Over the past few weeks I have noticed more and more fake or “joke” news stories popping up across the Internet. These stories purport to be a main-stream media outlet, using a real logo and an enticing headline, but when you click on the link it takes you to a page that says “Got ya! This is fake! Hah!”
As a journalist, these posts annoy me to no end.
The latest one going around is a fake post saying Canada changed its drinking age to 21 or 23, which clearly hasn't happened. But that doesn't stop millions of poor schmucks from believing it, which is a huge problem.
As a reporter, my job is to provide true, fact-based, unbiased information to the public. These links are essentially making a mockery of what I do for a living. You wonder why the public has a hard time trusting the “media”? It's in part because of joke stories like this out there, which make my job an uphill battle.
I'm trying to be a respectable journalist and provide you with the best information possible. The problem is, anyone can post to the Internet. It takes just minutes to create a blog which you can post to whatever whenever you want, which is why the public has become increasingly skeptical when reading or watching the news.
These joke posts do not help the matter. They are just making it tougher for real journalists to retain the public's trust.
If I could, I'd ask you to check the sources of anything you read and if it is fake, please don't post it across your social media. You are just feeding the general public's skepticism.
Adding to the problem are careless readers. They skim their Facebook wall, read a joke headline and assume it is true. Then when they find out they have been duped, they blame the “media” for being untrustworthy.
And on the flip side, there are great journalists out there who actually take pride in providing you with true, unbiased information. Try separating these journalists from the millions of bloggers, tabloid writers, citizen journalists and the other pseudo-information providers when you generally bash “the media”.
Our job is not to fool you, it is to inform you with the information we have gathered. We are just doing our jobs, but with the amount of false stories floating around it's been made a little tougher.
