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Explore our coverage of government and politics.

Living In The Era Of Fake News

Eric Draper
/
AP
Real or fake, this news item in The Weekly World News correctly predicted the outcome of the Presidential election.

It all seemed so easy when you could trust your daily news sources. And for the edgier, sensationalized reports, you grabbed the supermarket tabloid. This was real, that was fake.

But somewhere the lines got blurred and we started to get stories that were slanted, poorly researched, or just plain fabricated. And it seems like the 2016 Presidential election was the high-water mark for what has been dubbed "fake news."

We hear from David Mindich, St. Michael's College professor of media studies, journalism and digital arts, and Orion Lewis, Middlebury College political science professor, about how we got here, why it's so prevalent today, and how to determine real from fake.

Also on the program, it seems to follow that the more student debt you rack up, the more likely you are to move back in with your parents, or boomerang. Dartmouth College Sociology Professor Jason Houle explains what he's found in a recent study regarding factors that influence that move back home.

Broadcast on Wednesday, January 18, 2017 live at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.

Ric was a producer for Vermont Edition and host of the VPR Cafe.
Jane Lindholm is the host, executive producer and creator of But Why: A Podcast For Curious Kids. In addition to her work on our international kids show, she produces special projects for Vermont Public. Until March 2021, she was host and editor of the award-winning Vermont Public program Vermont Edition.
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