Earlier this week, a social media page and a handful of its commenters started a rumor and stated that Hit Music Channel 977 had discussed said rumor on the air and distributed it as fact.
We here at Leighton Media’s Fergus Falls office have no such knowledge of this alleged broadcast.
The rumor that the Viking Café in downtown Fergus Falls is moving locations and that we covered it on our stations is not true.
As a media company, we take accusations of the validity of our news coverage very seriously.
Misinformation has become a plague to the news world due to social media and the environment that has been designed for the internet.
It is often believed that anyone can post anything on social media, and while there have been attempts by both social media companies and the government to regulate the content, that is still mostly true.
Social media’s ability to connect people instantly across the globe has allowed anyone with an internet connection to spread false or misleading information to everyone with just a few clicks.
While it may sometimes seem like these issues mainly focus on a large scale, it happens locally on a small scale as well.
That’s why it’s important for you, as a consumer of media, to be an active consumer.
Taking the time to check out the source of the information and what its sources are is critical to stopping the spread.
All it takes is for one person to take a false story at face value, and the misinformation becomes wide reaching. Reach out to local news providers and see what they know.
Even if they don’t have a full answer immediately, they generally have the connections to get the truth.
The internet can be a wonderful tool, and if we all stay alert and informed, it will be.