Fake News: A Skeptic's Point-of-Viewby Rex Gilbert Odiaman
Marie: yess gurl! Imma' post a status update. #BTSfinally
Marie: sure Rex. I'll send the link later.
Marie: hey guys! Have you all seen the news online? DepEd announced the reopening of schools nationwide.
I don't think this true. I wonder where Marie got the information from. *messages Marie* hey Marie, can you send me the link of the news article that you got this from?
Thess: Oh my gosh! really! I can't believe that we're finally gonna' see each other personally!
Food, dishes, and cleaning, done! Let me see what my friends are talking about.
Marie: Here is the link to the article I read. https://www.thephilippinechronicle.com/back-to-school-2021
Oh my! What an evocative headline. There sure aren't any sources listed nor noted and the writing is very poor. Plus, I cannot seem to find any other articles holding the same information. This must be fake news. I better tell them about this before they post or spread it to others.
Marie: Okay, I won't.
Okay Marie, thanks! I'm going to check the article out first. In the mean time, don't post anything until I check its legitimacy. I will come back to you later.
Okay, let's see what this news is all about.
*clicks link*
Marie: Thanks, I will.
You better tell them that the information you shared was false before they relay it to more people.
Marie: Wow! I can't believe that I shared false information to some of my friends.
Marie: Really! How could you say so?
*calls Marie*
Well, I simply did a background check on the both the article and the website. After some time of browsing for related news and information, I wasn't able to find any matches from trusted news sites such as GMA and ABS-CBN.
Hey, Marie. I have already read the news article and checked the background of the website. I think that the news you read was fake.
The next day...
Hey Rex! How are you doing?
Thank you for your help the other day.
That's a lesson learned for sure.
I'm fine, Marie. Thank you for asking!
A little skepticism goes a long way with what we should or should not believe in and share to others.
You're welcome. Just be careful about what you see online next time. They are not always true, you know.
“The point of modern propaganda isn't only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth.”-Gary Kasparov