Sessions 21 & 22 Math: Statistics & Probability: Graphs
Many phony stories are obviously untrue, but some contain partial truths or distortions of fact that make the falsehoods harder to spot. Because the internet provides anonymity, anyone with a computer can launch a news site and pass it off as legitimate. That includes a person trying to help or harm a political candidate, an amateur blogger, or someone trying to make money from paid ads on his or her fake news site. MISLEADING MATH More than 90 percent of fake news articles contain a graph or some kind of mathematical data. That statistic sounds alarming, but the more alarming thing is that Charles Seife, a professor of journalism at New York University, made it up. “We think of
S ome people called 2016 the year of fake news. False articles with gripping headlines about everything from the demise of Taco Bell to Hillary Clinton’s selling weapons to ISIS took social media by storm. Millions of people clicked, read, and shared these stories that had no basis in fact. But it’s not just the articles that can be false. Many fake news sites use bad data or misleading graphs. Even mainstream media outlets are guilty of creating graphs that exaggerate or understate results. Bad graphs and inaccurate data can cause readers to draw the wrong conclusions.
These invented stories supported by bad data are part of a new trend. Fake news websites—many with official-sounding names and professional-looking designs—are multiplying. Experts warn that fake news sites are weakening the public’s ability to distinguish between fact and fiction. HARD TO SPOT Part of the problem is that fake news can be difficult to identify. A study from Stanford University in California found that more than 80 percent of middle school students couldn’t distinguish between real news stories and “sponsored content” ads that look like news.
60 Sessions 21 & 22
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