W7.3 Don't Believe Everything You Read on the Internet

Don't Believe Everything You Read on the Internet

There are many famous cases of people being led astray by fake websites, news stories that turned out to be based on paper-thin sources, and fake news stories by sites like The Onion. You need to develop radar for stories (and graphics) that are just too good to be true. Below is my favorite fake website, The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus. Do you know of others?

		Here are some fun "fake websites" and the associated stories about them for you to browse. The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus Links to an external site. Whale Watching in Michigan Links to an external site. Teachers fooled Links to an external site., A great classroom activity Links to an external site. An article in a fake newspaper Links to an external site. Retraction from Michigan Studies Weekly Links to an external site. Di-hydrogen Monoxide Links to an external site. BBC Spaghetti Tree Story Links to an external site.
		Spaghetti Trees (from 1957) Links to an external site.
		Here are some stories from The Onion that fooled the Press in various countries. New York Times Fooled By The Onion Obama Magazine Cover Links to an external site., Huffington Post, April 25, 2011. Iranian Press fooled by The Onion Links to an external site., by Julian Pecquet, The Hill's Global Affairs, September 28, 2012. Louisiana Congressman Mistakes Onion Story for Factual News Links to an external site., by Samantha Grossman, TIMES Magazine Newsfeed, February 7, 2012. A theory for how China’s state newspaper got ‘fooled’ by The Onion Links to an external site., by Max Fisher, The Washington Post, February 28, 2012. ESPN host fooled by The Onion satire Links to an external site., a Storify by the CBC News Community, 2012. Literally Unbelievable Blog Links to an external site. (http://literallyunbelievable.org/ Links to an external site.)
		Markham Nolan: How to separate fact and fiction online Links to an external site. The transcript for Markham Nolan talk is on the TED site here. Links to an external site.