From: "Sowards, Steve" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2016 13:40:38 +0000

It's going to be hard for future historians to understand what
happened in politics in 2016 if no one preserves the stream of "fake
news". It's a primary source, and clearly was influential in the
debates around the election, and possibly for the outcome. As usual,
though, preserving social media news is a challenge, regardless of
content.

Steven Sowards
Associate Director for Collections
Michigan State University Libraries
East Lansing MI 48824

-----Original Message-----
From: Susan Lafferty <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 24 Nov 2016 23:03:28 +0000

Hi everyone,

Just because we respect some journalists and news outlets and not
others doesn’t mean we have a role in deciding what is fact and what
is fiction.

If we choose to preserve 'real news' and not 'fake news' we do a
disservice to those outlets that don't toe the line and to readers who
believe those outlets.

Do we have a right to preserve only our own reality?  I think not.

·        Think of how inaccurate the reporting was with regard to
polls in the recent US elections - that reporting was 'fake news' too.

·        What about all the reporting of WMDs in Iraq? Are we
preserving the outlets that challenged this ‘real news’?

·        Think of all the conspiracy theories about JFK - now some of
them appear to hold some truth...

·        In previous generations, censorship and misinformation have
been utilised in mainstream media for ‘national security’ purposes

·        In previous generations, McCarthyism was given a voice in
mainstream media.

·        In previous generations minorities had NO voice in mainstream media.

·        What about when Oliver Cromwell was the good guy? (see? some
of you will say he still is, others won’t)

Left and right wing ‘rags’ and rubbish magazines tell us the truth
sometimes when we don’t want to hear it. Someone needs to preserve
them too.

We have a responsibility to preserve 'fake news' as sources of
research for future generations.  If not, we run the risk of
increasing the bias of preserved knowledge available to them.  Just
like my Japanese friend was never taught anything about WWII in
school…

Let those future generations decide for themselves, in hindsight, what
was true and what was fake, by giving them the whole picture.

Maybe Mark Zuckerberg could continue to rely on the Facebook community
to decry ‘false news’ and concentrate on weeding out bullies.

Respectfully,

Susan Lafferty