Fake News

The latest reports from the Pew Research Center on Digital Media.

Fake News  Sources that entirely fabricate information, disseminate deceptive content, or grossly distort actual news reports

Satire  Sources that use humor, irony, exaggeration, ridicule, and false information to comment on current events.

Extreme Bias  Sources that come from a particular point of view and may rely on propaganda, decontextualized information, and opinions distorted as facts.

Conspiracy Theory  Sources that are well-known promoters of kooky conspiracy theories.

Rumor Mill  Sources that traffic in rumors, gossip, innuendo, and unverified claims.

State News  Sources in repressive states operating under government sanction.

Junk Science  Sources that promote pseudoscience, metaphysics, naturalistic fallacies, and other scientifically dubious claims.

Hate News  Sources that actively promote racism, misogyny, homophobia, and other forms of discrimination.

Clickbait  Sources that provide generally credible content, but use exaggerated, misleading, or questionable headlines, social media descriptions, and/or images.

Proceed With Caution  Sources that may be reliable but whose contents require further verification.

Political  Sources that provide generally verifiable information in support of certain points of view or political orientations.

Credible  Sources that circulate news and information in a manner consistent with traditional and ethical practices in journalism (Remember: even credible sources sometimes rely on clickbait-style headlines or occasionally make mistakes. No news organization is perfect, which is why a healthy news diet consists of multiple sources of information).

Definitions from OpenSources, a project spearheaded by Melissa Zimbars of Merrimack College.