PolitiFact's guide to fake news websites and what they peddle

[HAB911]

At first look, BostonTribune.com certainly seems a trustworthy source. So does KMT11.com. And ABCNews.com.co. Even 24wpn.com has an official ring to it.

But all of these websites peddle bogus stories, either by making up fake news or sharing it from other sources. And it's not always apparent to readers that's the case.

Since December, we at PolitiFact have been partnering with Facebook to root out fabricated reports shared by social media users. As of April 19, we've written more than 80 fact-checks about fake news stories. We've noted some trends along the way, chief among them that it can be really difficult for readers — from casual skimmers to seasoned newshounds — to spot fake news outlets when they pop up.

It's also difficult to determine where these fictional stories come from, and just how they spread across the Internet.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/perspective/politifacts-guide-to-fake-news-websites-and-what-they-peddle/2320923

[HAB911]

1. 156 site list

https://infogr.am/politifacts_fake_news_almanac

[pintobean]

3. DU is on that list.

[HAB911]

4. holy shit

What do we do? That needs to be corrected.

[SCantiGOP]

7. Read half the posts on this site

People here tend to repeat anything that fits their narrative, with no up front fact-checking.

[HAB911]

5. submitted to Ask the admins board for review

[pintobean]

34. It appears Politifacts has removed DU from the list.

Skinner's email must have done the trick. Good job.

[HAB911]

35. YAY!

I was floored when I saw that on the list, but alls well that ends well

[retrowire]

6. At first I was like

Okay well I have seen some fake stuff make it through here sometimes.

But then I noticed conservativecave isn't on the list.

Sooooooo wtf

[pintobean]

11. That's because they're nobodies.

Most threads here get more views than that site.

[retrowire]

13. oh really?

I was under the impression that they were practically our counterpart since they seem to browse us and talk as much shit as they do.

[m-lekktor]

16. I suspect they don't get enough traffic to be worth mentioning. nt

[cannabis_flower]

12. I sent this email to them

You have DemocraticUnderground.com listed as a fake news site on https://infogr.am/politifacts_fake_news_almanac. .

It is not a fake news site. It is a message board for Democrats. While it is possible that some members might occasionally inadvertently post a fake news story from another website, it is not a fake news site any more than Facebook or Free Republic are fake news sites. Most of the time when people do post fake news other members debunk them in the comments.

Please remove DemocraticUnderground.com from the list and please be more careful about deciding to label a site as fake news because when you misidentifiy a site as fake news, it calls into question the validity of your site.

[retrowire]

14. Excellently worded. Hope they consider it. Thanks for this! nt

[cannabis_flower]

15. I also posted it to their Politifact's Facebook site

I sent the email to both infogr.am and politifact.com , since it is posted at infogr.am but appears to be the work of Politifact

[HAB911]

21. Excellent! thank you!

[Honeycombe8]

17. DU is not a news org. It IS a partisan site, obviously ("Democratic" Underground).

Don't know if it's a fake news site, although I've seen stories here that the poster didn't realize weren't true.

I get news from news organizations. CNN, Reuters, NBC, NYT, WaPo, etc.

[pnwmom]

37. Weird, since DU isn't a news site. It's a discussion board. n/t

[duncang]

2. I see a lot of them are out of scottsdale az. godaddy hosts them

Wonder who actually is running them?


BTW the two companies dipshit uses is Cambridge Analytica. (Former board member bannon and help push brexit in England)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_Analytica


And Giles-Parscale. Cambridge Analytica sent over some people to Giles-Parscale to help on the campaign.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brad_Parscale

[Stellar]

8. What?! No FOX 'news'?

What's wrongs with this story?

[WinkyDink]

22. 'Tain't funny, McGee. This "rooting out," is, IMO, Fascistic at its core.

[Stellar]

24. Who is McGee?

FOX 'news' should definitely be on it.

[WinkyDink]

36. It's a very old Pop cultural reference.

[Thor_MN]

9. Link to the actual list, rather than a story about the list

https://infogr.am/politifacts_fake_news_almanac

[TomVilmer]

18. Thanx for direct link...

... the layout of that list embedded on another company's page is deeply untrustworthy

[Duppers]

28. "DemocraticUnderground.com"!

What? LOL.

[Thor_MN]

29. WTF? I didn't see that on there until you pointed it out.

[Duppers]

32. Really, WTF? How can they ding a forum linking to real articles?

Last edited Mon Apr 24, 2017, 12:28 AM - Edit history (1)

Why not ding other forums? This is nuts.

Can we contact the authors?

[ProfessorPlum]

10. important, if exhausting, work

thanks to politifact for taking this on.

[left-of-center2012]

19. From the linked article ...

I liked this one:

"Sarah Palin Calls To Boycott Mall Of America Because 'Santa Was Always White In The Bible.' "
This story referred to a factual development: Minnesota's Mall of America hiring its first black Santa Claus.

[WinkyDink]

20. Is the NYT on the list? What about the US Govt? And who scrutinizes the gate-keepers?

[RDANGELO]

23. There needs to be some kind of law,

where you can't portray yourself as an information disseminater and knowingly put out fake news.

[Jim Lane]

33. That would be wide open to abuse.

According to some people (including some with enforcement authority), it's fake news to say that single-payer health care would reduce total administrative costs and provide better care for less money.

We have the First Amendment, for better or worse.

[BumRushDaShow]

25. Notice that Free Republic, Breitbart, Blaze, Drudge, Daily Caller

or hardly ANY RW bullshit and CT sites are on the list.

But DU is.

Surprise surprise.

[killbotfactory]

26. Read past the headline

If it's full of inflammatory accusations and isn't sourced, consider it bullshit.

Propaganda wasn't invented during this election cycle.

[HAB911]

27. Are you saying PolitiFact is bullshit?

[killbotfactory]

30. Not at all

Bullshit propaganda is not a new phenomenon, and it's strange to me that people are shocked that organized groups will lie to push an agenda.

[HAB911]

31. Gotcha!