The definition of specious: 1. Having the ring of truth or plausibility but actually fallacious: a specious argument. 2. Deceptively attractive. So it’s in the website title.
Well . . . their logo is the Statue of Liberty winking at you. I imagine WinkProgress is fake. If not entirely fake, the part that caused someone to share an article on Facebook or Google Plus is certainly made-up. From their Facebook page: WinkProgress.com your source for Radical-LEFT-Wing-Comedy Conspiracy! From their About Us page: WinkProgress.com, [. . .] where…
From the Rumor Mill News Facebook page: Politically Incorrect News Stranger than Fiction Usually True! This is kinda the same as when someone is going to say something, but they start with, “Not to be an asshole,” or “I’m not racist, but . . . ” and you know they are about to say something assholish or racist. If you…
The Babylon Bee wears its satire on its sleeve, making no attempt to hide its satirical intentions. The site is refreshingly funny, as well, and comes recommended to those who are not easily offended.
You can usually determine a site’s validity in about 5 seconds by looking at three things: disclaimers located at the footer of the front-/home-page (if you’re lucky and the site actually has one!); the number (and sometimes type) of ads on the site; images for the articles. So when we went to the article submitted for City World News (Handicapped…
We're assuming that 7uplagi.com is in the Indonesian language. No one here speaks it. From the homepage, however, filled with overly happy, beautiful women (some even suggestively eating a bomb-pop) we assume it's mostly ClickBait sensationalism banking on ad-revenue from click-hungry horny men.
If you wish to believe that Apple Annouces[sic] Release of Paranormal Communication Application or that a New Gandhi Movie Shocks India, then World News Daily Report is the site for you. But kindly leave our boots well and dry, thank you very much. World News Daily Report follows the old-school Tabloid-styled faux-journalism of its predecessors, such as the Weekly World…
Based out of Cincinnati, Derf’s website is too colorful to be taken seriously. “Maybe they figure that colorful news sites will grab your attention better?” Eh, fair enough. From their About page: DERF Magazine.com is the premier provider of humor and satire content in Cincinnati. Derf is dedicated to making fun of everything!
Okay, you smart-asses! 😉 After several submissions for Real or Satire, I guess it’s time to give ourselves an entry. Real or Satire is, as best we can determine, real. You’re welcomed to submit URL of a news story. If it’s from a source that we’ve already researched and verified, then you’ll receive a verdict: real or satire*. If the…
UPDATE – 08-03-2016: We have slightly revised our judgment on Breitbart in light of their consistent policy of going well beyond headline-hyperbole with their articles into downright lying when it suits them: Obama’s post-Ramadan statement giving thanks to the “achievements and contributions of Muslim Americans to building the very fabric of our nation and strengthening the core of our democracy”…
The Epoch Times is both real and really interesting to read. Originally, it was directed towards Chinese readers living abroad, countering through its own reporting and opinion pieces what it considers to be CCP propaganda. There is some concern that their primarily negative stance towards the CCP colors their work too much, but considering the closed nature of China’s microcosm,…
Let's get straight to the point: thelastlineofdefense.org is fake news masquerading as "satire." Read on to see how we came to this conclusion.
As with comedy, timing is everything for “satire” and ClickBait sites. Take this article submitted for The Daily Snark: Jason Pierre-Paul Blows Off Other Hand After His Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Explodes. With Samsung’s ‘Exploding‘ Galaxy Note 7 recall in the news and being banned on all U.S. Flights, it’s very easy to believe something like this. Until, that is,…
I don’t think the style of News Thump lends itself to erroneously sharing articles as news. But just in case . . . From their About page: NewsThump is one of the UK’s fastest growing humour websites, taking a daily swipe at current affairs from the UK and around the world. [. . .] We [. . .] never let…
Of the 223 submissions for Now8News.com, the top 2 articles sent to us were by far: “Trump Calls Jesus a Loser” and “Grandmother with AK-47 Saves Cops Being Attacked by Street Gang.” Now8News isn’t upfront about their site content by means of a disclaimer, so a fair bit of investigation is needed. Fortunately we don’t have to go too far…
Thought Catalog is a site for op-ed pieces. They also tend to repost — and resell — Reddit posts. From their About page: The more worldviews and rhetorical styles on the site, the better. We want to tell all sides of the story. Whether or not they are vigorous with fact-checking is another — and likely, moot — question; the…
We love The Platain. They’re funny. They have videos. And, for our purposes, they made it easy to determine their satirical nature. If you cannot glean their comedy from their videos (like “Plantain Action News: Amendment 2: The Plantain Gets High!” or “Traffic Fatalities Increase 9% According To Article I Read On My Phone While Driving,” for example), they have…
The article submitted was the following: Rape Will Be Made Legal in at least 43 Countries If This Activist Has His Way. Is the article real, or satire?
allenbwest.com is ‘real’ for the sake of our purposes here, meaning, it’s not satirical. Fond of citing the New York Post, another in the Murdoch sensationalist crop, it’s more an anti-Obama mouthpiece than anything else. This was the article that was submitted to us: http://allenbwest.com/2014/07/abject-disdain-military-troops-get-pink-slips-combat/ Basically, it’s blasting Obama for firing over 100 military personnel, including some generals. But the…
