https://singjupost.

com/how-fake-news-grows-in-a-post-fact-world-ali-velshi-transcript/3/ 
https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/articles/breaking-news-consumers-handbook-pdf 
https://www.thedrum.com/creative-works/project/wax-society-professional-journalists-fake-ne
ws-trademark 
https://www.cits.ucsb.edu/fake-news/danger-social 
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/solving-the-problem-of-fake-news
https://buzzap.jp/news/20200129-tokyo2020-ioc-who-2019ncov/ 
 
1. Introduction 
a. Fake news is detrimental to society because it blurs society’s ability to perceive 
truth and solve problems. By discrediting real journalism, appealing to desire 
rather than logic, and encouraging conflict and hindering problem-solving 
processes, fake news tears down society’s perception of facts and acts as a 
detriment to society.  
2. Body paragraph 1 
a. Fake news is detrimental to society because it discredits real journalism, blurring 
facts for many people in society. 
b. “The real problem is that there is fake news and it’s spread by a wolf in journalist’s 
clothing. And this wolf would have you believe that the real news is actually fake, 
and that’s the real problem that we’re facing today” (Ali Velshi, ​How Fake News 
Grows In A Post-fact World​) 
i. Fake news bad and when portrayed as real news devalues credibility of real 
news 
c. “President Trump uses the term ‘fake news’ whenever he doesn’t like something 
the press says about him in order to discredit the stories” (Society of Professional 
Journalists) 
i. Term fake news used to devalue stories by real journalists 
d. Fake news damages the reputation and credibility of real news and journalists, 
preventing society from gathering legitimate facts by discrediting them as fake 
news. 
3. Body paragraph 2 
a. In addition to discrediting real news, fake news is also detrimental because it blurs 
society’s ability to differentiate between fact and falsehood, by heavily appealing 
to emotion rather than logic. 
b. “It shouldn’t be surprising that a lot of people, both creators and consumers of 
journalism, prefer fake news to real news.” (Nicholas Lemann, ​Solving the Problem 
of Fake News​ 1) 
i. People prefer fake news to real news because it is what they want to hear, 
and society is more inclined to believe lies they agree with, as opposed to 
truths that they disagree with. 
c. “But of the rumor that Hillary Clinton was running a child sex slave ring out of the 
basement of this suburban DC pizza parlor, 50% of his supporters believed that it 
 could have been true, including one who went there armed and fired three bullets.” 
(Ali Velshi, ​How Fake News Grows In A Post-fact World​) 
i. Confirmation bias influences people’s perception of events and creates 
situations where people believe what they want to believe. When paired 
with deliberate misinformation, people can be fooled by the appeal of fake 
news, resulting in a collective inability to perceive the truth by society. 
d. To summarize, fake news appeals heavily to emotion and often results in society 
being unable to determine fact from falsehood. 
4. Body paragraph 3 
a. Not only does fake news blur society’s ability to perceive the truth by heavily 
appealing to emotion rather than logic, fake news plays a large role in both 
encouraging conflicts and hindering problem-solving processes by spreading 
misinformation and lies to people in society. 
b. “ intensify social conflict to undermine people’s faith in the democratic process and 
people’s ability to work together” (CITS) 
i. Uses false facts to hinder democracy and creates doubt within people in 
society, creates and encourages conflict (cite a racist article or something) 
c. “distract people from important issues so that these issues remain unresolved” 
(CITS) 
i. Mention fake news that is irrelevant and serves only to distract/entertain 
(tabloids). It takes away public attention and refocuses on menial events. 
d. Essentially, fake news encourages conflict and hinders problem-solving, by 
spreading lies and misinforming the public.   
5. Concluding paragraph 
a. Fake news poses a detriment to society by hindering problem-solving processes 
and blurring the truth. By discrediting legitimate journalism, encouraging conflict 
and hindering problem-solving, and preying on emotion rather than logic, society’s 
perception of fact is damaged, making fake news detrimental to society. 
b. Fake news is bad!!!!