I know fake news exists. I knew that before I came to the University of South Carolina, but I never paid much attention to it. Being a public relations major, fake news was highlighted in many of my classes, but it was never a detailed focus. I understand the concept of fake news and while at the University of South Carolina I have come to further understand the negative impact fake news has, but I still have questions about it.

 

We should begin by defining fake news, propaganda and yellow journalism.

 

Fake news does not have a definition in the Oxford English Dictionary, which is the dictionary I have chosen to use as the definitive reference for this paper. Fake news is a fairly new term, but one that has not shied from controversy. The Cambridge Dictionary defines fake news as a noun meaning, “false stories that appear to be news, spread on the internet or using other media, usually created to influence political views or as a joke." (Cambridge Dictionary, n.d.)

 

The Oxford English Dictionary was used for the remainder of the definitions.

 

Propaganda is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as “an organization, scheme, or movement for the propagation of a particular doctrine, practice, etc.” and “the systematic dissemination of information, esp. in a biased or misleading way, in order to promote a political cause or point of view. Also: information disseminated in this way; the means or media by which such ideas are disseminated" (Oxford English Dictionary, n.d.).

 

Yellow Journalism is a term that originated in the United States. It is a journalistic term meaning “luridly or unscrupulously sensational. Of a newspaper, journalist, etc.: favouring or using a lurid or unscrupulously sensational approach" (Oxford English Dictionary, n.d.).

 

In Journalism 541: International Mass Communication we learned about the impact fake news can have. At the time, the most relevant alleged impact of fake news was on the 2016 presidential election between Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton. The fake stories, about both candidates, quickly spread on social media and some other websites. Many of the stories spread on social media were successfully traced back to Russia, a country known for commonly using media as a weapon. The country uses fake news and propaganda to weaponize information. The implications of, and reasons for Russia’s launch of fake news and propaganda is not completely understood, but it proves that fake news can be extremely detrimental to media health and to society. A tech blog Recode also published that bots generated more Internet traffic in 2016 than humans (Glaser, 2017).

 

In Politics 362: Politics and the Mass Media I wrote a term paper that looked into the role public relations played in the United States' involvement in both the Iraq wars – Operation Desert Storm and the 2003 war in Iraq. Before officially entering into the war, former president George H. W. Bush knew he needed the support of the American public or he would likely face a negative uproar. The Kuwait and United States governments hired New York-based public relations firm Hill and Knowlton to get the American public to support the war. The campaign used elements of propaganda and of fake news.

 

In 1990, the Kuwait government found themselves under the attack of the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Kuwait is a small country and its leadership knew they did not have a chance against Hussein unless they could get the militant support of a larger power such as the United States (60a. Operation Desert Storm, n.d.). Kuwait enlisted Hill and Knowlton to get the United States’ government on board with the idea of going to war. Once the firm had accomplished that, their next task was to get the United States public to support the war (How PR Sold the War in the Persian Gulf, n.d.).

 

The firm launched public relations front groups such as “Citizens for a Free Kuwait” to raise awareness of what was happening, or said to be happening, in Kuwait. “Citizens for a Free Kuwait” was a group designed to hide the role Kuwait was playing in the campaign as well as Kuwait’s collusion with the George H.W. Bush administration. The public relations firm had 119 executives from 12 different offices overseeing the Kuwait account. They organized several observances, organized public rallies, released hostage letters to the media, issued news releases and information, produced radio shows that were in Arabic from Saudi Arabia and contacted politicians. The group even found ways to capitalize from some events. The Kuwait government bought 200,000 copies of The Rape of Kuwait – a book about Iraqi atrocities – which they placed in media kits, had featured on television talk shows and distributed to the United States troops (How PR Sold the War in the Persian Gulf, n.d.).

 

Some of the tactics they used could teeter on the borderline between fake news and propaganda such as the release of hostage letters to the media and the information they issued in the news releases. Propaganda is information issued in a biased or misleading way to promote a political cause or viewpoint, however, if the information was false it would change the concept from propaganda to fake news.

 

Hill and Knowlton continued their campaign by conducting focus groups to find the best way to present the idea of the war to the public. The results said that the firm needed to find a way to tug at the heartstrings of the United States citizens. This led to a moving testimony by a 15-year-old Kuwaiti girl. The girl claimed she witnessed, “the Iraqi soldiers come into the hospital with guns, and go into the room where … babies were in incubators. They took the babies out of the incubators, took the incubators, and left the babies on the cold floor to die" (How PR Sold the War in the Persian Gulf, n.d.). Three months later the United States joined the war in support of Kuwait (60a. Operation Desert Storm, n.d.).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This particular example of Hill and Knowlton’s campaign is considered fake news. The testimony the girl gave was discovered, after the war, to be false. By the time the scandal was revealed the testimony had already been spread via the Internet and other media. Kuwait and the United States worked together to use fake news to persuade the United States public to support the war.

 

Russia and the United States are not the only countries that use fake news to their benefit. Other popular examples of a country using fake news to its benefit include China, the United Kingdom and India. Fake news stories can vary in the amount of harm they cause to the media and to society. The story can be so outrageous and unbelievable that hardly anyone believes it, or it can cause a widespread distrust in the media because so many people believed it. Fake news can cause threats by the public or by the government, and it can cause catastrophes, including murder. The impact it has on society is immeasurable because it is constantly changing based on the societal, political and media climate at the time. Fake news does not only pose a threat to the media. It also poses a threat to society because it causes a divide among the people.

 

I saw, firsthand, the effect that fake news can have during my internship with the YMCA of Portsmouth. The YMCA of Portsmouth was one of the last remaining independent YMCAs until June 6, 2018, when the facility finalized a merger with the YMCA of South Hampton Roads. The YMCA of South Hampton Roads is constructed of multiple locations in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia and parts of northeastern North Carolina. For many years prior to the merger, the YMCA of Portsmouth has participated in a program called Silver Sneakers, which is put on by Tivity in collaboration with select insurance providers and plans. The program provides people ages 65 and up, and those with certain medical conditions, disabilities or injuries with a free membership to participating gyms. The members are provided cards which they are to scan upon entry. The facility gets paid a certain amount of money each time the member scans their card or the membership number is manually entered.

 

The merger occurred the same year Tivity was to renew their contract with us to continue the Silver Sneakers program. Prior to the merger only one of the South Hampton Roads facilities still offered the program – the Luter Family YMCA in Smithfield, Va. – which gave a lot of people a meek sense of security that the contract would be renewed. This is when the rumors got started. The fake news came soon after.

 

One of our members who avidly participated in the Silver Sneakers classes visited a YMCA in Alexandria, Va. – located in northern Virginia – and asked about the Silver Sneakers program. A membership associate at the facility told the woman that YMCA National was getting rid of Silver Sneakers nationwide and that they had already started phasing it out in many locations.

 

The woman came back to the YMCA of Portsmouth after her short trip north and began spreading the word that Silver Sneakers was already "dead in the water." No one came to us directly. Instead, people made the assumption that we were being duped and did not know it. Silver Sneakers members started flocking to us to fill out scholarship applications and membership applications. There number one reason being that, allegedly, the fate of Silver Sneakers had been pre-determined by the YMCA of South Hampton Roads and YMCA National.

 

The truth was that the YMCA of South Hampton Roads wanted to keep our Silver Sneakers program because of how large the program was. The negotiation between the YMCA of South Hampton Roads and Tivity was over money. The YMCA of South Hampton Roads needed to receive more money per scan in order to continue the program. The fake news hurt the Silver Sneakers participants because some prematurely signed up for a membership, which cost money. The harm comes from having to account for a new cost in their budget. Many of whom may have an already limited budget to live on.

 

How do these fake stories become so popular?

 

Artificial Intelligence bots detect keywords and hashtags relating to controversial topics and use algorithms that create and spread extreme views. The topics the bots come up with are ones that emotionally arouse people. When the readers become emotionally aroused they spread the story, usually without much thought or investigation (Thurrott, 2018).

 

Bots also have the capability to make a story seem as though it is trending because of how quickly they can spread information. A network of bots can spread stories so fast that social media algorithms believe the story is trending when it is just bots working together to retweet and repost stories (Thurrott, 2018).

 

If fake news is so detrimental to our society, why is there not a way to successfully combat it? Or is there?

 

In short, no there is not. NBC News reports that, typically, you cannot immediately tell if a story is fake. The only way to be sure is to do your research. Although you cannot completely stop the spread of fake news, NBC News has tips on how to prevent your exposure to it on social media (Thurrott, 2018). They are as follow:

• Assume the news in your feed is not true

• Question the source

• Look for confirmation from the mainstream media

• Check the facts with third-party sites

  • NBC News recommended using Snopes and Politifact

• Privately call out fake news when you find it

 

The lesson I have learned from this is that the only way to combat fake news, while keeping the media free, is to do your research. I will apply this in my career by always researching before believing anything I read, especially online. I will also use my knowledge of how fake news gets spread so rapidly to advocate for the organization I work for to be transparent about any news that may be connected to it. I will encourage the organization to use their media outlets as the most reliant, up-to-date source for anything involving its name, any questions about it and all allegations against it that people may make. Going forward I will strive to only promote truthful, well-researched information in my personal life and throughout my career.