Only a quarter of U.S. adults in a recent survey
could fully identify factual statements - as opposed to opinion - in news
stories, the Pew Research Center found in a study released on Monday.
The
survey comes amid growing concerns about so-called fake news spread on the internet
and social media. The term generally refers to fabricated news that has no
basis in fact but is presented as being factually accurate.
Facebook
Inc , Alphabet Inc's Google and other tech companies have recently come under
scrutiny for failing to promptly tackle the problem of fake news as more
Americans consume news on social media platforms.
The
main portion of Pew's survey polled 5,035 adult Americans aged 18 and above in
February and March. The study was intended to determine if respondents could differentiate
between factual information and opinion statements in news stories.
Participants
were given five factual statements such as "spending on Social Security,
Medicare and Medicaid make up the largest portion of the U.S. federal
budget," and five opinion statements such as "democracy is the
greatest form of government." They were asked to identify which ones were
factual and which were opinions.
Only
26 percent were able to correctly identify all five factual statements. On
opinions, about 35 percent were able to correctly identify all five statements.
Roughly a quarter got most or all wrong in identifying facts and opinions, the
research showed.
The
study found that participants' ability to classify statements as factual or
opinion varied widely based on their political awareness, trust in the news
media, and "digital savviness" or degree to which they are confident
in using digital devices and the internet.
"There
is a striking difference in certain Americans in distinguishing what are
factual statements and what are not and that depends on one's level of digital
savviness, political savviness," Amy Mitchell, director of journalism
research at Pew Research Center, said in an interview.
The
study also found that when Americans call a statement "factual" they
overwhelmingly also think it is accurate. They tend to disagree with factual
statements they incorrectly label as opinions, Pew said.
The
research showed Republicans and Democrats were also more likely to think news
statements are factual when the statements appeal to their side, even if the
statements were opinions.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/americans-grapple-recognizing-facts-news-stories-pew-survey-140456645.html