Ejercicio Texto 1 - Cuestión 5 · Inglés PAU Asturias Extraordinaria 2023

Texto 1

Fake news

‘A lie told often enough becomes the truth’ (Vladimir Lenin). Fake news is false or misleading information presented as news. Most people identify fake news with Donald Trump, as he used the term widely to challenge mass media coverage of his 2016 presidential campaign. Trump ran as much against the ‘fake news’ of the New York Times and CNN as against Hillary Clinton and the Democrats. Trump took advantage of the distrust of many voters towards institutions and large corporations and insisted that the main goal of these organisations was to discredit his political campaign and lie about him. The end of the story was Donald Trump’s massive victory in the 2016 election.

By news we mean something like the truth, the real facts about the world. News can be false, of course. But we would like to believe that untrue in this case really means an error, a mistake that in some sense can always be corrected. News suggests truth or commitment to truth. If they are faithful to their job, journalists always try to get their stories right; intentional falsification of news results in professional suicide. In the climate of a free democracy where news is one of the main characteristics of the system, the world faces a problem. Accurate news is vital to democracy and the explosive growth of fake news is seen by many as a threat.

With the popularity of the new digital age and social media (Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, etc.), fake news has literally invaded every sphere of life. The increased use of social media has made it possible for information – whether true, unclear, equivocal or simply false – to reach masses of people in a very short time. Fake news can be difficult to control for several reasons: many people do not believe established news sources and others simply do not take the time or trouble to read them. Consequently, proving that a fake news story is untrue by a serious newspaper or television channel has a very limited effect. Moreover, any website is very difficult to keep in check.

Cuestión 5. (1 punto)

Fill the gaps with the correct, most appropriate word in each case. (0,25 por acierto = 1 punto)

One can define 'new media'

(A)

any content which is easily accessible via numerous digital platforms and media.

(B)

the contrary, old media can be grouped into

(C)

we can call the traditional forms (newspapers, radio, television, magazines, etc.). Of course, in the 21 st century

(D)

is a degree of overlap where old media can be accessed in many ways, both analogue and digital.