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Fake news is news which deliberately spread false information that is not supported by verifiable facts, sources, or quotes. Fake news can spread fear, damage the learning culture, and sap curiosity. Evidence-based news needs to have a supporting source that is credible and recognized. A credible source needs to be written by a qualified author recognized by verified, credible institutions. The source also needs supporting links and sources to support the claims being made. News stories should also be recent and not outdated because information keeps on changing.
The news presented in the box above is partially false. Firstly the first sentence of the news is partially true mainly because the world health organization, among other reliable mainstream media, has reported that the coronavirus cases keep rising steadily every new day (). However, some countries have recorded a reduced number of cases after adhering to the given guidelines(). This fact has not been included in the introductory statement, which makes the information biased or one-sided.
However, the confirmed number of cases worldwide has not hit the 17,000,000 mark has the given news article says. According to the world health organization, the number of infected cases globally is 13,824,739; these numbers are updated daily (). The contradicting numbers of the infected persons make the news article partially untrue.
The report made on countries with the highest number of cases is also partially false, mainly because, according to wordometer, a credible and verified source which gives daily updates of coronavirus cases around the world, USA, Brazil, India, and Russia are the countries with the highest number of infections. However, the given news box ranks China on the list despite the country recording a great number of decline in their number of infected people over the last month. The information looks true on the face level; however, after counterchecking the given data and claims with reliable sources like world health organization, the facts did not align with what was recorded.
The news story is partially false because using the fact-checking process, which helps determine the credibility of information, the news story is lacking in many requirements. First, a credible news story needs to have a website title that gives information like the date of publishing, the writer, and the supporting sources. The news story does not, however, have these requirements. Additionally, the news story lacks in-text citations and any references to support the claims being made. Lack of sources makes the article less credible and unreliable. Besides, the story does not give actual dates of the numbers given; thus, counterchecking the information is impossible. The news story does not also provide the author; an article without an author’s name or site’s information is incomplete.