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This blog started the fake news about Ekwueme’s death

Alot of Nigerian blogs posing as news media houses falsely reported the death of Alex Ekwueme, the former Vice President of Nigeria (Second Republic), saying he collapsed and was diagnosed of chest infection barely ten days after celebrating his 85th birthday.

Blogs like naijaloaded.com.ng, tmnews.ng, globalexcellenceonline.com, mazinwosublog.com, thejuicyblog.com, queendoosh.info, sinemgist.com.ng, rasheedatblogspot.com, exlinklodge.com among others spread the news of this death that never happened.

However, information from family members showed the former Vice President was in a stable condition and responding to treatment at Memfys Hospital for Neurosurgery in Enugu State. At the same time, President Muhammadu Buhari was reported to have approved Ekwueme’s immediate treatment abroad. As at November 12 2017, it was reported that Ekwueme has been airlifted for treatment abroad.

On the 7th of November, a notorious fake media house called TMNews.ng “break” the non existent news that Ekwueme had died again.

Other fake blogs grabbed the news and hurriedly made the post just hours after.

Curiously, another fake link emerged seeming like that of Premium Times but a careful consideration will reveal that while PremiumTimes’ domain name is Premiumtimesng.com, this fake news media is premiumngr.com.ng.

One of the challenges of technology is that news can go viral, whether or not it is genuine. Unverified news that circulates with the different social media is sometimes difficult to detect. Sometimes, old news are dug out and re-circulated, misleading people to believe it is a recent one.

 

How to identify a Fake News/Website

Sometimes, we get Whatsapp messages of stories that have gone viral, saying Boko Haram is trying to eliminate all the Christians in Nigeria and you need to pray for them all.

At other times you get messages saying a prominent figure is dead, amongst others. Despite the fact that some viral news are fake, they still find their way into our inboxes, meaning people believe such stories and probably decide to share such stories.

The goal of fake news is to attract people to the site. However, it is not fun to always be suspicious about any story one reads, one needs to be smart on how to spot fake news;

1. Look to see if reputable news sites are also reporting on the story. However, make sure to delve a bit deeper. If for example, the Punch, Vanguard, and Premium Times all cite globalexcellenceonline.com as the source for their story that puts you right back where you started from. You need to find a reputable source that has done its own reporting on the story to ensure its veracity and accuracy.

2. Check for odd-looking domain names and make sure your browser displays the padlock sign at the top left, meaning that the site is secured.

3. Check the “About Us” tab on websites or look up the website on snopes.com for more information about the source. If you’re not sure about a website’s legitimacy, search around to see if there’s any kind of disclaimer. If you find one, that likely means the site cannot be trusted, even if the disclaimer is worded confusingly. Legitimate sites don’t need disclaimers.

4. Watch out for common news websites that end in “.com.co” as they are often fake versions of real news sources

5. Bad web design and use of all caps can also be a sign that the source you are looking at should be verified

6. If the story makes you really angry, it’s probably a good idea to keep reading about the topic via other sources to make sure the story you read was not purposefully trying to make you angry, in order to generate web traffic and advertising revenue.

7. Are there a lot of articles about sex or celebrities? Do you see photos of scantily clad women or people with enormous body parts? Are there dubious-sounding stories about women needing to do more housework to avoid obesity, or about how eating a box of chocolates daily will actually lower your cholesterol? If so, beware.

8. Consider any disaster story carefully, especially if it’s paired with a specific date. Such a story may be true, but more often than not, it’s false. For example, David Meade, the self-proclaimed researcher who predicted that the world would end September 23, 2017 but moved the date to October 15, 2017.

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ETN24 - Explaining the News is about putting News in the correct context to promote understanding and education. We believe News should educate, not agitate. Our dedication is to fighting Fake and Sensational News, as well as to keep an eye on the media to ensure our peace and sanity are not sold for traffic.
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