President Donald Trump modernized the term "fake news", using it to disregard news outlets that challenged his beliefs and policies.
In this time of politics, it's no surprise people are very divided in their beliefs. It's also becoming more common for news outlets to cater more towards one side or the other.
A term that has been thrown around a lot recently is the term “fake news”.
Fake news is a type of yellow journalism that has been more widespread since President Donald Trump started his campaign for the 2016 Presidential Election.
An 1894 illustration by Frederick Burr Opper showing reporters holding "fake news."
It is common for people who are on “the left” to watch news outlets such as CNN or MSNBC, whereas people on “the right” would be more inclined to watch news outlets such as FOX News.
Trump has been very vocal about his feelings on the media and journalists, especially the way they portray him. Trump has been known to attack and call out certain news outlets for their biased beliefs against him and says they are throwing around fake news whenever they criticize him or challenge his beliefs.
The problem with this? It isn't always “fake”.
Throwing around the term “fake news” every time you see something you disagree with is potentially dangerous, considering most news sites are not throwing out actual false information. They are just telling the story from a different perspective.
The problem with these biased news networks is people do not trust networks that are known for siding with beliefs that they do not believe in. People are finding it harder and harder to find news sources that are unbiased nowadays. People believe that these news sources are not credible because they lean one way or the other and do not believe what they are being told.
It is much easier for someone to just say “that’s fake news”, and write it off as false, if it is broadcasted by a news network that’s more liberal or conservative than that person is. However, it is beneficial to take information you see on television or the internet with a grain of salt and not immediately trust everything you see or hear.
If CNN or a typically more left leaning website put out an article about Donald Trump, it would be highly likely that supporters of the president would disregard the information because it would probably go against what they believe.
However, this does go both ways. People who have a more democratic or liberal viewpoint will be more likely to write off an article written by an outlet like FOX News, just because they are known for having more conservative views and a strong support of the president.
This is not a good thing to do, because it doesn’t let you expand your beliefs and doesn’t let you see different sides to a story. It’s good to see both sides to any type of story, even if you think there’s no way you’ll ever agree with it.
This is why it’s good to have mature, healthy debates and conversations with people who have different opinions and beliefs than you; you never know what you could learn from that person.
Just because a news network seems to be more biased, doesn’t mean what they’re saying is false.
