Reasons For Fake News

In journalism giving a title to a story or article is of great importance, consequently it takes time to select one that is proper. Editorial staff take the article from the reporters and compress the entire article with a few words. The principle of journalism that it should be accurate, fair and objective is fundamental. It must be core, easy and sensible, and reflect the identity and dignity of the medium. A one time editorial staff member of a Korean newspaper gives us some thoughts to remember.

"How do you choose a title that catches the eyes of readers while keeping all these conditions?" This is the concern of the editorial writers that have been handed down since the beginning. With titling the natural temptation of exaggeration or distortion is present. The rule should be to represent the core content of the article and not exaggerate or distort.

An article with an exaggerated or distorted title was not called fake news. It was untrue news, non-truth news. However, in addition to traditional media such as newspapers, broadcasts, online news, and  one-person media based on them: podcasts, blogs, and SNS the appearance of fake news has increased greatly.

"Fake News" as well as the contents of articles and  'fake titles' has become enormous. On the Internet  if someone clicks on a sultry title often the "fake title"  has nothing to do with the contents of the article. Editors tend to be fascinated by titles because of economic interests that try to increase ad revenue by increasing readership. Clicks are money, attracting attention earns money. 

The best journalism technology is also in crisis. Traditionally newspapers and related online media have less of a problem but they suffer also from "clicks" because of media competition for advertising. "In the case of online media, one can not give up on a pseudo-title or a distorted title because the click counts for a great part of the total revenue," says one editor of a daily newspaper. If the title of the online news is selected like the title of a newspaper,  netizens usually ignore it. The classic pattern for exaggerating and distorting the title for economic reasons in the past was different.

A second reason for choosing an exaggerated title is  the philosophy, ideology or sentiment of the media. The liberal or conservative ideology of the owners of the media will influence the way the news is delivered. Putting the word extreme into the article without any objective reason for the use gives away the ideolgy of the media and tells the reader where the media is coming from. For this reason,    disciplinary action taken by the Korean Newspaper Ethics Committee is at times necessary.

The third reason is the editors' prejudices about the contents of an article:  "'A' received 10 billion won under investigation on charges of embezzlement," he may choose to skip under investigation and simply write charged with embezzlement.

Whatever the reason, they all choose "what the editor wants, not the article content." "It is time to follow the journalists' adage that the reporter should write only what he knows and the editor should select only from the contents of the the reporter for the titles.