American Pravda: My Fight for Truth in the Era of Fake News by
The one real difference between the American press and the Soviet state newspaper Pravda was that the Russian people knew they were being lied to. To expose the lies our media tell us today, controversial journalist James O'Keefe created Project Veritas, an independent news organization whose reporters go where traditional journalists dare not. Their investigative work-equal parts James Bond, Mike Wallace, and Saul Alinsky--has had a consistent and powerful impact on its targets.In American Pravda, the reader is invited to go undercover with these intrepid journalists as they infiltrate political campaigns, unmask dishonest officials and expose voter fraud. A rollicking adventure story on one level, the book also serves as a treatise on modern media, arguing that establishment journalists have a vested interest in keeping the powerful comfortable and the people misinformed.The book not only contests the false narratives frequently put forth by corporate media, it documents the consequences of telling the truth in a world that does not necessarily want to hear it. O'Keefe's enemies attack with lawsuits, smear campaigns, political prosecutions, and false charges in an effort to shut down Project Veritas. For O'Keefe, every one of these attacks is a sign of success.American Pravda puts the myths and misconceptions surrounding O'Keefe's activities to rest and will make you rethink every word you hear and read in the so-called mainstream press.
Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News by
Kevin Young tours us through a rogue's gallery of hoaxers, plagiarists, forgers, and fakers--from the humbug of P. T. Barnum and Edgar Allan Poe to the unrepentant bunk of JT LeRoy and Donald J. Trump.Bunk traces the history of the hoax as a peculiarly American phenomenon, examining what motivates hucksters and makes the rest of us so gullible. Disturbingly, Young finds that fakery is woven from stereotype and suspicion, race being the most insidious American hoax of all. He chronicles how Barnum came to fame by displaying figures like Joice Heth, a black woman whom he pretended was the 161-year-old nursemaid to George Washington, and What Is It?, an African American man Barnum professed was a newly discovered missing link in evolution. Bunk then turns to the hoaxing of history and the ways that forgers, plagiarists, and journalistic fakers invent backstories and falsehoods to sell us lies about themselves and about the world in our own time, from pretend Native Americans Grey Owl and Nasdijj to the deadly imposture of Clark Rockefeller, from the made-up memoirs of James Frey to the identity theft of Rachel Dolezal. In this brilliant and timely work, Young asks what it means to live in a post-factual world of "truthiness" where everything is up for interpretation and everyone is subject to a pervasive cynicism that damages our ideas of reality, fact, and art.
Doublespeak by
Doublespeak is the language of non-responsibility, carefully constructed to appear to communicate when it fact it doesn't. In this lively and eye-opening expose, originally published in 1989, linguist William Lutz identifies the four most common types of doublespeak--euphemism, jargon, gobbledygook or "bureaucratese," and inflated language--showing how each is used in business, advertising, medicine, government, and the military. In this seminal book, Lutz articulates that the goalof doublespeak is "to distort reality and corrupt thought."
The Fake News Phenomenon by
The 2016 US presidential election introduced a new term to the media lexicon. The Fake News Phenomenon examines the spread of bogus news sources, the reasons they exist, and the difference between media bias and "fake news." Readers are also provided with tips for how to discern the credibility of a news source. Easy-to-read text, vivid images, and helpful back matter give readers a clear look at this subject. Features include a table of contents, infographics, a glossary, additional resources, and an index. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Core Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.
News Literacy by
Our society faces international challenges from cyber attacks and dissemination of fake news with a goal to destabilize our society. Fake news can be used as a weapon with destructive effects as powerful as any military attack. Fake news can spread as fast as a wildfire carried on the winds of social media. Students and all citizens need to be prepared and informed of ways to quickly understand and distinguish real and fake news. Preventing the potential destructive effects of fake news is the purpose of this book. The focus is upon providing a resource for educators to develop "news literacy" skills of students in objectively evaluating the news.
True Enough by
Why has punditry lately overtaken news? Why do lies seem to linger so long in the cultural subconscious even after they've been thoroughly discredited? And why, when more people than ever before are documenting the truth with laptops and digital cameras, does fact-free spin and propaganda seem to work so well? True Enough explores leading controversies of national politics, foreign affairs, science, and business, explaining how Americans have begun to organize themselves into echo chambers that harbor diametrically different facts--not merely opinions--from those of the larger culture.
Truth Decay by
Political and civil discourse in the United States is characterized by "Truth Decay," defined as increasing disagreement about facts, a blurring of the line between opinion and fact, increased relative volume of opinion compared to fact, and lowered trust in formerly respected sources of factual information. This report explores the causes and wide-ranging consequences of Truth Decay and proposes strategies for further action.
The Truth Matters by
Distinguish fake news from reliable journalism with this clear and concise handbook.
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