Media Impact

The fake news source "The Onion" is popular even though it does not report actual news. But what effect does fake news have even though the audience knows that it is false? Flow theories show that the way the mass media is transmitted to the audience is a complex issue, so I suggest that a study is done in which popular media figures, like Oprah or Katie Couric, present fake news stories similar to The Onion. The randomly chosen testers will be told that the news is fake, but afterwards will fill out surveys that border on some of the issues covered by the fake news. Despite their prior knowledge that the news is fake, my hypothesis is that selective exposure, perception and retention will allow them to agree with the portions of the news that appeal to their bias, while rejecting that which counters it.