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Category: Pseudo/fiction news

Fake headline: “Someone just made a floating hovercraft Delorean”

Fake headline: “Someone just made a floating hovercraft Delorean”

Here’s the fake headline: Someone just made a floating hovercraft Delorean – Esquire Middle East.

Matt built his Delorean look-alike hovercraft between 2010 and 2012 which is hardly “just made”. He has, however, put it up for sale. We both have hovercraft and we both flew them at solar eclipse viewing events in Oregon in 2017.

Staged photos used to illustrate a “news” story

Staged photos used to illustrate a “news” story

The way to respond to accusations of fictional news reporting is to double down on accuracy, objectivity and remaining calm. Unfortunately, the news industry continues to harm itself through self destructive behavior typical of middle school drama. Here, an online magazine staged their photos to accompany an interview, down to providing the clothing worn by the subject being interviewed.

Creative news writing – “First solo flight” claim is false

Creative news writing – “First solo flight” claim is false

Numerous “news” outlets botch a new story saying a 17-year student pilot made a successful emergency landing on her “first solo flight”. In reality, her first solo flight was a year ago. However, this erroneous report was repeated by numerous news stories, nation wide. When they cannot get even the simplest of facts correct, should we trust anything in the news?

Never leave a reporter, alone, in a room, with a number

Never leave a reporter, alone, in a room, with a number

Rothschild family: net worth estimated at up to $700 trillion One of the wealthiest and most influential families in the world, the banking dynasty was founded in the 1760s. Because the family’s wealth is private, it’s difficult to ascertain its net worth – estimates range all the way up to a staggering $700 trillion, split between legions of descendants. The philanthropic clan has interests in real estate, art and wine. The World’s Richest Families’ staggering wealth According to Credit Suisse,…

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Update – “Average renter can’t afford their apartment”

Update – “Average renter can’t afford their apartment”

A few months ago, a news item spread saying that the “average renter” or “minimum wage renter” cannot afford a one bedroom apartment. But that is not what the study actually said. The study picked a price point equal to the 40th percentile of rental unit price distributions. In general, those earning a single minimum wage income are usually not able to afford a one bedroom apartment at the 40th percentile. They can afford lower cost units in the market below…

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Climate communications Update: Polar bears, social media, and how our emotional response may have helped a PR stunt

Climate communications Update: Polar bears, social media, and how our emotional response may have helped a PR stunt

Update: National Geographic has retracted the claims made about a widely viewed photo of a starving polar bear. The photos and video were seen by an estimated 2.5 billion people and purported to show the effects of climate change. Nat Geo has retracted the claim and the photographer admits they were seeking a photo to be used for propaganda messaging. Details are in our now updated original post: Polar bears, social media, and how our emotional response may have helped…

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Fake propaganda poster has almost everything wrong

Fake propaganda poster has almost everything wrong

The only part of this propaganda poster that is true is that FactCheck.org did write about Snopes in 2009 but rather than finding it to be a “liberal propaganda site” they said Snopes.com is solid and well documented”. See how easy it is to create a viral propaganda poster for social media sharing? Source: FACT CHECK: Was Snopes.com ‘BUSTED’ for Our CEO’s Ties to George Soros?

Who shares fake news on social media? You do.

Who shares fake news on social media? You do.

“On the left if you’re consuming fake news you’re 34 times more likely than the general population to be a college graduate,” says Green. If you’re on the right, he says, you’re 18 times more likely than the general population to to be in the top 20 percent of income earners. And the study revealed another disturbing trend: the more you consume fake news, the more likely you are to vote. It’s “fascinating and frightening at the same time,” says…

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