Will Trump's Era of 'Fake News' ever be over?

By Mariah Muhammad

Throughout his presidency, Donald Trump has long made headlines for his negative stance on the fourth estate, but come Jan. 20, will the divide between the media and the public begin to heal? 

After years of using the term ‘Fake News,’ to attack critics and factual journalism itself, the phrase has been irreparably tied to the right side of the political lane. 

His administration has used satire, disinformation, and even false headlines to push a heartbreaking agenda of ‘alternative facts.’

For example, after election results certified Joe Biden’s presidency, Trump turned to Twitter to express concern about election numbers, citing without evidence, wide-spread election fraud. 

Instead of working together to bring American citizens together, Trump has divided his supporters against the news cycle, and the truth. 

From fabricated pieces for political propaganda to disparaging the widespread effects of disease, instead  of working together to bring American citizens together, Trump has divided his supporters against the news cycle, and the truth. 

But in the days of social media and content sharing on websites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram where influencing thousands takes only a few seconds, how can we combat this era of misleading information? 

Well, there are multiple ways. 

Inspecting the website’s appearance - taking into account the author, date and even article photos can stop the spread of ‘Fake News.’

Although some fake news sites copy the appearance of legitimate news sources like CNN, or The News York Times, fact-checking websites like  RMIT University and ABC’s Fact Check, and Snopes are designed to help sort fact - from fiction.