Issues in Digital Media

      During the 2016 election cycle, a news story appeared on Facebook about an FBI agent who apparently leaked Hillary Clinton's emails found dead.  During the election, Clinton's emails were a massive scandal and news articles like this managed to keep the topic at the forefront of everyones mind, keeping them from looking at real issues and the actual goals of the candidate.

      The story was written by "The Denver Guardian", a news source that doesn't actually exist.  According to the Denver Post, a real news outlet, this story was one of thousands released on Facebook during that time period.  NPR tracked down a man in Los Angeles, Jestin Coler, who runs a company that writes and distributes fake news.  It was one of his writers who created this fake article.  According to Coler, the articles weren't meant to influence the election, just show how easily fake news circulates.  But even though this article does look fake if you think about it, the story is about a murder-suicide, but the photo associated with it is of a burning house, it is still probable that at least some people actually believed it.  Especially when there is so much false information, it is easy for a person to just find stories that support wha they already think.