(DRAMATIC ORCHESTRAL MUSIC)
Hey, gang. Oh...
You'll never guess what I heard in the news today.
Oh! What did you hear? Well, apparently...
NARRATOR: Like many young people of today,
Billy likes to impress his friends with his knowledge of world affairs.
Oh, I'm so impressed by your knowledge of world affairs!
But young Billy is about to make a big mistake.
You see, this morning, as always,
Billy cast an eye over his social media feed,
looking for the niftiest news.
Golly! This story is outta sight!
Look out, Billy.
That interesting story might just be a fake.
(BOOM-TISH!) (LAUGHTER)
Look at this. (ALL LAUGH)
What is...?
People create fake news for all sorts of reasons.
Sometimes, it's to make you laugh.
Other times, it's to influence your opinion
or to make money by attracting your click.
Or sometimes, they're just jerks.
Hmm!
But repeating that fake news can make you look pretty silly.
Did you guys know that aliens from outer space built the pyramids?
Really?! Isn't that neat?
Yeah!
Your friends could spread that fake news even further.
Hey, guys.
Did you hear that the pyramids were actually built by aliens?
What?
You might have noticed fake news is having a bit of a moment.
(CLICKS FINGERS)
TRUMP: And CNN and MSNBC are fake news!
Fake news!
There's been a lot of talk about how made-up news stories
can end up influencing the real world
and many agree that's a real problem.
But did you know it's not a new one?
(CLICKS FINGERS)
(MIDDLE-EASTERN MUSIC)
What does it say?
That aliens built the pyramids.
For about as long as people have been communicating...
Well, there you go.
..we've been using our tools of communication
to tell great, big whoppers.
We can see evidence dating back thousands of years
of leaders, artists and historians
bending the truth to make themselves or their bosses look good,
or to tell a better story.
Extra! Extra! Read all about it!
Get your news here!
Eventually, the printing press came along,
making it much easier to spread phoney information.
Creatures found on the moon!
Paper, sir?
You see, many newspaper owners realised they could sell more copies
if the news was exciting,
even if it wasn't exactly true.
Oh, penny, sir.
One famous example of this was the great moon hoax of 1835.
The New York Sun published a whole series of articles
about creatures that had been found on the moon.
Of course, it wasn't real, but it did drive up circulation.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
Then there was propaganda.
During the First and Second World Wars,
governments on both sides would exaggerate
or downright make things up
to make their enemies look bad.
(ARTILLERY FIRE)
(SNIPPETS OF RADIO BROADCASTS PLAY)
MAN: (ON RADIO) Orson Welles.
ORSON WELLES: We know now that in the early years...
Of course, not all fake news was made to fool people.
WELLES: ..this world was being watched closely by intelligences
greater than man.
Some was made to entertain -
like, in 1938, there was a very famous radio broadcast...
Shh-shh!
Orson Welles read an adaptation of the novel War of the Worlds
live on air,
presented as a fictional news bulletin.
Afterwards, there were reports it had caused mass panic,
with many listeners thinking aliens really were attacking.
Aliens are attacking!
WELLES: ..about their little affairs,
serene in the assurance...
But even that fact was later found to be fake news.
Most people knew it was just a story...
..besides, a group of people in a small US town
who attacked a water tower because they thought it was an alien.
Still, it's thought the panic story
was grossly exaggerated by newspapers
to discredit their new competitor - radio.
And welcome to television.
REPORTER: President Kennedy has been shot!
As the 20th century went on and TV joined the mix...
NEIL ARMSTRONG: One small step for man.
..journalism ethics evolved...
Nothing will save the Governor-General.
Many governments created organisations
to promote standards in journalism.
MAN: The vehicle has exploded. And many media organisations
built their reputations on telling the truth.
Your struggle.
(FANFARE PLAYS)
That doesn't mean fake news went away,
but it was often easier to spot.
For instance, if you wanted to read stories
about UFOs and Bigfoot,
then you'd probably find them in a tabloid, like this.
But if you wanted more accurate news,
well, then you could try a more reputable broadsheet.
Oh, my goodness! Hmm?
There's a sale on at Grace Bros.
But then came the internet,
and things got a little more complicated.
(MODEM SCREECHES)
(MYSTERIOUS MUSIC)
All of a sudden, anyone could be a publisher.
And with so much information out there,
it could be hard to know what to believe.
I don't know who to believe anymore!
The internet, with its blogs, message boards and chatrooms,
created the golden age of conspiracy theories,
as people seriously speculated about celebrity lizard people,
the Illuminati and who really killed JFK.
MAN: Next, please.
Social media has kind of made things worse
by letting us share stories without making it clear where they came from
or if the source is reliable.
Plus, we're more likely to see stories we already agree with,
and we're more likely to believe them
when they're shared by our trusted friends.
Wow!
That's a really serious problem...
Next, please.
..especially when it comes to political stories
which can influence the way people vote.
('THE BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC' PLAYS)
There's been a fair bit of speculation
about whether or not fake news
could have affected the outcome of the 2016 US election.
There were heaps of fake news stories
doing the rounds during the campaign.
In fact, near the end,
it's thought fake news was being shared
even more than real news.
So, what about the future?
Well, there's a real worry new technology
will make the problem of fake news even worse.
Imagine watching an interview or a speech
and not knowing if you're seeing a real person
or a super-accurate animation.
Yep, this technology is already being developed,
which gives us even more reason
to stay aware of fake news in all its sneaky disguises.
(CLICKS FINGERS)
Gee willikers!
This fake news stuff is completely bogus.
NARRATOR: Don't worry, Billy.
Here are some handy hints to help you spot fake news.
Ask yourself, "Does the story seem a bit suspicious?
"Is it too good, too bad or too crazy to be true?"
Then maybe it is.
Don't just read the headline.
They're often designed to suck you in
and sometimes, they can be misleading.
So, read on.
Dig a bit deeper.
Find out where the story came from.
Who's the author? Who were the sources?
What website does it come from?
Does it look professional and unbiased?
Ask yourself who might benefit from the story
or who might end up looking bad.
Is it actually news?
Think about why the story was written.
Could it be satirical, an opinion piece or an ad in disguise?
And if you're still not sure, try doing that thing
you young people like to do these days.
What, google it?
Yes. Use your preferred internet search engine
to see if you can find some more legitimate information.
There are even some sites out there
that specialise in debunking fake news.
So, kids, armed with these useful tips,
hopefully you'll be able to tell the real deal from the nasty fakes
next time.
What a dill I was!
Yes, you were, Billy.
Oh, my name's actually Sam.
Oh, Billy!
Captions by Red Bee Media
Copyright Australian Broadcasting Corporation