Fake news sites and their 'B.S. stories' are making you look like chumps, says CNN's Brian Stelter

Brian Stelter wants you to triple check before you share
(Image credit: Twitter/@CNNMoney)

You've probably seen the stories on Facebook or other social media, and maybe you've even shared them: articles that look legit but are maybe too good to check, or stories you think are true — or maybe want to be true. On Sunday, CNN's Brian Stelter asked you — and Donald Trump's family— to "triple check before you share," and stop spreading misinformation around like an actual virus.

"Fake news has become a plague on the web," Stelter said. These stories enrich the hucksters who write them, with the hope that you make them go viral, "but the B.S. stories hurt the people who read and share them over and over again. Many of these fakes reinforce the views of conservative or liberal voters and insulate them from the truth. The stories prey on people who want to believe the worst about the opposition." Stelter identifies three types of such articles: totally fake "hoax sites," sites that are so partisan they they bend real news to the point of breaking, and most damaging, "hybrid" sites that mix in a little truth with their fiction.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.