak of fake news, we are also talking about interpretations. It is not always all lies and all truths. Fake news and real news is often a blend of source information and interpretations. At the end of the day we decide what we want to believe in.

Lets stay informed and grounded and lets be clear about something; just because its on Facebook, it is not necessarily TRUE.