That's a Wrap (Up)

In the final episode of 2018, Beth and Kelly try to leave it on the lighter side by discussing some of the funnier fake news items of 2018.  Why do so many fake news stories revolve around guys doing stupid stuff? ​You'll laugh, you'll learn, you'll get some great jams!

We begin by discussing a story out of Bloomington, Illinois.  At the end of August, a story popped up from what looked like Fox News about a mortician from the Clark County Coroner’s office arrested for organ trafficking. The story goes on to describe the office was lined with shelves filled with glass jars containing human penises. 218 of them. (And he would of gotten away with it too, if it hadn’t been for those meddling kids!)
While this story is an obvious fake, it is not satire, as it the website is a clone for Fox News (foxnews-us.com) This kind of fake news is some of the most harmful, as it's based on nothing and just drives clicks for advertising revenue. 

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We move on to a story out of South Carolina, where a man supposedly shot his gun at Hurricane Florence in South Carolina back in September. The bullet rebounded and hit him in the head.
Snopes actually checked in with law enforcement to verify this wasn’t a true story, which seems like 5 minutes that could have been better spent on literally anything else. One reason the story took hold was a popular local Facebook Event:
More than 30,000 Facebook users checked they were attending a Facebook event titled Shooting Guns At Hurricane Florence To Scare It Away — and 73,000 more said they were interested in attending.
“Get your guns and your umbrellas,” the page read (since taken down). “And your umbrella-guns, and your beer, and your beer-guns, and your tiny umbrellas to keep your beer dry, and join people from all along the East Coast in scaring away Hurricane Florence to protect our country from this foreign invader!”

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No podcast about crazy fake news would be complete without a story from Florida! 
Remember 30 years ago, back in September, when Nike’s newest campaign featured Colin Kaepernick and republicans went crazy and burned their New Balance shoes?
Well, this obviously genuine story came from the totally legit news site Huzlers (joke, it's a satire site). It describes a 26 year old man from Florida who soaked his Nikes with kerosene and then set fire to them while in his garage. The fire spread to his home and burned the whole place down.  
You tell us - does this guy really look like he would do something so stupid?

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Beth and Kelly discussed how fake news is easier to spread if the story is funny, based on an article from Neiman Labs. Yale researchers Gordon Pennycook and David Rand make the case that people knowingly spread disinformation faster when the story has an element of humor, such as the ones cited above. 
And to round up - April Fool's Day! Is it still valid in the age of fake news? It can be, according to David Funke from Poynter.  But news media needs to stay away from fake stories and more on harmless pranks, just like the rest of us. 

From Beth and Kelly : Thank you for supporting our efforts to call out fake news, and we hope you and yours have a very happy holiday season. We'll see you in 2019!
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Beth's Jam of the Week: You Should See Me in a Crown by Billie Eilish

Kelly's Jam of the Week (Year!): The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.
Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.
But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.

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Sources Cited:
Did Bloomington Police Discover Over 200 Penises During Raid at a Mortician’s Home?
BLOOMINGTON POLICE DISCOVER OVER 200 PENISES DURING RAID AT FUNERAL EMPLOYEE’S HOME
Did a Man Accidentally Burn His Home Down After Lighting Nike Shoes on Fire?
Florida Man Accidentally Burns Home Down After Lighting Nike Shoes On Fire In Protest Of Nike’s Colin Kaepernick Ad
Did a Man Die from Shooting a Gun at Hurricane Florence?
Myrtle Beach Man Who Shot At Hurricane Florence Dies After Bullet Ricochets
As Hurricane Florence approaches, thousands ‘pledge’ to shoot their guns at the storm
What Would Actually Happen if You Shot a Gun at Hurricane Florence?
In the era of fake news, is April Fools' Day funny anymore?
When fake news is funny (or “funny”), is it harder to get people to stop sharing it?
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