Luling native helps start ‘fake news’ website

Heads Geaux Vote LSU

When “fake news” gained notoriety in the Trump-Clinton presidential campaign and remained a concern after the election, Kaylin Parker became one of the people dedicated to helping flush it out.

“It is very prevalent, especially with people getting their news from online sources,” said Parker, an LSU senior from Luling and president of Geaux Vote LSU. “It is very tricky to spot if you do not know what to look for. The deceptiveness of fake news sites, partnered with provocative headlines that get people’s interest, lead to viral sharing of this false or misleading information.”

Geaux Vote LSU chose fake news as this year’s spring semester issue, which led to creating a website to help identify fake news as part of the group’s media literacy campaign.

The website is intended to provide an easy-to-understand resource to examine news. Parker said it could also help college students on a research paper or the public before sharing on Facebook or Twitter.

The website is a tool for readers to use and analyze the accuracy of stories. Some of the website’s recommendations include checking the article’s web address, as well as researching the background of the author or journalist. Parker said she hopes the website will combat the issue of fake news.

The topic was a perfect fit for Parker, who is studying mass communications with a concentration in public relations.

“Fake news is definitely something to think about in the public relations field and has been a topic in my curriculum at LSU,” she said. “Not only is it important for my career, it’s important that everyone consider the legitimacy of what they read on the Internet.”

It’s important for everyone, she said, particularly with so many people getting their information from the web and sharing it instantaneously.

Last spring semester, Geaux Vote LSU also successfully got state legislation passed to require universities to include signatures on student IDs, making the cards eligible for voter identification.

“We were super excited to work on this and see it signed into law,” she said. “We then jumped right into getting the LSU student body excited for the 2016 election. We spent the fall semester registering voters and organizing pledge-to-vote events. After the election, we started brainstorming what we wanted to work on in the spring and fake news was all the talk.”

A forum on fake news also will be held at 6 p.m. April 17 at the LSU Manship School of Mass Communication.

 

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