Donald Trump writes misleading tweet, but that's not the scary part
Every president needs a fact-checker -- perhaps none more than President-elect Donald Trump.
On Thursday, Trump went on Twitter and claimed that, thanks to his advocacy, Ford would no longer be moving its plant to Mexico. His claim was later challenged by established media outlets (The Washington Post, The New York Times) but not before it was shared elsewhere under misleading headlines (as in The Washington Examiner) and on conservative fake news sites everywhere.
SEE ALSO:Trump’s America will also be a new golden age of activismIn the tweet, Trump claimed credit for helping to keep a Ford plant in the United States:
Just got a call from my friend Bill Ford, Chairman of Ford, who advised me that he will be keeping the Lincoln plant in Kentucky - no Mexico
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 18, 2016
I worked hard with Bill Ford to keep the Lincoln plant in Kentucky. I owed it to the great State of Kentucky for their confidence in me!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 18, 2016
Yet earlier this week, Ford revealed that Trump's election didn't change the company's plans. The company would instead be keeping its factory in Kentucky and expanding production to Mexico, where it plans to move production of Ford Focuses. Previously, Ford claimed it had no intention of closing plants in the United States.
Even though Trump's tweet was later challenged, the damage was already done. TheExaminerpublished a headline that looked like this:
Forget "fake news." Trump got some credulous real-website headlines for making something up: pic.twitter.com/WEfbfONhab
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) November 18, 2016
And from Reuters:
How lies spread: Reuters initially had a headline just reprinting Trump's made-up story. pic.twitter.com/a0RN13uNHe
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) November 18, 2016
Reuters' full story later debunked Trump's initial claim. But the headline caught on, and conservative fake news sites spread Trump's claim like wildfire.
From the headlines:
"Donald Trump claims credit for keeping auto production in Kentucky" -- Breitbart
"More winning--Ford CEO calls Donald Trump: Lincoln Plant will stay in Kentucky -- Infowars
"Remember how Trump threatened Ford? Well look at the huge announcement they just made" -- The Conservative Tribune
A report released on BuzzfeedWednesday found that fake news outperformed real news on Facebook in the final months of the election. Fake news stories had more engagement than stories from the top 19 major news outlets combined.
7/God knows what reason. To a bunch of people, the election of Trump immediately saved jobs. There is no evidence this is the case. So it
— Jesse Singal (@jessesingal) November 18, 2016
8/ is becoming increasingly unclear that what Trump does or doesn't do is, thanks to fake news, *completely* untethered from the real
— Jesse Singal (@jessesingal) November 18, 2016
9/world in a way that makes Fox News treatment of the Bush administration look quaint and harmless by comparison. Think how this is going
— Jesse Singal (@jessesingal) November 18, 2016
10/to play out when it comes to really complex policy matters that even informed people have trouble following. Completely post-truth. We
— Jesse Singal (@jessesingal) November 18, 2016
For many journalists and social outlets, it's no longer just just about reporting the facts. It's also about making sure the false ones don't get spread.
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