Real News Stories about Fake News — Compiled

Compiled by the Truth For Democracy project —
working to start a nonprofit focused on making truth a virtue again
in America’s public and political conversations.

See also our News Page,
where we comment on
noteworthy news about
truth and honesty.

Note: We compiled these stories from the weeks after the 2016 U.S. Presidential election — just to highlight the frenzy over fake news. We stopped compiling this list on November 29th, 2016 — because it was damn obvious at that point. We will continue to collect the most insightful stories at: http://maketruthgreatagain.org/news/.

These are offered in no particular order:

What is the future of news? Bleak, probably. A professional fact-checker explains why our fake news problem isn’t going away.
http://www.vox.com/conversations/2016/11/28/13714596/media-democracy-donald-trump-fake-news-internet-journalism-social-media

Condemning ‘Fake News,’ but Running Fake-News Ads
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/23/public-editor/condemning-fake-news-but-running-fake-news-ads.html

Fidel Castro’s fake news: did claim he tricked the New York Times dupe us all?
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/27/castro-claimed-he-tricked-the-new-york-times-but-we-may-be-the-real-dupes

Trump falsely claims millions voted illegally
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/trump-illegal-voting-clinton-231860

Trump Claims, With No Evidence, That ‘Millions of People’ Voted Illegally
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/27/us/politics/trump-adviser-steps-up-searing-attack-on-romney.html

Donald Trump alleges widespread voter fraud in California. There’s no evidence to back it up
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-trump-tweet-california-voter-fraud-20161127-story.html

Trump back to business as recount distractions loom large
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/11/28/trump-back-to-business-as-recount-distractions-loom-large.html

The CNN porn scare is how fake news spreads
http://www.theverge.com/2016/11/25/13748226/cnn-accidentally-airs-porn-fake-news-boston

Some Fake News Publishers Just Happen to Be Donald Trump’s Cronies
https://theintercept.com/2016/11/26/laura-ingraham-lifezette/

Wikipedia page on fake-news websites (Not an Article, but Updated Regularly)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fake_news_website

Fact checking in the aftermath of a historic election
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/11/10/fact-checking-in-the-aftermath-of-an-historic-election/

This ‘Conservative News Site’ Trended on Facebook, Showed Up on Fox News—and Duped the World
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/10/28/the-man-who-duped-trumpkins-fox-news.html

Fact-Checking Can Change Views? We Rate That as Mostly True
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/06/upshot/fact-checking-can-change-views-we-rate-that-as-mostly-true.html

Our Commentary:  http://maketruthgreatagain.org/2016/11/27/brendan-nyhan-professor-of-government-says-fact-checking-can-help/

We Tracked Down A Fake-News Creator In The Suburbs. Here’s What We Learned
http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/11/23/503146770/npr-finds-the-head-of-a-covert-fake-news-operation-in-the-suburbs

This Is What Happens When Millions Of People Suddenly Get The Internet
https://www.buzzfeed.com/sheerafrenkel/fake-news-spreads-trump-around-the-world

Before ‘fake news,’ there was Soviet ‘disinformation’
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/11/26/before-fake-news-there-was-soviet-disinformation/

The Cure for Fake News Is Worse Than the Disease
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/11/the-cure-for-fake-news-is-worse-than-the-disease-214477

Our Commentary:  http://maketruthgreatagain.org/2016/11/23/the-cure-for-fake-news-is-worse-than-the-disease/

How To Recognize A Fake News Story
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fake-news-guide-facebook_us_5831c6aae4b058ce7aaba169

How to Spot Fake News
http://www.factcheck.org/2016/11/how-to-spot-fake-news/

America’s fake news problem predates Facebook
http://www.vox.com/culture/2016/11/21/13682574/fake-news-facebook-fox-news-conservative-radio

REVEALED: The Real Fake News List
http://www.ronpaullibertyreport.com/archives/revealed-the-real-fake-news-list

The latest trend: Fake fake news allegations
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/11/21/the-latest-trend-fake-fake-news-allegations/

According to Snopes, Fake News Is Not the Problem
https://backchannel.com/according-to-snopes-fake-news-is-not-the-problem-4ca4852b1ff0#.9caopspne

Our Commentary:  http://maketruthgreatagain.org/2016/11/20/snopes-editor-blames-mainstream-media-not-fake-news/

For the ‘new yellow journalists,’ opportunity comes in clicks and bucks
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/for-the-new-yellow-journalists-opportunity-comes-in-clicks-and-bucks/2016/11/20/d58d036c-adbf-11e6-8b45-f8e493f06fcd_story.html

Fixation on Fake News Overshadows Waning Trust in Real Reporting
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/19/business/media/exposing-fake-news-eroding-trust-in-real-reporting.html

Video: Facebook to remove ‘fake’ news
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tBf8D1DpdE

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg Finally Details Fake News Countermeasures
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/facebook-zuckerberg-fake-news_us_5830b25de4b058ce7aab7f9f

Video: Mark Zuckerberg discussing the election, news, education, science, AI and the future at Techonomy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLU3dxF6JVc

Video: Mark Zuckerberg Reacts to Critics of Facebook News Feed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6Nle2EuRfs

Our Commentary:  http://maketruthgreatagain.org/2016/11/20/video-zuckerbergs-original-response-to-fake-news-controversy/

Mark Zuckerberg outlines Facebook’s ideas to battle fake news
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2016/11/19/mark-zuckerberg-outlines-facebooks-ideas-to-battle-fake-news/

Michael Flynn, Trump’s national security adviser, believes fake news and partisan conspiracy theories
http://www.vox.com/world/2016/11/19/13678070/michael-flynn-national-security-adviser-actual-job

A Call for Cooperation Against Fake News
https://medium.com/whither-news/a-call-for-cooperation-against-fake-news-d7d94bb6e0d4#.n2vtwfygi

Video: How to Spot Fake News
https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/national/how-to-spot-fake-news/2016/11/18/60daed34-adb2-11e6-8f19-21a1c65d2043_video.html

This is how Facebook’s fake-news writers make money
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2016/11/18/this-is-how-the-internets-fake-news-writers-make-money/

My ‘fake news list’ went viral. But made-up stories are only part of the problem.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/11/18/my-fake-news-list-went-viral-but-made-up-stories-are-only-part-of-the-problem

Facebook’s fake news problem is way bigger than fake news
http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/18/13665938/fake-news-pepsi

Our Commentary:  http://maketruthgreatagain.org/2016/11/18/fake-news-can-sometimes-be-caused-by-a-telephone-game-effect/

Are you ready for a war on fake news?
http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/11/16/fake-news-first-casualty-trump-election/PcPpY0tL7t6BqoUWGf5yJL/story.html

Fake News in U.S. ? Elsewhere, That’s Nothing New
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/18/technology/fake-news-on-facebook-in-foreign-elections-thats-not-new.html

Facebook fake-news writer: ‘I think Donald Trump is in the White House because of me’
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2016/11/17/facebook-fake-news-writer-i-think-donald-trump-is-in-the-white-house-because-of-me/

President Obama slams fake news for eroding democracy
https://www.cnet.com/news/president-obama-hits-out-at-facebook-for-eroding-democracy/

Obama is worried about fake news on social media – and we should be too
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/nov/20/barack-obama-facebook-fake-news-problem

It took only 36 hours for these students to solve Facebook’s fake-news problem
http://www.businessinsider.com/students-solve-facebooks-fake-news-problem-in-36-hours-2016-11

Does the internet have a fake-news problem?
https://www.cnet.com/news/internet-fake-news-problem-google-facebook-election/

This Analysis Shows How Fake Election News Stories Outperformed Real News On Facebook
https://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/viral-fake-election-news-outperformed-real-news-on-facebook

Our Commentary:  http://maketruthgreatagain.org/2016/11/17/fake-news-outperforms-real-news-at-end-of-us-election/

Trump supporters call to boycott Pepsi over comments the CEO never made
http://money.cnn.com/2016/11/16/news/companies/pepsi-fake-news-boycott-trump/index.html

Our commentary:  http://maketruthgreatagain.org/2016/11/17/fake-news-hurting-u-s-corporations/

It took America 200 years to abolish boredom. Now that looks like a huge mistake.
http://www.vox.com/conversations/2016/11/17/13477142/advertising-media-donald-trump-2016-election-tim-wu-attention-merchants

Our Commentary:  http://maketruthgreatagain.org/2016/11/17/how-attention-merchants-may-also-be-harming-our-political-dialogue/

Bernie Sanders Could Replace President Trump With Little-Known Loophole
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-could-replace-president-trump-with-little_us_5829f25fe4b02b1f5257a6b7

Here’s a Chrome Extension That Will Flag Fake-News Sites for You
http://nymag.com/selectall/2016/11/heres-a-browser-extension-that-will-flag-fake-news-sites.html

Here Are Some Of Those Fake News Stories That Mark Zuckerberg Isn’t Worried About
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/facebook-fake-news-stories-zuckerberg_us_5829f34ee4b0c4b63b0da2ea

A Mass. teacher made a list of ‘false’ or ‘clickbaity’ websites. You’ll never guess what happened next.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/11/16/mass-teacher-made-list-false-clickbaity-websites-you-never-guess-what-happened-next/5XCP5T4I4wJz2D4sBd2deI/story.html

An Extremely Helpful List of Fake and Misleading News Sites to Watch Out For
http://nymag.com/selectall/2016/11/fake-facebook-news-sites-to-avoid.html

Word of the Year is “Post-Truth”
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/word-of-the-year/word-of-the-year-2016

Hyperpartisan Facebook Pages Are Publishing False And Misleading Information At An Alarming Rate
https://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/fever-swamp-election

How A Completely False Claim About Hillary Clinton Went From A Conspiracy Message Board To Big Right Wing Blogs
https://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/fever-swamp-election

How Teens In The Balkans Are Duping Trump Supporters With Fake News
https://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/how-macedonia-became-a-global-hub-for-pro-trump-misinfo

Mark Zuckerberg Is in Denial
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/15/opinion/mark-zuckerberg-is-in-denial.html

Facebook and Google take action against fake news sites
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/11/15/facebook-and-google-take-action-against-fake-news-sites/

Facebook’s fake news crisis deepens
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-37983571

Facebook, in Cross Hairs After Election, Is Said to Question Its Influence
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/14/technology/facebook-is-said-to-question-its-influence-in-election.html

Facebook and Google Are Spreading Way Too Many Lies
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/11/facebook-and-google-are-spreading-way-too-many-lies

Lies in the Guise of News in the Trump Era
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/13/opinion/sunday/lies-in-the-guise-of-news-in-the-trump-era.html

The forces that drove this election’s media failure are likely to get worse
http://www.niemanlab.org/2016/11/the-forces-that-drove-this-elections-media-failure-are-likely-to-get-worse/

Democrats Should Lie Like Donald Trump
https://newrepublic.com/article/138698/democrats-lie-like-donald-trump

The Post-Truth Presidency
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/04/opinion/campaign-stops/the-post-truth-presidency.html

Audio: Seriously? This American Life, Episode 599
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/04/opinion/campaign-stops/the-post-truth-presidency.html

How Teens In The Balkans Are Duping Trump Supporters With Fake News
https://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/how-macedonia-became-a-global-hub-for-pro-trump-misinfo

How A Completely False Claim About Hillary Clinton Went From A Conspiracy Message Board To Big Right Wing Blogs
https://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/fever-swamp-election

Hyperpartisan Facebook Pages Are Publishing False And Misleading Information At An Alarming Rate
https://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/fever-swamp-election

7 Lies Donald Trump Has Spread About Syrian Refugees Entering The U.S.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-refugee-crisis_us_5807809ae4b0180a36e7ac14

The smug style in American liberalism
http://www.vox.com/2016/4/21/11451378/smug-american-liberalism

Our Commentary:  http://maketruthgreatagain.org/2016/11/23/is-the-frenzy-over-fake-news-just-liberal-elite-contempt/