Study showing ‘Fake News’ beating ‘Real News’ looks like garbage

Published November 17, 2016 2:51am ET



Fake news *beat* real news on Facebook over last 3 months of election,” Ben Smith at Buzzfeed tweeted out. Alex Wagner, newly named an anchor at CBS, tweeted “Here’s a thing: viral fake news outperformed real news in the last 3 months of the election.”

These tweets link to a Buzzfeed story headlined “Viral Fake Election News Outperformed Real News On Facebook In Final Months Of The US Election.” The story has interesting data about the proliferation of a few fake news stories, but it comes nowhere near proving the headline or Ben Smith’s tweet, that Fake News Beat Real News.

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