We almost feel bad reviewing nbc-news.net. Undoubtedly, seasoned RoS visitors wouldn't fall for the site's cheap tactics. Putting this here kinda feels like we're insulting our readership. But . . . someone submitted it, so we're obliged to review it.
UPDATE 01/31/2017: Categorizing madworldnews.com as “Real” never felt quite right with us. At the time of the initial review, we had a binary grading system: either a site was real, or it was satire. Mad World News didn’t quite sit comfortably in that either-or system. Where do we place highly opinionated commentary sites that commented on real news? But now…
The article sent to us for Hang the Bankers was this one: “US launches cyber attack on Russia’s power grid, telco networks and Kremlin command systems.” In the article, they claim that Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said: “If no official reaction from the American administration follows, it would mean state cyberterrorism exists in the US. If the threats…
The story submitted to us for America News Project was this one: Small Indiana Town To Change Name To Avoid Clinton Reference. Their About Us page features a fair bit of cheek: As you likely well know, the National Report and Daily Currant are both satire sites. (If you did not know this, feel free to click those links and…
ClickHole is a parody site from the makers of The Onion that pokes fun at click-bait-y sites like BuzzFeed and Upworthy. Needless to say, it’s satire.
Though not as prevalent as previous years, Channel 45 News is a prank-news generator, much like Break Your Own News. So this story about Justin Bieber coming out as bisexual and dating Ricky Martin is fake. Of course, with the word “prank” plastered all over the site, we can only assume that the intent of Channel 45 News is pure clickbait.…
I must confess: I have a soft spot for jefferly.com. Expect funny observations about life, reposts of funny webcomics, and commentaries on U.S. political goings-on. We mark this one “Bias” because, well . . . he has one. So expect a fair bit of color.
It’s hard to categorize this one. Conservapedia is a wiki-encyclopedia project with an extremely far-Right agenda/slant. Their goal is to counter the “liberal bias” of the media in general and Wikipedia specifically. So it’s hard to consider it “real news” because of it. Though it’s definitely not satire. One of the interesting editorial requirements (or requests) from Conservapedia is that…
The article sent to us to review was "World’s First Head Transplant A Success After Nineteen Hour Operation." But . . . is it real?
From Rational Wiki: Educate-yourself (“The Freedom of Knowledge, The Power of Thought ©”) is a green ink website of alternative medicine, pseudoscience, conspiracy theories, UFOs, Sylphs, and every other form of crankery under the sun. Think of it as the Californian equivalent of whale.to. The editor is Ken Adachi. “Green Ink” is a British term, meaning, the letter from a…
Caveat emptor! While touted as the “British Onion,” it is actually a mix of current events, tabloid/gossip, and satire. It’s debatable whether or not their satire is adequately marked, so be careful with this one!
Tez Hazirlama Evi is a Turkish site. No one here at RoS speaks Turkish. Sorry. If you do speak Turkish and would love to help us out on this one, please do! EDIT: Special thanks to site-visitor 4DEATH, who provided a bit of info on Tez Hazirlama Evi: Thiis is not a news website. It claims to write thesis (university)…
From their About page: The Daily Currant is an English language online satirical newspaper that covers global politics, business, technology, entertainment, science, health and media.
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.
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…
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”…
Enduring Vision graciously reveals its satirical nature in its own logo. But read on to find out why we really like their site!
I can’t click a link on Naijaurban without fear of being pulled into some Nigerian scam. That said, the site is likely a mix of local news (as in, Nigerian-local), entertainment news, half-news, and questionably-real-news. Take anything from this site with a grain of salt. But with articles like My Boyfriend’s Father Is Very Good In The Bedroom, See How…
Fake news. Sometimes funny… but always fake. On their About page, they have the address and phone number for the Westboro Baptist Church hatemongers, which we find deliciously funny. There’s also this: Thanks to ABC News President & CEO, Dr. Paul “Un-Buzz Killington” Horner for making ABC News the greatest website in the multiverse. We need writers! Find out more…
The New York Post has been around longer than dirt, it seems. They report on real news, but with a heavy Conservative slant. They are not above posting ClickBait-y articles, such as the Planet X Gonna Kill Us All nonsense, that had already been debunked. NYPost was perfectly willing to refer to then Presidential-hopeful Barack Obama as “Osama” in a…
