81 5. Social media, especially when used by young people, can be very effective. – Social media, especially when used by young people, can be very effective. 6. Fake news are often believed by people if they are similar to their own views. – Fake news are often believed by people if they are similar to their own views. 7. A large group of people who wanted to overturn the election results marched towards Capitol Hill. – A large group of people who wanted to overturn the election results marched towards Capitol Hill. 8. Emotions which are published on the net can be very powerful in terms of manipulation. – Emotions which are published on the net can be very powerful in terms of manipulation. Sample answer 1. upcoming elections 2. news podcast 3. political opinions, friends, very diverse 4. media campaign, referendum, manipulated facts 5. Social media, very effective 6. Fake news, similar to their own 7. large group, overturn, election results, Capitol 8. Emotions, on the net, very powerful Exploring vocabulary: Fake news on the rise (Key) 1. E, 2. G, 3. L, 4. A, 5. C, 6. M, 7. B, 8. J, 9. K, 10. H, 11. D, 12. F, 13. I Test practice: Fake news on the rise (Transcript and key) Presenter: When former US President Trump was running for his second term in office, he issued statements well before the elections in which he claimed that the results would be rigged, that certain groups in society would try to prevent him from becoming president again. This was the starting point of a development that culminated in the attack of his supporters on the Capitol in Washington to overturn the election results. But why was all this possible? Welcome to our podcast on American politics. Today we are talking about fake news and why people believe them. With me in the studio is Clarence Overlord from the Media Research Institute in Philadelphia. Clarence: Welcome from me as well, thanks for inviting me. Presenter: Clarence, can you explain why fake news are so popular these days? Clarence: Well, it all starts with the growing interest on social media and the fact that everyone, literally everyone, can now publish without restrictions whatever they want on the internet and everyone who has access to the internet can view these posts. That means everybody can be both, the reader of such news and also the producer of this content – and in many cases these people do not primarily care about the truth. We have to assume that many people who write things on the internet are more interested in feelings and personal opinions rather than facts. And there are two more aspects: First, a lot of dubious, damaging or incorrect content which is published on social media sites is anonymous or is published under a false name, and secondly many of the users just want to be seen as members of their bubble and get credit for it, which, of course, is a strong motivation. And, of course, they want to create internet traffic on their pages to earn money. Presenter: Right. Does that also account for the growing number of people who seem to believe fake news? Clarence: Well, it seems to be that the pull factor of emotions is much more powerful than the basic news itself. Erm … when the Brexit Referendum was held in 2016, the result to leave the EU was due to the fact that the LEAVE supporters were mostly influenced by emotionally charged arguments rather than rational considerations. Some of the promises that were used in the ProBrexit media campaign were soon proved to be incorrect, but at that time the referendum had already been decided. Social media played an important part in this as they channelled the public interest from logical political issues to feelings and opinions which can be very diverse. And in this situation, people tend to believe the person who shares the same emotions as oneself. Presenter: That sounds plausible but it is quite worrying at the same time, isn’t it? Clarence: Indeed, it is. That’s why it’s so important to learn how to distinguish the truth from fake news or, as President Trump called it, alternative facts. Presenter: What would be your suggestions to deal with this problem? Clarence: Well, I think the answer is that people should learn critical thinking as a basic educational tool. 0: It would be rigged. 1: to overturn the elections/overturn the election results 2: everybody can publish whatever/everybody can publish freely 3: personal opinions 4: anonymity/people can publish anonymously 5: facts/the basic news itself/the truth 6: Britain/UK left the EU/Brexit 2 3 + 40 Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv
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