The year 2016 was newsworthy, to say the least. An unprecedented American election, Brexit, earthquakes, and outbreaks all contributed to some of the most compelling news in recent memory.
But mixed in with all the fair, factual, and well-researched reporting was something more sinister: Fake news, stories that seemed accurate, but were actually downright false.
While fake news has been circulating as long as its legitimate counterpart, it got a lot of play in 2016, thanks to the way we consume information. According to Pew Research Center, people under age 50 get half of their news online. And for those under 30, online news is twice as popular as TV news.
Speaking of the Internet, did you hear the one about Pope Francis endorsing Donald Trump or the Clinton campaign running a child sex trafficking ring out of a pizza parlor in Washington, DC, (#pizzagate)? Both fakes.