Let's think about fake news

What is news?

News is an account of what has happened (eg. Christchurch has been struck by an earthquake), been done (eg. The result of a British referendum was "leave the European Union), or been said (eg. Trump said he will build a southern wall as president).

In contrast, analysis and commentary is not news. These are opinions held by various persons. More generally, these are speculations -- because only the principal actors (such as politicians) know the true motives behind their actions and words. (By the way, only persons can hold opinions; organisations cannot.)

What is fake? Fake is the opposite of true.

So: True news is an account of what has in fact happened, been done, or been said. And fake news is an account of what has not in fact happened, been done, or been said.

But this is not enough. It is also important to avoid selective truth and embellished truth. Selective truth is when one reports something true, but omits other relevant truths. Embellished truth is when one reports something true, and adds some falsehoods. True news is captured by the old court requirement of the witness: To tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

In this regard, there are two mainstream organisations that we need to watch out for: Advertisers and Public Relation agents. These people exist precisely to disseminate information just to serve the client's or organisation's agenda -- and the information may (but not always) be either selected or embellished. When these happen, we have fake news.

Fortunately, advertisements and public relation missives are usually flagged as such to their audience. This alerts the audience to be more discerning of the information provided.

The danger of fake news arises when no flag is provided. The audience is not warned.

Asking a third party to curate the alleged news is not a solution. It merely pushes the question back one step: Can the third party to be trusted to disseminate only true news? How can one be sure of this? Reputation is no real help -- because reputation is earned only by performance, which makes the matter rather circular.

The solution lies in teaching the audience to be more discerning and critical. Access news from different sources to seek consistency -- it is difficult for several sources to tell the same falsehoods, or make the same selections or embellishments. Ask if the given information conflicts with common sense (eg. causes occur before effects) and generally known facts (eg. the earth orbits the sun).

These strategies should take us a long way towards protecting ourselves from fake news.