Since the 2016 U.S. presidential election, fake news has become a social controversy, and both mainstream and non-mainstream media have been affected. Fake news has become easier to spread thanks to the development of information and communication technologies, and it is used as a political tool by encouraging confirmation bias. To solve this problem, it is necessary to strengthen the credibility of the existing media and build a media database.
During the 2016 U.S. presidential election, criticism of fake news increased. Donald Trump, who was elected as the 45th president of the United States, repeatedly criticized media organizations like CNN for supporting his rival Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton, calling them fake news. At his first post-election press conference, Trump refused to allow a CNN reporter to ask him a question and attacked CNN as fake news. At the same time, however, Trump himself has been criticized for using fake news to influence his election, and has been criticized for using fake news since.
So what is the nature of fake news? Established news organizations that claim to report the truth are often criticized for publishing stories without sufficient verification in an effort to get information out quickly. The mainstream media is not immune to the fake news debate. At the same time, the problem of fake news affects both mainstream and non-mainstream media, with unverified organizations spreading information to suit their own agenda.
The reason why fake news spreads and is accepted by society to a certain extent is the trust in the established media system. Readers tend to judge the credibility of a story by its format rather than its content. Information that is presented in a similar format to traditional media is believed to be authentic. One of the reasons fake news is so disruptive to society is that advances in information and communication technology make it so easy to produce and spread. For example, fake news creation applications on iOS make it easy for anyone to create fake news. Because it resembles the format of traditional media, readers are more likely to trust it as fact. Furthermore, as the primary way to access stories has shifted from print media to the web and mobile, the spread of fake news has accelerated.
However, the creation and spread of an article is not an end in itself, but a continuous interaction with society. We can’t stop judging the truth of an article based on its format alone; we need to thoroughly verify its content. In order to prevent the spread of fake news and accurately verify it, audiences need to be critical enough to recognize that this process is part of journalism.
We trust the media to report scientific or objective facts. But it’s important to remember that what’s in the camera’s viewfinder doesn’t tell the whole story. If journalists are acting like a special interest group, they may not report the whole truth, or they may selectively report only part of it. This suggests that not only fake news but also legitimate media may not necessarily report the truth.
Fake news is more prevalent in controversial areas like politics and society than in objective areas like science and technology. People who consume fake news use it as a tool to reinforce their own logic and attack the logic of their opponents. This can be explained by the concept of confirmation bias. Confirmation bias refers to the tendency to accept information that reinforces one’s position and avoid or distort information that refutes it to reinforce one’s own logic. Political groups create and distribute fake news to induce confirmation bias, or to share opinions among like-minded people. Fake news, which mimics traditional news formats, is an excellent tool for those who seek confirmation bias.
There have been many discussions on how to address confirmation bias, and from an educational perspective, it has been suggested to teach accountability and position reversal. When making important decisions, people are more likely to think rationally rather than confirmation bias, and research has shown that discussions between heterogeneous groups that seek to understand each other’s positions can curb confirmation bias. On the other hand, confirmation bias can be exacerbated in groups of like-minded people, so getting them to interact with people who have different opinions may be the key to curbing it.
So how can we combat fake news that spreads quickly and confuses people? To solve the problem of fake news, we need to increase the credibility and differentiation of traditional media. If we solve the problems of legacy media and increase its credibility, people will be able to avoid the temptation of fake news and distinguish between good and bad stories, even within legacy media.
Given that most of our reading is now done on the internet or mobile, why not create a database of media articles? If you create a media database and make it easily accessible to everyone, it would be easy to check the sources of articles floating around the internet. By linking articles that cover similar topics, it would be easy to see how different media outlets take different stances on the same issue. Additionally, a system of peer review among journalists or a system for readers to rate the authenticity of articles would make it easier to know which journalists are reporting accurately and which are misreporting. Fake news would not be registered in these databases, so readers would be free from fake news. Readers will also be able to decide for themselves what is real news and what is good news.
Bureaucratic tendencies seek to increase individual and collective power. However, if the standard of growth is unified, the ecosystem of the group can deteriorate through malicious means. If all journalists have is a scoop or a quick report, they have no incentive to report the truth. But if a database of journalists is built, and readers are able to discern authenticity, journalists will have an incentive to self-police. This can be seen as a way to curb confirmation bias and hold journalists accountable.
If a journalistic database is built, it will be easy to access articles that interpret the same event from different perspectives. This would have a similar effect to a debate between heterogeneous groups by exposing people to articles from different perspectives, and help curb confirmation bias. The less accessible information that differs from your own position, the less likely you are to encounter it. Conversely, if you increase access to this information, you will have more opportunities to understand other positions.
Of course, building a media database won’t completely solve the problem of fake news. The problem of fake news is not just a media issue, but a complex one that involves politics and generational conflict. However, since the problem started with the media, it can be solved through the selfless efforts of journalists. Media databases will be a way for readers to keep the media in check, which will increase reader engagement with journalism.
The current state of data analytics and journalistic practices may not be perfectly suited to building a database and providing readers with information that prevents confirmation bias. However, the Fourth Industrial Revolution and advances in big data technology may provide a solution. The first step to solving complex problems is not having great tools, it’s having an interest in the problem. If people are interested in solving problems, society will mature along with technology.
