Here is a very good example of how fake news is written, published and spread by main stream media in the Philippines. One technique used by fake news sites is to write a headline that evokes a strong emotion and no emotion is stronger than anger. The most effective headline is one that evokes anger channelled towards the fake news sites agenda.
In this example the headline reads “Duterte foreign trips cost government P501M”. For a government that is raising Value Added Tax and struggled to fund free public education, a headline like this evokes anger. How could the President spend so much money on travels? Not only does it evoke anger but that anger is channelled towards Inquirer’s agenda – to bring Duterte down. Why? Well Duterte is going after its owners for owing the government money from the Mile Long Property.
Why do I say it is fake news? Because the real story is the amount of money Duterte brought back to the Philippines as a result of his foreign trips. Duterte has brought back over P2 Trillion in investment pledges, loans and contracts for private businesses. That is the real story – how productive the President is and how well he is able to promote the image of the Philippine internationally and that as a result of that other countries are investing in our economy.
Instead of writing a headline saying “Duterte foreign trips bings back P2 trillion to economy” they chose one that evokes anger at Duterte. The positive headline also evokes a strong emotion of joy, hope or pride but that emotion cannot be channelled towards Inquirer’s agenda – which is to destroy Duterte. This is how you spot fake news. When you read a headline that angers you – read further and you will know the truth.
This is a very common tactic of the main stream media. It is misleading and it drives traffic to their site to generate ad revenue. They say there is nothing wrong with it because the story is accurate. Well and good but why is it then that when a blogger writes something with a damning headline against them, they cry foul and brand the blogger as fake news? The main stream media cannot hide behind their polished offices and fancy titles because with social media, everyone is in a level playing field. Everyone is measured equally – nobody has prior authority simply based on their masthead.
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