{"id":8654,"date":"2021-07-12T08:07:50","date_gmt":"2021-07-12T07:07:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/?p=8654"},"modified":"2021-07-12T08:07:55","modified_gmt":"2021-07-12T07:07:55","slug":"the-factchecker-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/the-factchecker-15\/","title":{"rendered":"The FactChecker"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The thin line between fact and humour: How satire contents mislead online users By Silas Jonathan <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When online  users from all around the world first came across this  headline \u201cHollywood Actors Pledge Never To Take A Role Where They Have To Pretend To Be Someone Else<\/a>\u201d. The reactions were diverse comments that neither show doubts towards the headline nor disbelief. \u201cFinally, Hollywood actors will start living the real life and face reality.\u201d A user on Quora shared, amongst   a plethora of other similar comments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, not too long after reading the whole detailed story, some users realised it was nothing close to reality but was  in fact a mere \u2018satire\u2019 written to trigger laughter. Realising what it was, another user raised a question: \u201care all actors not paid to play roles and pretend to be someone else, even receive awards for doing it well?  Isn\u2019t it why they are called \u2018actors\u2019 in the first place?\u201d You could see that the questions  triggered an effective change on how others first perceived the story, yet even after  that, others held the story as truth, as actual journalistic reporting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such headlines are not deliberately designed<\/a> to mislead people, they are in fact under a recognised genre known as \u2018Satire\u2019<\/a> and it could be considered as a form of art. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Satire is a genre of literature usually written with humour to ridicule or make fun of vices in the society.  While its genealogy could be traced to drama and acting, satire has transited into a form of media that is published on websites similar to proper news stories. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nonetheless, the distinction it shares with a news story is that while the former is based upon actual reality to  inform the society, a satire is deliberately written to provoke the ills in the society with a flair of humour that is  not necessarily based upon actual reality.  So, like the dawn of the new media, satires are now published on websites and  presented in multimedia forms such as cartoons, text, video, and audio to its audiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Satire content: a new form of misinformation <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, in a world where people are  increasingly receiving information via their social feeds, there has been confusion between actual news websites and  satirical websites. Satire news content is now confused with credible news, individuals, governments, politicians, and even mainstream media are fooled by satire<\/a>, as in some cases is mistaken for actual reality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in a report  titled: \u2018Journalism, Fake news and disinformation<\/a>\u2019 categorised  satire as a form of misinformation.  According to UNESCO misinformation comprises: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSatire and parody, click-bait headlines, and the misleading use of captions, visuals or statistics, as well as the genuine content that is shared out of context, imposter content (when a journalist\u2019s name or a newsroom logo is used by people with no connections to them), and manipulated and fabricated content.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While this statement might have helped fact-checkers to place satire, it doesn\u2019t solve the problem of people falling victim to its contents or even sharing it as an actual news story.  In a study carried out<\/a> by The Conversation, (a media research based organization) on over 800 Americans, over 75% of the respondents held satire websites as credible sources. This finding not only paints the relaxed place satire is now quickly taking in journalism<\/a>; it also raises the question, if satire should be excused <\/a>at such a time when misinformation is prevalent and daunting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continue Reading Here<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fact Checks of the week<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n