Fake News

“When looking at partisanship and ideology together, conservative Republicans are the group most likely to say they come across inaccurate news: 53% say this happens extremely often or often.” - Pew

“The quasi-factual nature of the widely shared story triggered a response from Snopes, a popular fact-checking website. Snopes noted the inaccurate nature of the Bee’s story but also included in its post a subheading: ‘We’re not sure if fanning the flames of controversy and muddying the details of a news story classify an article as satire.’” - RNS

BB: CNN Purchases Industrial-Sized Washing Machine To Spin News Before Publication

Snopes: FALSE: CNN invested in an industrial-sized washing machine to help their journalists and news anchors spin the news before publication

‘He promised he would demonstrate his faith to us today, but he unfortunately ended up drowning and getting eaten by three large crocodiles in front of us. ‘We still don’t understand how this happened because he fasted and prayed the whole week. They finished him in a couple of minutes.

Christians. Purveyors of truth, protectors of principle, stewards of integrity … until we pass on a fake news story or get hooked by clickbait.

We want to be good examples to our children and students so we can teach them biblical principles of honesty and integrity (Proverbs 12:17, Colossians 3:9), but it’s far too easy in today’s world to react to and share a story before we think it through.

And then with one click, we can spread a lie to a few thousand of our closest friends.

Addressing this issue is a lesson a family can learn together. Here are some useful tips and activities to help you discern truth and avoid passing on gossip and lies.