VOA慢速英语--许多美国人认为“假新闻”是一个主要问题

Study: Many Americans Think ‘Fake News’ Is a Major Problem

In the United States, half of all adults consider ‘fake news’ a major problem, a new study finds. And these Americans mostly blame politicians and activists² for the problem.

Researchers questioned over 6,000 Americans about their ideas on fake news stories – those reports and videos created to trick or misinform people. The Pew Research Center released their findings earlier this month.

The study showed that a majority of U.S. adults believe reporters have the responsibility for fixing fake news and reporting the facts. Differences in political ties are a major influence in how adults think about fake news, the report noted³.

People who identified themselves as Republican Party members were more likely than Democratic Party members to blame reporters for the problem.

In recent years, Russian agents and others have led misinformation campaigns aimed at weakening democratic systems in the United States and Europe.

This has led to the involvement of politicians, civil-rights activists and technology companies in the question of how to deal with made-up or misleading stories.

The Pew Research Center said that 68 percent of U.S. adults believe fake news affects belief in government institutions. Misinformation was listed more often as a major problem than sexism, racism⁴, illegal immigration or terrorism.

Pew did not try to explain the definition of “made-up news and information.” But some questions in the study defined it as information meant “to mislead the public.”

As for who is to blame for false or misleading stories, those questioned were able to name more than one group as responsible. Fifty seven percent blamed U.S. political leaders and the people who work for them. Fifty three percent said activist¹ groups were responsible. Reporters and foreign actors such as Russia each got the blame from more than a third of those questioned.

Republicans were more likely than Democrats⁵ to report seeing made-up news stories and were less likely to believe it could be fixed⁶. Pew noted that Republicans are often more distrustful of the media and more likely to think reporting is one-sided.

The Associated Press, or AP says U.S. President Donald Trump⁷ often makes statements that are not always based on fact. Yet he often accuses media businesses of making up news stories he does not like. He has often been critical of the broadcaster CNN and praises Fox News. Earlier this month, he called CNN “fake news” and even suggested a boycott⁸ of its parent company, AT&T.

Nina Jankowicz is a researcher at The Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. She told the AP that Trump often sees anything that might by politically damaging to himself as made-up or fake news.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if that kind of transferred to his followers⁹ as well,” she added.

Republicans take the idea of made-up news to “mean news that is critical of Trump” instead of totally false stories, notes Yochai Benkler. He is a Harvard University Law School professor who wrote a book on misinformation and the media.

Like Trump, nearly 60 percent of Republicans were more likely to blame reporters for fake news, while 20 percent of Democrats felt the same way. Republicans were also far more likely to believe that reporters adding their own opinions into stories was a big problem.

About half of Republicans and Democrats alike said they have unknowingly shared fake news. And about one in 10 said they have shared stories they already knew were untrue.

The U.S. government has pressured Facebook, Google and other technology companies to remove misinformation from their services. But over half of Americans in the study said that reporters have the biggest responsibility to reduce made-up stories.

“It’s surprising that people didn’t think the [technology] sector¹⁰ and the government should be responsible,” Jankowicz said. It is surprising because news reporting has its limits in its ability to prevent the spread of fake news, she added.

“As someone who specializes in … disinformation, I know that fact-checking doesn’t always work,” Jankowicz said. Readers are more likely to remember incorrect information than the correction, she said.

I’m Dorothy Gundy.

And I’m Pete Musto.

Words in This Story

agent(s) – n. a person who does business for another person, organization or country

institution(s) – n. a custom, practice, or law that is accepted and used by many people

sexism – n. unfair treatment of people because of their sex

racism – n. poor treatment of or violence against people because of their race

boycott – n. an often organized act of refusal to buy, use, or participate in something as a way of protesting it

transfer(red) – v. to cause something to move from one person, place, or thing to another

sector – n. an area of an economy

1 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

2 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

4 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

5 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

7 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

8 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

9 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

10 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。