Be forewarned, you seekers of information…
Earlier this month, hackers took over one of Reuters’s Twitter accounts and sent out eight fake tweets, including “Obama signs executive order banning any further investigation of 9/11” and “White house spokesperson says financial and technical support given to #AlQaeda operatives in #Syria.” The account was shut down. Hackers then broke into the agency’s blogging platform on two separate occasions and posted short, realistic “reports” of fake news that favored the Syrian government in its ongoing clashes with the rebel Free Syrian Army.
Hijacking the news: how hackers are manipulating the press from the inside out | The Verge.
If you use Wikipedia, please be aware that there are risks to using it as a source (not even counting the risk of upsetting your teacher, who requested that you use it sparingly, if you use it at all).
So says science Journalist Steve Silberman, by way of Rafe Colburn of r3c.org
If you’re curious about the historical context for the TV series The Pillars of the Earth, Wikipedia is an outstanding resource. On the other hand, if you’re writing a news story about outbreaks of infections caused by drug-resistant bacteria in hospitals, you shouldn’t rely on what you read in Wikipedia. Science journalist Steve Silberman writes about how spurious information sourced from Wikipedia is pervasive in stories about acinetobacter, and why that bad information could cost people their lives.
A look at the news and events happening in the Libraries at Waubonsee Community College