Remember when actor Jeff Goldblum died? It had to be true because I saw it on the internet. Problem was – it was a hoax.
Stories like this can spread like wildfire with the help of social media such as Twitter. Goldblum himself had to go on Comedy Central and read his own obituary to let people know it wasn’t true. However, this isn’t always the case. Stories like Michael Jackson’s death broke online. It took mainstream media an hour or so after TMZ broke the story to finally get it confirmed.
In a panel called “RIP Jeff Goldblum,” Megan McCarthy from Techmeme talked about how to tell fact from fiction. She presented three keys to do this.
1. Know your source – The Goldblum story was on an obvious hoax web site. If someone had googled Global Associated News, they could have learned it was a hoax immediately.
2. Know the information – Know what is being passed along. For example, a tech executive sent a tweet to friends that a former Myspace executive was joining his company. He attached a link that Rick Rolled people, but the people who spread it never clicked on that link. They simply retweeted it as fact.
3. Know the big picture – See if a story passes the smell test. What is the big picture? Does someone have an agenda? This can make you understand if something is really news.
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This brings to mind a little truth capsulized by Mark Twain: The history of our race, and each individual’s experience, are sown thick with evidence that a truth is not hard to kill and that a lie told well is immortal.
The history of our race is that we love a good story. And the Internet does indeed allow us great opportunities to find good stories. But in this new media environment, it is our responsibility to take a moment to check our sources. As much as we are getting citizen media reports, we have to take on the role of journalists and be diligent about sorting through our information and verifying facts. Let me say this again, for all my friends who have ignored my advice in the past: don’t forward something you haven’t checked out or know yourself to be true.
Maureen Schein
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Maureen, thanks for writing in. I agree with you. I worked in TV news for ten years and, believe me, there is intense pressure to be “first.” First on air, first on web, first wherever. I would often ask, “So is the story confirmed?” Unfortunately, sometimes the answer was it doesn’t matter. Just get on air and tell people what you know.
I am working on uploading a video of an interview I shot with Ms. McCarthy after the panel (youtube is taking forever tonight!). I asked her whether there needs to be a new code of ethics for old media concerning using new media as a source. Hopefully I will get that video up soon 🙂
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This reminds me of an assignment I did in my Web Design class about Web credibility. We had to find a Web site and decide whether it was credible or not. We read the content, made sure links worked properly and, most importantly, we had to figure WHO wrote the article.
People today love a good, juicy story–especially when it involves something or someone who is well-known and in the spotlight. We will believe almost anything we see or read online without even checking the facts first. Anyone can write about anything online which is making it more and more difficult to know whether its true or just rumor. We just have to make sure, and remember, to check the facts first!
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When I read the title? A)I was freaking out because I was like, “When did this happen?” B)Why wasn’t this all over the news? and then C)Wait a sec, he’s in the new movie “Switch” with Jennifer Aniston coming out soon. Of course, I had to read the article because it caught my attention and it just reminded me of the hundreds of celebrity gossip stories that I’ve heard just like that. Oh, I remember when it was a rumor that Taylor Lautner died (aka Twilight hottie, Jacob Black) and girls literally across the world were freaking out. And why shouldn’t they? When we see it on the internet from several different sources we just immediately think they are true.
But, truth be told, how reliable are those sources? I’m like a celebrity gossip guru and I’m suckered into being more interested in other people’s lives more than my own, as well as political stuff. Anyways, if I had a dollar for every rag that printed that “Brangelina Are Breaking Up/Fighting/in a Love Triangle with Jennifer” then I could make a nice living. You just have to be familiar with the material you read and I can solely say I only trust PEOPLE for any celeb gossip because I’m pretty sure 99.9% of the time they get their stuff right.
So, it really depends on the reader. Or, if you yourself is the writer you have an obligation to print the facts. That way you’ll get readers that will keep coming back for more. –Kinzey Patton