For as long as news outlets have been around, fake news has also been around that entire time. Fake news is essentially the distribution and coverage of false information or news that isn't accurate. This type of news can be spread via the internet, newspapers, or sent out on weekly email lists, or even articles with false information that get posted on social media platforms.
Recently, in Washington D.C., a false story was released about our very own President of the United States. The news article released was made with a paper referred to as "crisp newsprint" and considered to be a "counterfeit" edition of the Washington Post, with their logo as the banner at the top of the paper. The title read, "UNPRESIDENTED Ending Crisis, Trump Hastily Departs White House". The paper was distributed to people by political activists.
It wasn't
long until the official Washington Post's Twitter account released a statement
via twitter making people aware that it was indeed fake news, not distributed
by them, and they were looking more into the situation. L.A. Kauffman, an anti-Trump organizer said while the project was "completely
unauthorized", its distribution had been planned for nine months.
The Washington Post is not the only news outlet that is having trouble to stop the release of fake news. Just recently, it was revealed that facebook had a loophole in its system that makes it possible for fake news to be spread via Facebook's edible link previews, a feature that was supposedly shut down two years ago. This feature allows for embeds to pop up when you post a link to facebook. If anything these two scenarios involving fake news prove the point that no matter the lengths you go to, there is always going to be a way for some sort of fake news to be spread.
https://www.npr.org/2019/01/16/685857177/real-fake-news-activists-circulate-counterfeit-editions-of-the-washington-post
https://mashable.com/article/facebook-loophole-fake-news-link-preview/
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