Fake news spread causes Capitol riot

The storming of the Capital on Jan. 6 was incited by President Donald Trump’s lies about the presidential election results, but ultimately caused by fake news in the media. 

According to some polls, three out of four Republicans believe Trump won the election. The constant stream of fake news and propaganda is the reason why so many people don’t believe President Joe Biden won the election fairly.

In Biden’s inaugural speech he mainly talked about creating unity in America, but will this be achieved? In order for there to be unity fake news needs to be obliterated.

According to a research study, 14.2 percent of daily news Americans receive is fake. For there to be peace in America, this needs to stop.

Not only does fake news plague the media but so does extremely biased news. Channels like MSNBC have a very liberal bias and Fox News has a very Republican bias. U.S. news needs to be neutral so people can be well informed and create their own opinions about current events. 

Some laws have been passed to help solve this issue of fake news. There are ways the government can do this without limiting freedom of speech. The Fairness Doctrine created in 1949 required news radio and television channels to have balanced coverage of contentious issues and equal time for both sides of the issue to give their point of view. This makes the news much more fair for the public. Instead of being bombarded with propaganda like we are today, people get a much larger perspective on different issues. 

Channels like PBS and NPR have very little bias but these types of channels should not be the minority. More fair news should be available and the government needs to enforce it.

Fake news published on social media by media business should still be allowed but need to be flagged. There should be a warning that the information published is not true and is only entertainment. Also, all fake news should not be allowed to be shared. This would help stop the spread of fake news and informs the readers that what they’re reading is not true.

Without fake news, there will be fewer extremists which would help the problem of polarization in politics. If people are constantly fed crazy lies they are more likely to believe them.

Stopping fake news from spreading won’t create immediate unity, but it will bring Americans significantly closer.