The Impact of Fake News on the Society
Chapter One
Objective of the Study
The main objective of this study is to find out the impact of fake news on Nigerian society. Specifically, the study intends to;
- To find out if the media play a part in the dissemination of fake news in Nigeria
- To discover how frequent cases of fake news are reported in the country
- To know the perception Nigerians have for news reports in the country
- To know the effect of fake news on the target audience
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELEVANT LITERATURE
Conceptual Framework
The problem of fake news has become so pronounced that the inventor of the World Wide Web, WWW, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, declared on the 28th anniversary of his invention that the impact of fake news is increasingly concerning, adding that social media sites and search engines must be encouraged to continue efforts to tackle the menace. In an open letter published on March 12, 2017 to mark the www’s 28th birthday, Berners-Lee noted that “It’s too easy for misinformation to spread on the web”. He added that people “choose what to show us based on algorithms which learn from our personal data that they are constantly harvesting. The net result is that these sites show us content they think we’ll click on – meaning that misinformation, or ‘fake news’, which is surprising, shocking, or designed to appeal to our biases can spread like wildfire”.
To an extent, the biggest casualty of this misinformation that spreads on the web is the online newspaper. Fake news is a global phenomenon. In July 2016, the now-defunct website wtoe5news.com, which described itself “a fantasy news website” and that most of its articles are “satire or pure fantasy” reported that Pope Francis had endorsed Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy. The story was shared more than a million times on Facebook. There was also the fabricated story from the now-defunct website denverguardian.com captioned: “FBI agent suspected in Hillary email leaks found dead in apparent murder- suicide”.
Referring to fake news, Allcot & Gentzkow (2017, p.6) wrote:
One historical example is the ‘Great Moon Hoax’ of 1835, in which the New York Sun published a series of articles about the discovery of life on the moon. A more recent example is the 2006 ‘Flemish Secession Hoax,’ in which a Belgian public television station reported that the Flemish parliament had declared independence from Belgium, a report that a large number of viewers misunderstood as true. Supermarket tabloids such as the National Enquirer and the Weekly World News have long trafficked in a mix of partially true and outright false stories.
In Nigeria, there have been instances of fake news, some of which had been identified in the background of study. There are however other examples of false stories gaining attention in the Nigerian public space. According to Kolawole (2017), “Heard the latest? The Central Bank of Nigeria has been selling the elusive dollar to some end users at 61 kobo/US$1, while the rest of us are busy buying the stuff at over N500/$1 in the parallel market… Now, I don’t need to do any research to know that what you just read is an excellent piece of fake news.”
On the third anniversary of the establishment of The Cable, founder of the online medium, Simon Kolawole admitted that the biggest mistake made by the online newspaper was a false report in May 2015 that the Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka made hate remarks against the Igbo in the United States. Kolawole said, “We discovered that it was the interpretation of the reporter at the event and not the actual words of Professor Soyinka. The embarrassment was universal for us, and sadly there were those who stopped trusting our stories after the episode.”(The Cable 2017, April 29)
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
This chapter focuses on the systematic approach for solving the research problem in the study and highlights the instruments and techniques used to seek solutions to the research problem. It consists of the research design, sample population, sample frame, sample size determination, sampling techniques, research instruments, validity and reliability of research instruments and methods of data analysis. The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of fake news on the society: students of Yaba College of Technology, Yaba, Lagos state constituted the population of this study.
Research Design
Coopers and Schindler (2006) suggested that the research design is the structure of investigation aimed at identifying variables and their relationships to one another. It refers to the blue print, plan and guidelines utilized in data analysis with respect to the study. It is a necessary step required in a research process if research problems and hypothesis are to be adequately addressed. Descriptive research design and causal research design as well as the survey method was used. Descriptive research design was used to describe some phenomena because it aids a researcher in gathering, summarizing, presenting and interpreting information for the purpose of clarification while the causal research design was used to describe the effect of one variable on another that is establish cause and effect relationship (Mugenda & Mugenda, 2003). The researcher also utilized the survey strategy for this study because it creates room for gathering large amounts of data from a sizeable population in a cost-effective way (Osuagwu, 2006).
A survey method was used for the purpose of this study.
Population of the Study
Students of Yaba College of Technology, Yaba, Lagos state were the respondents.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA ANALYSIS, INTEPRETATION AND PRESENTATION
Presentation of Findings
Before going into the presentation of findings, proper, it needs to be pointed out that of all the 384 questionnaires distributed in deference to the sample size, three were unaccounted for. It was also discovered that five others were not properly filled which invalidates the five. Less this number (8), the researcher was left with 376 questionnaires from which to get findings. The 376 responses are presented below in tables of frequencies and percentages.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary
The major focus of this paper is on impact of Fake news on the society.
The study was divided into five chapters. In the first chapter, we stated the problem of the study, its objectives and formulated for testing research hypotheses. In the second chapter, we reviewed literatures related to the topic. In the third chapter, we described the methodology employed or adopted to arrive at the study’s findings. In the fourth chapter Quantitative and qualitative methods of data analysis were used to present and analyze data gathered from the study.
Conclusion
Cases of the circulation of fake news are prevalent in the country as it is across the world, but the circulation of false information have not started to have a toll on the perceived credibility of popular online newspapers. Those who because of fake news are cautiously optimistic about the credibility of popular online newspapers were found to be slightly higher than those who have allowed incidence of fake news make them suspect reports on popular online newspapers as not credible. This means that fake news still poses a threat to the perception Nigerians have of reputable online newspapers. As the Uses and Gratification and the Selectivity theories go, those who have the notion that popular online newspapers are purveyors of fake news may switch to other mediums of mass communication or take information passed by online newspapers with a pinch of salt. When this becomes the case, the influence of popular online newspapers with regards to the role of the press to the society is whittled down and hampered, essentially because of the scourge of fake news.
Recommendations
Drawing from the knowledge and finding garnered in the course of this study, the under-listed ideas can be proffered as recommendations through which fake news and its impact on the public perception of online newspapers in Nigeria can be tackled:
- Online newspapers should adopt the operation model of the conventional newspaper. Stories should written to perfection, subjected to the rigorous scrutiny of the head of the reporter’s desk, checked again by the news editor and his team with a strong re-write desk ensuring that the story conforms to a house style; and then a final check by the editor of the paper. (Daniel, This Day April 22, 2017)
- Online newspapers should ensure they employ only qualified and well-trained journalists who can validate and can defend whatever story that has their by-line.
- Granted that running a newspaper requires a huge capital outlay which makes publishers are reporters susceptible to moneybags looking for where to plant stories that would further their interest, online newspaper practitioners should rather rely on international donor agencies which support independent media organisations which funds to enable them better hold the government accountable to the people.
- Online newspapers must not base their reports on rumours spread on the social media. Whenever they want to report what was post on the social media by newsmakers, they should ensure that the posting is actually on the verified social media account of the prominent personality in question.
- The government, the Nigeria Union of Journalists and other associations in the media industry should find a means of streamlining the process of setting up online newspapers so as to avert the springing up mushroom news sites which publish false stories that dent the perception of the online newspaper.
- When a story published by an online newspaper is found to be false, such stories should promptly be pulled down with the same online site publishing a corrigendum and an apology signed by its editor to the readers.
References
- Allcott, H. & Gentzkow, M. (2017). Social media and fake news in the 2016 election. NBER Working Paper Series. Rev, ed. Retrieved from http://www.nber.org/ papers/w23089
- Asemah, E. S. (2009). Principles and Practice of Mass Communication. 2nd ed. Jos: MATKOL Press.
- Berners-Lee, T. (2017, March 12). Three challenges for the web, according to its inventor. World Wide Web Foundation. Retrieved from http://web foundation.org/2017/03/web-turns-28-letter
- Ekwueme, A. C. (2008). Style & mass media writing. Nsukka: Tonedo Publishers.
- Kaplan, A., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of social media. Business Horizons, 53(1).
- Kolawole, S. (2017, February 17). Is fake news the new normal? This Day. Retrieved from https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2017/02/19/i s-fake-news-the-new-normal/
- Kperogi, F. A. (2017, March 4). Propagandocracy and the Buhari media center. Notes From Atlanta. Retrieved from http://www.farooqkperogi.com /2017/03/propagandocracy-and-buhari-media- center.html?m=1
