Waning Trust In Real Reporting Summary

Recall being in P.E class when you get to play a game of telephone. The teacher starts the game with the phrase, “the cow jumped over the moon.” Three people down and the phrase has been morphed into “ The mouse ate the spoon.” Fast forward to present day, and our news is being delivered through a game of telephone on Facebook. What may have started off as a factual story ends up getting deluded with politics, opinions, and attitudes resulting in “fake news.” These days you can’t turn on a television without hearing the term fake news. There are some people who feel more should be done to combat fake news. In “Fixation on Fake News Overshadows Waning Trust in Real Reporting” a piece by John Herman found in the New York Times on November …show more content…
For example, Herman recalls a conversation he had about a story that had been written in which suspicion was cast on Khizr Khan, the father of a fallen American Soldier. He goes on to talk about how the claims made in the story were “disingenuous and horrifying,” he said,“The facts had been removed from its rightful text and placed in a new, sinister one.” This portion of the article uses pathos in such a way that really makes you feel for the soldier’s family. The Khan family, who in a time of grieving, was painted in a negative light making so this story could become an important point in the election. Hermans depiction of this story and the impact it had during the time of the election captures interest by conveying the image of just how awful this falsification had become in order to play a role in a political gain. Using this as emotional appeal Herman successfully shows just how detrimental these fake news stories can be which can help those who maybe didn't see fake news as a big problem to understand the impact it has in the …show more content…
Herman made large generalizations making it seems that Facebook was the only social media site capable of stopping the fake news. Herman talks about those who publish fake news saying “Theirs is a behavior that can and should be shunned, and that Facebook is equipped, and may be willing to deal with.” Many times Herman mentioned Facebook and how it is more than able to deal with such falsehoods being published and advertised on its site, yet it seems Facebook still didn't seem to stop these stories. The article mentions that a major problem identified was that many of the people who post their “fake news” on Facebook are making their money outside of Facebook anyway. I see Herman’s reasoning for adding this information but as a result, it shows that Facebook isn't the only problem. Making the point again that his argument could be stronger if Herman talked about other places the people are getting their versions of the fake news and what those groups plan on doing to put a stop to the publication of fake