False, Misleading, Clickbait-y, and/or Satirical “News” Sources LINK Disclaimer 1: All of the contents in this document reflect the opinion of the author and are for educational purposes only. This resource was split into categories around 8:00pm EST on 11/15/16.
CATEGORY 1: Below is a list of fake, false, or regularly misleading websites that are shared on Facebook and social media. Some of these websites may rely on “outrage” by using distorted headlines and decontextualized or dubious information in order to generate likes, shares, and profits. These websites are categorized with the number 1 next to them.
CATEGORY 2: Some websites on this list may circulate misleading and/or potentially unreliable information, and they are marked with a 2.
CATEGORY 3: Other websites on this list sometimes use clickbait-y headlines and social media descriptions, and they are marked with a 3.
CATEGORY 4: Other sources on this list are purposefully fake with the intent of satire/comedy, which can offer important critical commentary on politics and society, but have the potential to be shared as actual/literal news. I’m including them here, for now, because 1.) they have the potential to perpetuate misinformation based on different audience (mis)interpretations and 2.) to make sure anyone who reads a story by The Onion, for example, understands its purpose. If you think this is unnecessary, please see Literally Unbelievable.
Note: I will be updating the categorizations and adding links gradually through the next couple of days. Many of the websites on this list continue to offer valuable journalism and/or satirical commentary. For example, a website included on this list wrote an overall thoughtful piece about the list, but the headline suggests that every source on this list is fake, which misrepresents the list. Finally, I do not condone plug-ins that automatically block any of the websites listed below. And as a reminder, not all of the sources listed below should be considered fake.
100PercentFedUp.com (2,3) EnduringVision.com (1) PakAlertPress.com 21stCenturyWire.com (2, 3) FPRNradio.com PoliticalBlindSpot.com 70news.wordpress.com (1) The Free Thought Project (3) PoliticalEars.com Abcnews.com.co (1) GeoEngineeringWatch.org Politicalo (1) ActivistPost.com (2, 3) *Website Removed* (temporarily) PoliticusUSA Addicting Info (3) GovtSlaves.info PrisonPlanet.com AmericanNews.com (1) GulagBound.com PrisonPlanet.tv AnonNews.co (3) HangTheBankers.com Private-eye.co.uk (includes 4) Associated Media Coverage HumansAreFree.com ProjectVeritas BeforeItsNews.com Huzlers (4) *Website Removed* (temporarily) Being Liberal IfYouOnlyNews React 365 BigAmericanNews.com Indecision Forever (1) RealFarmacy.com BigPZone.com IJR (Independent Journal Review) RealNewsRightNow.com (1, 4) Bipartisan Report (3) InfoWars (1, 2) RedFlagNews.com BizPac Review Infowars.com Red State (3) Blue Nation Review (2,3) IntelliHub.com Reductress (4) Breitbart (2, 3) Inquisitr.com RileNews.com (1, 4) Call the Cops (4) JonesReport.com Satira Tribune Cap News (4) LewRockwell.com Sprotspickle.com (4) ChristWire.org (4) Liberal America The Blaze Chronicle.su LibertyTalk.fm The Free Thought Project (3) CivicTribune.com (1) LibertyUnyielding Borowitz Report (4) ClickHole.com (4) LibertyVideos.org The Onion (4) CoastToCoastAM.com (2) LMR/LibertyMovementRadio.com The Other 98% (3) CollectiveEvolution (3) MediaMass.net (1) The Reporterz ConsciousLifeNews.com (2) MegynKelly.us (1) The Stately Harold ConservativeOutfitters.com (2) MSNBC.com.co (1) TheDailySheeple.com ConspiracyWire (WideAwakeAmerica.com) (2) MSNBC.website (1) TheNewsNerd.com CountdownToZeroTime.com (2) Naha Daily (4) TheRunDownLive.com CounterPsyOps.com National Report TheUsPatriot.com *Website Removed* (temporarily) NationalReport.net (1) TruthFrequencyRadio.com CreamBMP.com (1) NaturalNews.com Twitchy.com (3) DailyBuzzLive.com NC Scooper UnconfirmedSources.com DailyCurrant.com NCT (New Century Times) *Website Removed* (temporarily) *Website Removed* (temporarily) News Examiner USA Supreme Daily Wire News-Hound.com (1) US.Blasting.News DCClothesLine.com NewsBiscuit.com (1) US Uncut (3) DCGazette.com (1) Newslo (1, 4) VeteransToday.com DerfMagazine.com NewsMutiny.com (1, 4) *Website Removed* (temporarily) Disclose.tv Newswatch 28 WakingUpWisconsin.com DrudgeReport.com.co (1) Newswatch 33 Winning Democrats DuffleBlog.com (4) NewsWire-24.com WitScience.org DuhProgressive.com NoDisInfo.com World Net Daily Embols.com Now8News World News Daily Report (4) Empire Herald NowTheEndBegins.com WorldTruth.tv Empire News (1) Occupy Democrats (3) ZeroHedge EmpireNews.com
Endingthefed.com
Tips for analyzing news sources:
Avoid websites that end in “lo” ex: Newslo (above). These sites take pieces of accurate information and then packaging that information with other false or misleading “facts” (sometimes for the purposes of satire or comedy). Watch out for websites that end in “.com.co” as they are often fake versions of real news sources Watch out if known/reputable news sites are not also reporting on the story. Sometimes lack of coverage is the result of corporate media bias and other factors, but there should typically be more than one source reporting on a topic or event. Odd domain names generally equal odd and rarely truthful news. Lack of author attribution may, but not always, signify that the news story is suspect and requires verification. Some news organizations are also letting bloggers post under the banner of particular news brands; however, many of these posts do not go through the same editing process (ex: BuzzFeed Community Posts, Kinja blogs, Forbes blogs). Check the “About Us” tab on websites or look up the website on Snopes or Wikipedia for more information about the source. Bad web design and use of ALL CAPS can also be a sign that the source you’re looking at should be verified and/or read in conjunction with other sources. If the story makes you REALLY ANGRY it’s probably a good idea to keep reading about the topic via other sources to make sure the story you read wasn’t purposefully trying to make you angry (with potentially misleading or false information) in order to generate shares and ad revenue. If the website you’re reading encourages you to DOX individuals, it’s unlikely to be a legitimate source of news. It’s always best to read multiple sources of information to get a variety of viewpoints and media frames. Some sources not yet included in this list (although their practices at times may qualify them for addition), such as The Daily Kos, The Huffington Post, and Fox News, vacillate between providing important, legitimate, problematic, and/or hyperbolic news coverage, requiring readers and viewers to verify and contextualize information with other sources.
Bio: I am an assistant professor of communication & media, and this list started as a resource for my students, who are learning about journalism/social media/media literacy.
Update 1: I’ve received hundreds of emails with suggestions, very few of which are duplicates, so it will take me a while to sift through and verify them. I will add them as appropriate. (EDIT 11/15/2016 @ 3:42 EST: I have a list of sources, suggested by all of you, that will take me a long time to get through)
Update 2: Yes, I am considering further coding/categorizing these sources for clarity and creating a more durable/dynamic database. This is likely just step 1.
Update 3: Some people are asking which news sources I trust, and all I can say is that I read/watch/listen very widely, from mainstream, corporate owned sources (The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes) as well as The Atlantic, National Public Radio, and various local and alternative sources with different political perspectives, some of which are included on this list. The problem: Even typically reliable sources, whether mainstream or alternative, corporate or nonprofit, rely on particular media frames to report stories and select stories based on different notions of newsworthiness. The best thing to do in our contemporary media environment is to read/watch/listen widely and often, and to be critical of the sources we share and engage with on social media.
Update 4: A group of AWESOME librarians will be working with this list to provide more detail, examples of the news articles in question, etc. I will post what they make here when it is complete.
Update 5: It should be noted I’m not the first person to call out some of these websites. When I first started compiling this specific large list on Monday, some friends alerted me to many websites doing
Take risks - if you win you will become wealthy, if you lose you will become wise
We have a confession to make, everything we've said over the past ~7 years has been fake. Well, not really, but that's what the ultra-liberal, Assistant Professor of Communications at Merrimack College, Melissa "Mish" Zimdars, would like for you to believe
Quote:
But, no matter the reason, below is the full list of information resources that Zimdars, the ultimate arbiter of credibility, has deemed "fake." Notice that while the list includes numerous conservative news sources like Breitbart, Infowars, Twitchy, The Blaze and Bizpac Review, it excludes the beacon of impartiality known as The Huffington Post.
ZeroHedge has little relevance to the suburbs. No need to fear.
Zero hedge is total disinfo and if you cannot see that then more fool you.
They use ridiculous childish propaganda techniques to fire up the discontented and keep them doing stuff all.
I cannot believe that you still have anything to do with them. What has their silly nonsense cost you and thousands of others already?
You have been priced out to outer woop woop in Sydney and you totally missed the best buying opportunity is decades. Why? because zero hedge told you the world was going to collapse and you would be able to buy good Sydney houses for peanuts. How on earth could you have swallowed this codswallop.
Definition of a doom and gloomer from 1993 The last camp is made up of the doom-and-gloomers. Their slogan is "it's the end of the world as we know it". Right now they are convinced that debt is the evil responsible for all our economic woes and must be eliminated at all cost. Many doom-and-gloomers believe that unprecedented debt levels mean that we are on the precipice of a worse crisis than the Great Depression. The doom-and-gloomers hang on the latest series of negative economic data.
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