The Truth About Fake News: Why It’s Changing the News You See

If you’re like most people, you probably spend a significant amount of time on platforms like TikTok or Instagram. While these platforms offer entertainment and help form connections, they also create a sense of overwhelm for many, as the flow of information is constant and fast.

Recent studies show the average American spends roughly six hours per day consuming content. According to the New York Post, that amounts to about 36 days a year spent looking at screens. For younger generations, like Gen Z, that average rises to about seven hours a day.

So, what is capturing our attention and keeping us glued to our devices?

According to a Pew Research Center study published in 2016, six in 10 Americans receive their daily news from social media platforms. It seems likely that news consumption is driving this engagement.

News consumption has remained steady, but how we receive news has changed significantly over the past 25 years. 

Between 2000 and 2010, many Americans turned to the internet for news, though the majority still relied on television and cable.

You might be asking: What is the key difference in how news is distributed now compared to then? The answer appears to be credibility.

This year, 69% of Americans expressed little to no confidence in mass media outlets, including newspapers, TV, and radio. This is the lowest trust level in news media in nearly 50 years, with only a slight dip to 32% in 2016.

The years 2025 and 2016 share few patterns, but one notable correlation is the presidency of Donald Trump.

The term “fake news” gained significant traction during the 2016 presidential election, with a sharp increase in Google searches by 74%. While not a new term, it became prominent during Trump’s presidency.

Between 2017 and 2020, Trump referred to journalists and news outlets as “fake news” approximately 2,000 times.

While Trump popularized the term and claimed credit for coining it in 2017, he was not the originator.

The term was first used by Canadian journalist Craig Silverman in 2014 after he uncovered a fake story circulating on Facebook. The article, published by National Report.net, falsely claimed that a Texas town had been quarantined due to the Ebola virus.

In response, Silverman tweeted: “Fake news site National Report set off a measure of panic by publishing a fake story about an Ebola outbreak. Scumbags.”

So, why all the focus on “fake news”?

In a 2016 Pew Research Center study, 64% of adults said fake news caused confusion over basic facts, and 23% admitted to sharing a fake news story knowingly or unknowingly.

Nearly a decade later, those numbers have risen significantly.

A 2024 Pew survey conducted during the election found that three-quarters of U.S. adults reported seeing inaccurate news coverage about the election frequently, with 37% encountering this type of information on a regular basis. Half of respondents said they had difficulty determining what was true and what was false in election coverage.

This problem extends beyond social media. According to Pew, 86% of U.S. adults receive news through smartphones, computers, or tablets, and 63% still get news from TV.

It’s also important to note that disinformation and misinformation are not just American issues—they’re global issues.

A Statista study published in 2024 found that more than 50% of internet users in 23 countries rely on social media for news. However, this percentage varies significantly by region.

In Nigeria, 77% of respondents use social media for news, while in Japan, only 23% do.

The Statista study also showed that younger consumers are at a higher risk of exposure to fake news due to their greater social media use.

So, what is driving the rise in fake news?

Anthony Adornato, chair of the broadcast and journalism department at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School, attributes it to our reliance on social media as a source of information and trend analysis.

A 2016 nationwide survey of news directors by Adornato revealed that trending content on social media significantly influences how networks choose stories to cover.

The survey found that a third of newsrooms had reported misinformation from social media. Furthermore, 40% of newsrooms with social media policies had no procedures for verifying social media content before broadcasting it.

Now, misinformation is not a new phenomenon.

In ancient Rome, Emperor Augustus used smear campaigns to discredit his rival, Mark Antony. The advent of the printing press in 1436 only accelerated the spread of misinformation, culminating in hoaxes like “The Great Moon Hoax” of 1835 (mistakenly said 1836 in video), in which The New York Sun published fabricated stories of life on the moon.

Despite these long-standing patterns, the challenge today is the speed and reach of information dissemination.

Bradley Honan, CEO of Honan Strategy Group, told the Columbia School of Professional Studies:

“There’s been disinformation as long as humans have been talking to each other. But having so many different channels and platforms allows information to move as never before. Disinformation is becoming more persuasive because there is so much of it.”

This is especially true in the age of social media, where content is constantly pumped out to keep up with rapidly changing trends. It’s easier to scroll through a trending hashtag than to fact-check articles. But this convenience risks undermining honest journalism, leading to delays in correcting errors and fact-checking.

And the rise of AI further complicates this issue, as it can produce content at scale that may not always be accurate or credible.

Can we trust the images and stories we see? Is the information we consume contributing to polarization and extremism? Who is shaping the media we rely on?

With thousands of stories unfolding every day, we often view them through a narrow lens, forgetting there’s a wider world beyond our borders.