The New 1984: Emergence of Fake News
With the recent mention of fake news in the media, an Orwellian quote came to mind: “Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” Wind is nothing. Fake news is turning nothing into something. Now, actual facts have become rarer to find and the new “truth” often manipulates people to think blindly about recent events. Fake news alters various ideologies to gain passionate support. This is present at a dystopian society such as in “1984” by George Orwell, and it is becoming more of a reality.
In a search for scholarly insight, the Latineer turned to History Magistra Lauren Filipink. She defined the term as, “Fake news is manufactured stories that contain real and recognized individuals and plausible situations intended to manipulate or reinforce the perspective of the writer or reader.”
Fake news is difficult to distinguish, she noted. “I like to think it hasn’t affected me because I can identify fake news,” she added. “ I try to be selective about what I read and who I follow.”
Furthering her thought she mentioned the resultance of fake news, “I don’t think it threatens our democracy if we truly believe in personal liberty and freedom of the press.”
The presence of fake news bears challenge to history Magistras such as Ms. Filipink herself. She noted, “I do feel as though a burden falls on me as a History teacher. A lot of our instruction is based on reading history and understanding the values and limitations of what we read or view. Maybe now that’s going to transform into teaching how to detect what’s real and what’s fake. I do worry that people are using the term ‘fake news’ to label sources that their personal views aren’t necessarily aligned with.”
The point is, fake news should be considered a concern due how it skews the perspective of the reader, leading one to believe falsehoods, and causing them to take actions such as rioting or even war. Keeping the truth alive can start here, in TBLS - and being alert when it pertains to the media can help discipuli not believe in the “solidity [of] pure wind” .