New Mobile App Helps to Detect Fake News

At Indiana University a grad student may have just an app that everybody potentially needs on their phone. Graduate engineering student, Mihai Avram, developed an app called Fakey, that detects fake news for any article online. Indiana University stated,  “the news literacy game places users in a simulated social media environment where they can share, "like" or fact-check articles. Users are given feedback for their actions and earn points if they share stories from legitimate new sources, or if they fact-check articles from false or misleading reports or other types of misinformation.” Avram decided to started thinking about this app two years ago and he is excited for the world to use it. The app is now available on Android and iOS. [1 image, 1 link, 1 quote, 123 words]

E. Coli. in Romaine Lettuce

This past year there was five deaths and over 210 sicknesses due to an E. Coli breakout. This year the FDA has been working very hard to find the cause of this E. Coli breakout. Recently, this week, the FDA has released that the possible reason for this outbreak was due to dirty canal water that was used to grow romaine lettuce. NBC News wrote that the outbreak was “traced to romaine lettuce grown around Yuma, Arizona. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration cautioned people to avoid romaine lettuce unless they could be sure that it wasn’t grown in the Yuma area.” Thankfully they have found the exact location were the dirty canal water was located to stop E. Coli from growing and infesting other foods. [1 image, 1 link, 1 quote, 133 words]

Mexico’s Fake News Crisis

]
As Mexico is preparing for their election for a new president Sunday, June 29th, fake news has been everywhere regarding the elections. Many Facebook pages have been made recently talking about scandals and many other things regarding the running opponents. According to US News and Report, “Zocalo Virtual, which has spread false claims about a disgraced ex-governor and billionaire Carlos Slim, had more than 1.86 million followers”. The worst part is not only is this happening on Facebook, other social media platforms like Twitter and Whatsapp, have many fake threads and accounts sending personal messages to users about fake news. Officials have been trying very hard to distract people by sending messages talking about these fake stories. But the only hope for these candidates as they run tomorrow is that the truth overshadows all the lies. [1 image, 1 link, 1 quote, 137 words]

Apple is Fixing Their Maps

Earlier this week Apple announced that they will be officially fixing their maps application on Apple products. For many people this is the best news they have heard. For a few years now Apple Maps has become more unreliable and many people have began to start moving over the Google Maps. In the Engadget Article they talked about many of the new features that will be a part of the new app. Also they talked about how Apple will be producing their app by “using their own data and set rather than the current piecemeal approach. The goal is that the new maps will be a part of the iOS 12 update by next week. [1 image, 1 link, 1 quote, 115 words]

Fake News in Nigeria

In Nigeria recently fake news has been fueling several problems, much more than the government can handle. In a BBC Article many examples of  the fake news stories being told were explained. They also continued to explain why Nigeria's government has been struggling with fake news which has been rising tensions in the herders crisis they have currently. In one fake news stories told apparently a “major major Nigerian news outlets ran a story claiming that Danladi Circoma, a leader of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, said the attacks in Plateau were revenge for the loss of 300 cows”. Also several other stories about people being attacked by cattle has caused anxiety and fear within Nigeria. Although the government has tried to denounce as many fake news stories as possible it is hard to reach their population over twenty six million people. The government hopes that soon all this fake news can come to an end and the population of Nigeria can have peace within their community. [1 image, 1 link, 1 quote, 168 words]

Fake news or bad reporting?

According to a Pew Research Center survey, it is reported that, "23%  of participants say they have shared a made-up news story – either knowingly or not". This December, 2016, analysis, has left many posing with a following question as to why this is so. The study also finds that, although there has been a considerable increase in fake news and its travel path throughout the internet, most individuals can discern the difference. The article does well in communicating the difference between fake news and just plain bad reporting skills. In the end, information has become interesting and the numbers generated in this study further confirm this notion.

[107 words, 1 link, 1 quote]

Rise of ‘fake news’ producing more journalism majors

Tom Williamson goes into detail exploring the rise in interest in journalism majors . According to a New York Post article, this has taken place as a result of a rise in fake news which has generated a large following. The article points out that "Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism saw a 10 percent increase for the 2017-2018 school year for journalism based studies". This is such a large number. Among the reasons contributing to this interest as pointed out in the article is that, “There’s also a level of excitement and thrill that has been inspiring.” Fake news has contributed in large part in the generation of this increased interest.

[112 words, 1 link, 2 quotes]