How to construct a fake news article and fool children.

Yes fake news is a real thing. It's rather indisputable. But what is fake news?

Fake news is...well, news that is fake. But what does that mean? It means that when you fact check it, the information contained within the news story turns out to be false or depicts events which never happened at all.

For this demonstration, I'll be referring to this ATS post:
1. www.abovetopsecret.com...

And I will also be using this article:
2. www.redstate.com...

Which sources THIS article:
3. thehill.com...


From the "Red State" article:

As we’ve posted, a number of federal agencies are officially triggered by the Trump transition asking them what in the hell they are doing with taxpayer money. Now the Secretary of Labor, the dim-bulbish Tom Perez, has weighed in by declaring the inquiry letters sent by the transition teams to be illegal.

Step 1. Frame your story using a real event.

Note: this step is sometimes skipped. However, the most believable fake news always uses this step. In our article above (2), the real event is that Donald Trump sent letters to several agencies requesting information pertaining to “gender-related staffing, programming, and funding". (3)

Step 2. Misrepresent the story and insert conjecture as though it is a fact.
In the article, this whole conflict is misrepresented as:

"What is actually going on here, of course, has nothing to do with Trump and everything to do with Perez trying to burnish his personal credentials as a Democrat hack for the upcoming fight with Keith Ellison to be the leader of the DNC."

This entire sentence here is conjured from the author's imagination. However, because the premise AND conclusion are both false, the reader assumes that this is true based on false evidence. To give another example, if I tell you that all pens in the world in 1776 used black ink and that's why the ink in the Declaration of Independence is black, you would be inclined to believe this. False premise, false conclusion. Seems true.

Step 3. Do everything you can to obfuscate the real story.
The article begins with a big lie by saying that Trump wanted to know what the department was doing with "taxpayer money". However, the article never QUOTES what Trumps letters ACTUALLY said. Instead, the article (2) elaborates on a completely fabricated story and attempts to avoid facts at all costs. The article avoids using quotes as much as possible. When quotes ARE used, they are taken out of context so that they can easily be lied about. Additionally, the article avoids the point that what Trump really did MAY actually be illegal or at least, inappropriate.

If Donald Trump has sent letters to government agencies looking for gender-related information regarding government staff, this may be a crime. Firing someone because they do not meet a certain criteria (straight, gay, black, white, male, female) is a discrimination. Whether it's a crime or not is up to the court to decide, however the article goes to great lengths to avoid even putting the idea into the reader's head. This is important.

Furthermore, Trump's transition team has NOT denied this event. This event occurred. However, they have also come out and said that this should NOT have happened. So even Trump's team agrees that this was an inappropriate act. Link

Step 4. Lie. Lie. Lie. And if that doesn't work, use insults.
When the article isn't generally lying or ignoring facts, it is certain to use insults and negative terms to further demonize the opposition (Mr. Perez). Here's a list:
*numbskullery
*arrogation
*unconstitutional
*shallow

The best part is where the author ends the article with a scathing and unrelated attack on Brett Ellison:
"I’m rooting for Ellison because I can’t imagine a better face for the DNC than a raging racialist bigot and anti-semite with close personal ties to terrorist sponsoring organizations." Not a word of which can be substantiated by facts, of course.

Step 5. Post your article wherever it is sure to reach the largest number of uneducated people. This ensures maximum parroting.
This article, because it has an obvious right slant was posted to a website called "Red State". Where it is highly likely to be read by a vast number of republicans. Those who are educated or can form coherent thoughts will certainly scoff at it. But you will more than likely reach a large audience of droolers as well who will believe whatever you say. Likewise, if you have written an article with a decidely left-leaning slant, you should post it to a Leftist website like Huffington Post.

Which of course brings us to the ATS post (1). This article was posted on ATS where many people - like myself - said, "Hey... that doesn't make sense. Why would it be illegal for the President-elect to request tax information about a department?" Because, dear friends, it's not. You were bamboozled. You were hoodwinked. You were tricked. Lied to. Had the wool pulled over your eyes. And more!


Important Disclaimer:
While this post uses a Republican-slanted article as an example of fake news, It should be clear by now that both US parties release propaganda at an extraordinary rate. If you just want to argue about who does it "more-er" or whose lies are "biggerest" then kindly take your d**k measuring somewhere else.

If you are doubting the veracity of any of the claims made here, or are thinking to yourself, "Well what if The Hill article is the fake news?" Well, don't forget that the RedState article SOURCES The Hill article. And is - by extension - ALSO fake news.

I wish you all good luck in the future and I hope this guide helps you to both construct AND deconstruct fake news.

a reply to: MrSensible

If I could give you a thousand stars and flags for this OP, I would. There are a disturbing amount of posts like that cropping up daily on ATS. You'd almost think this was the headquarters for The National Enquirer or something, as much utter garbage as there is relentlessly clogging up the front page here.

There are currently at least six different accounts here (notice I did not say different people) who regularly and deliberately create "fake news"; framing a real event with blatant lies as you illustrated, or posting old links with unsubstantiated rumors and passing them off as "breaking news"...while they themselves just as regularly and deliberately dismiss verified factual information that contradicts their lies as being "fake news", or mixing lies with insults and mockery to bait people who have a differing viewpoint than they...it is absolutely rampant, and both sides of the political polarity are 100% guilty of this type of manipulation.

And only slightly more disturbing than that is the sheer volume of rabid, drooling groupies who flock to threads like those, to act tough and take cheap potshots at other people from behind the safety of a screen...who would probably piss their pants if they suddenly found themselves face to face with the people they're so boldly ridiculing and degrading. They don't care about facts, because that's not why they joined the discussion in the first place.

The truth is, anyone who presents an opinion as if it were factual information is both a liar and a purveyor of "fake news". And anyone who neglects to read past a clickbait title or take the time to make sure what they're reading or listening to is fact rather than someone else's opinion has zero reason to complain about being a victim of "fake news" being spread. That is one of the pitfalls of choosing to be a follower rather than a leader in life, and allowing other people to dictate one's own opinions and beliefs.

If i want the full the idiots on ATS I would use two methods.

Fror the right wing nut I would just create a website called "right wing news". And talk about how obama sucks every other sentence and they would believe any crap i right.

For the libral wing nuts I would just do the same but replace right wing news with left wing news and obama sucks with Trumps sucks.


Derp derp Amerika Derp Derp!

Somewhere along the line ordinary people became dismissive of the actual forensics omitted by the mass media. They just believe whatever they are told or what everyone else believes, because thats what they also been told. Repeated exposure to repeated propaganda makes it true in the most peoples minds and whatever is lacking form that direct exposure is made up for by peer pressure.

"Haven't you heard?"

"What planet you from?"

"Get with the program".

a reply to: tigertatzen

Well said.

The truth is, anyone who presents an opinion as if it were factual information is both a liar and a purveyor of "fake news".

Older people have direct experience, someone's word is no longer respected though because of all the BS today. Such that nothing is believed anymore and all one has to do to discredit any actual layout of linked and sourced evidence is simply call it "fake". That descriptive is the new truth, because in reality we can't believe anything the main stream media tells us anymore anyway and the younger generations are well aware of this.

Of course the most of ordinary people were raised in Plato's Cave and lack any other perspective.

originally posted by: tigertatzen
There are currently at least six different accounts here (notice I did not say different people) who regularly and deliberately create "fake news"...it is absolutely rampant, and both sides of the political polarity are 100% guilty of this type of manipulation.

So the same troll is posting the bulk of the articles of both sides using multiple fake accounts??


Oh crap, did I just commit the same fake news method as the OP has laid out? The OP says I did it deliberately, does that make it true?

NBC, CNN, MSNBC.....
Those are the only "real" news agencies...



-Chris

originally posted by: IgnoranceIsntBlisss

originally posted by: tigertatzen
There are currently at least six different accounts here (notice I did not say different people) who regularly and deliberately create "fake news"...it is absolutely rampant, and both sides of the political polarity are 100% guilty of this type of manipulation.

So the same troll is posting the bulk of the articles of both sides using multiple fake accounts??

Oh crap, did I just commit the same fake news method as the OP has laid out? The OP says I did it deliberately, does that make it true?

I'm not sure what exactly you're getting at here. I don't know if it's the same "troll" playing both sides or not. I can say I seriously doubt it is one person, but who knows?

I do find it both interesting and amusing that of all the things you could have possibly zeroed in on out of everything I said, you chose that one. Human psychology is funny like that though, isn't it?

a reply to: intrptr

Thank you. I've never been a fan of news media in general because everything is delivered with someone else's spin on things right out of the gate, and I've always found it a bit creepy when people insist that one outlet or another is the only place where the news is reported exactly like it happened...because the reality is, they wouldn't know the difference unless they fact-checked for themselves, which most people lack either the time or the inclination to do. It's kind of like my mother thinking that everyone who proclaims themselves to be a "born-again" christian must then be automatically a good, solid person...even though she has repeatedly been proven completely wrong about that, too many times to count.

If we take the news we get with a healthy grain of salt, knowing that it already inherently carries some degree of bias with it, then it becomes less difficult to see through the parts that are simply sensationalism (lies). But here, not only is that not happening, people are also coming from an emotional place, which is never a good thing when attempting to dissect information, because people do not approach things rationally when they're emotional. The people who are perpetrating the deceit know this, too, and take full advantage of it by tailoring their lies to a specific demographic.

Things were much simpler when all we had to worry about was not buying into the tabloid rags plastered by every checkout counter, proclaiming outlandish and ridiculous headlines straight out of someone's vivid imagination. Now, not only are the waters far more murky, the media itself has essentially opened the door to even more shenanigans by promoting the idea that anyone with an opposing viewpoint is simply spreading "fake news" and is not to be believed. You are absolutely spot on with that, and I cannot understand why so many appear unable to see it. Most simply ignore it, but there are actually people who truly do not see that they're being played, and I find that baffling.

Now, news outlets and individual losers on the internet can spin whatever fairy tales they please, regardless of the actual facts, and if anyone calls them out on their bull#, they simply proclaim that the offending party is pushing "fake news". And, astonishingly, other people are eating it up like candy and regurgitating it for all their equally intellectually lazy peers to lap up too.

This is especially disturbing to witness among a group of people such as this one, who have more than enough proof at their disposal right here on this site that they ought to know better than to believe everything they read or see or hear on the internet and in the media. We know people make false claims and spread lies, and we also know the media is heavily connected to people of all stripes within our own government.

Yet here they are, swallowing outrageous lies and propaganda, playing right into the hands of the amoral scum who regularly and unabashedly peddle it. Of course that speaks more to their character as human beings than to their level of intelligence, but that is why it works...appeal to the most visceral and volatile emotions, and people will respond in kind, throwing common sense and critical thinking to the winds, apparently along with what is left of their human decency and dignity.

It would be fascinating to watch if it were not so horrifying...it's like witnessing a psych textbook come to life right before our eyes. You've got Freud, Jung, Skinner and Pavlov all rolled into one convenient, dysfunctional package. ATS could charge admission, give out complimentary popcorn and make out like bandits with some of these threads lately. No brain cells required...just hop on board with your favorite party line (easy choice since it seems that now there are only two acceptable options) and let the mockery, bashing, posturing and belittling begin.

a reply to: tigertatzen

Glad you liked the post and I totally agree with your feelings on this.

Some days ago I attempted to track down the source of all this disinformation here on ATS. I was able to find a number of ATS accounts which are incredibly vocal (and occasionally hateful) which were all registered in June - August of 2016. These accounts (which shall remain nameless) were and still ARE making upwards of 10 posts per day EACH. The majority of their posts are non-information or inflammatory in nature. They also all support the same political party.

I was unable to find enough evidence to substantiate a true conspiracy so I've since let it go. I do believe that someone (either a single person or a group) is executing a disinformation campaign on this website. I have no idea why they would bother though other than for the sole purpose of being disruptive.

originally posted by: MrSensible
Step 1. Frame your story using a real event.
Step 2. Misrepresent the story and insert conjecture as though it is a fact.
Step 3. Do everything you can to obfuscate the real story.
Step 4. Lie. Lie. Lie. And if that doesn't work, use insults.
Step 5. Post your article wherever it is sure to reach the largest number of uneducated people. This ensures maximum parroting.

And that folks is the secret formula to "quality journalism" if you want to work for MSM outlets such as CNN, FOX, ABC, CBS and NBC (especially as a war corespondent).

a reply to: IgnoranceIsntBlisss

People actually get college degrees fir it too !!

a reply to: MrSensible

This morning 1-11-16 you posted a thread about fake news. In that post you said ''Just wanted to point out the latest fake news that many people have jumped on the bandwagon with. ''...

In your thread you did not mention any specific thread on ATS or ATS at all. What you did was to link to the fake news article that had been making the rounds of the echo chamber and then you offered a couple of other links to demonstrate. At no point did you mention ATS or that this bogus 'news' article' appeared on ATS at all. You were very careful to abide by the rules.

Yet, two minutes after your posting, your thread about fake news in general was closed for review on the grounds that it was talking about another ATS thread. TWO MINUTES.

Meanwhile around the same time another thread went up about Trump slamming CNN. Two minutes later another member posted a thread on the very same topic. It took 50 minutest for the second thread to be noticed by the mods and closed even though the two threads were right next to each other and basically using the very same words.
50 minutes later, both of those threads, the continuing thread and the one that had been closed were still sitting there next to each other. And yours? After a brief 'review'? Removed entirely.