Considering how I was recently burned by WorldNewsDailyReport-dot-com on my Beatles: Is Paul Finally Dead? thread, I decided to investigate who owned WNDR and find out if it was tied into some kind of CIA disinformation agenda. I found something else. As with most of my studying and reading, I feel compelled to share what I've discovered.
It seems that there are many of these fake news sites...many more than one might imagine. I don't trust sources such as ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX, so much of my news comes from independent on-line sources. I don't fully trust Wikipedia, however, Wikipedia is a generalized encyclopedia which often yields a good starting base for research.
This is a preliminary Wiki-Search to start this thread off. Please feel free to add to the study. The more researchers we have, the better the chance of finding useful data in a web of disinformation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fake_news_websites
Fake news websites deliberately publish hoaxes and disinformation to drive web traffic inflamed by social media.[SUP][3][/SUP][SUP][4][/SUP][SUP][5][/SUP] These sites are distinguished from news satire (which is humorous) as they mislead and profit from readers' gullibility.[SUP][4][/SUP] While most fake news sites are portrayed to be spinoffs of other news sites, some of these websites are examples of website spoofing, structured to make visitors believe they are visiting trusted sources like ABC News or MSNBC.[SUP][6][/SUP] The New York Times pointed out that within a strict definition, "fake news" on the Internet referred to a fictitious article which was fabricated with the deliberate motivation to defraud readers, generally with the goal of profiting through clickbait.[SUP][7][/SUP] PolitiFact described fake news as fabricated content designed to fool readers and subsequently made viral through the Internet to crowds that increase its dissemination.[SUP][8][/SUP]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fake_news_websites#For_Philippine_audiences
(A surprisingly large list for the Philippines)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fake_news_website
One pan-European newspaper, The Local, described the proliferation of fake news as a form of psychological warfare.[SUP][10][/SUP] Some media analysts have seen it as a threat to democracy.[SUP][8][/SUP] In 2016, the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs passed a resolution warning that the Russian government was using "pseudo-news agencies" and Internet trolls as disinformation propaganda to weaken confidence in democratic values.[SUP][5][/SUP]
In 2015, the Swedish Security Service, Sweden's national security agency, issued a report concluding Russia was using fake news to inflame "splits in society" through the proliferation of propaganda.[SUP][10][/SUP] Sweden's Ministry of Defence tasked its Civil Contingencies Agency with combating fake news from Russia.[SUP][10][/SUP] Fraudulent news affected politics in Indonesia and the Philippines, where there was simultaneously widespread usage of social media and limited resources to check the veracity of political claims.[SUP][9][/SUP] German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned of the societal impact of "fake sites, bots, trolls".[SUP][8][/SUP]
Now, more than ever, please draw your own conclusions and confirm all findings / research. Do not take my word for anything.
I'm still kicking myself over the Beatles thread. Eating crow and and a double helping of humble pie is not something I'm overly fond of, but it was a good learning experience, and perhaps this thread would never have happened had I not been burned.
This is not the first time I've been mistaken/deceived, and it probably won't be the last.
Peace.
It seems that there are many of these fake news sites...many more than one might imagine. I don't trust sources such as ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX, so much of my news comes from independent on-line sources. I don't fully trust Wikipedia, however, Wikipedia is a generalized encyclopedia which often yields a good starting base for research.
This is a preliminary Wiki-Search to start this thread off. Please feel free to add to the study. The more researchers we have, the better the chance of finding useful data in a web of disinformation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fake_news_websites
Fake news websites deliberately publish hoaxes and disinformation to drive web traffic inflamed by social media.[SUP][3][/SUP][SUP][4][/SUP][SUP][5][/SUP] These sites are distinguished from news satire (which is humorous) as they mislead and profit from readers' gullibility.[SUP][4][/SUP] While most fake news sites are portrayed to be spinoffs of other news sites, some of these websites are examples of website spoofing, structured to make visitors believe they are visiting trusted sources like ABC News or MSNBC.[SUP][6][/SUP] The New York Times pointed out that within a strict definition, "fake news" on the Internet referred to a fictitious article which was fabricated with the deliberate motivation to defraud readers, generally with the goal of profiting through clickbait.[SUP][7][/SUP] PolitiFact described fake news as fabricated content designed to fool readers and subsequently made viral through the Internet to crowds that increase its dissemination.[SUP][8][/SUP]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fake_news_websites#For_Philippine_audiences
(A surprisingly large list for the Philippines)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fake_news_website
One pan-European newspaper, The Local, described the proliferation of fake news as a form of psychological warfare.[SUP][10][/SUP] Some media analysts have seen it as a threat to democracy.[SUP][8][/SUP] In 2016, the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs passed a resolution warning that the Russian government was using "pseudo-news agencies" and Internet trolls as disinformation propaganda to weaken confidence in democratic values.[SUP][5][/SUP]
In 2015, the Swedish Security Service, Sweden's national security agency, issued a report concluding Russia was using fake news to inflame "splits in society" through the proliferation of propaganda.[SUP][10][/SUP] Sweden's Ministry of Defence tasked its Civil Contingencies Agency with combating fake news from Russia.[SUP][10][/SUP] Fraudulent news affected politics in Indonesia and the Philippines, where there was simultaneously widespread usage of social media and limited resources to check the veracity of political claims.[SUP][9][/SUP] German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned of the societal impact of "fake sites, bots, trolls".[SUP][8][/SUP]
Now, more than ever, please draw your own conclusions and confirm all findings / research. Do not take my word for anything.
I'm still kicking myself over the Beatles thread. Eating crow and and a double helping of humble pie is not something I'm overly fond of, but it was a good learning experience, and perhaps this thread would never have happened had I not been burned.
This is not the first time I've been mistaken/deceived, and it probably won't be the last.
Peace.
