Separating Fact from Fiction
Navigating Today’s Information Landscape
In today’s media environment, not all “information” is created equal. From misinformation and disinformation to propaganda, hyper-partisan news, and sensationalism, each carries its own intent, impact, and risks. Understanding these distinctions is essential for making sense of what we read, share, and believe. This page is designed as a working reference point that I’ll revisit and build on over time.
The breakdown:
Information
Definition: Data or knowledge communicated or received concerning a particular fact or circumstance.
Characteristics: Objective, accurate, and intended to inform without altering the truth.
Example: A news report detailing the results of an election based on official vote counts.
Misinformation
Definition: Any inaccurate, false, or misleading information, whether shared intentionally or unintentionally.
Characteristics: Often results from errors, misunderstandings, or incomplete verification. May be corrected once recognized, but can still cause harm if widely shared.
Example: Sharing an article that incorrectly reports a celebrity’s death.
Disinformation
Definition: Deliberately false or misleading information spread with the intent to deceive or manipulate.
Characteristics: Purposefully created to change public perception, often for political, financial, or social gain.
Example: A fabricated news story falsely claiming certain facts or misrepresenting them intentionally.
Propaganda
Definition: The intentional use of disinformation—often combined with misleading or sensationalist elements—to shape beliefs and behavior.
Characteristics: Not just about falsehoods, but about persuasion through selective framing, emotional appeal, and repetition.
Example: State-sponsored campaigns that distort reality to strengthen allegiance or demonize opponents.
Sensationalism
Definition: The use of exciting or shocking stories or language at the expense of accuracy to provoke public interest or excitement.
Characteristics: Emphasizes dramatic elements, often exaggerates facts, and may sacrifice accuracy for emotional impact.
Example: A headline like "Earth-Shattering Discovery Changes Everything!" when the actual discovery has limited significance.
Hyper-Partisan News
Definition: Information that is not necessarily false but is extremely one-sided.
Characteristics: Emphasizes outrage, promotes division, and often cherry-picks facts to support a narrative. This form of media has significantly increased in recent decades.
Example: A political site presenting only stories that paint one party as villains, while ignoring evidence to the contrary.
Yellow Journalism
Definition: Poorly researched or sensationalized reporting intended primarily to attract attention.
Characteristics: Sacrifices accuracy for clicks, often the historical precursor to modern “clickbait.”
Example: Headlines that promise shocking revelations but deliver little substance. Click bait.
Fake News
Definition: Content that mimics the appearance of legitimate journalism but is wholly inaccurate or fabricated.
Characteristics: Uses the style and form of news to gain credibility but lacks truth.
Example: Websites publishing entirely false stories disguised as news reports.
Midinformation
Definition: Information that is evolving, incomplete, or not yet fully verified.
Characteristics: Reflects the uncertainty inherent in unfolding events. May later prove accurate, inaccurate, or a mix of both.
Example: Early reports during a natural disaster that are revised as more facts emerge.
Bias
Definition: A tendency to favor a particular perspective, ideology, or group, which can affect objectivity.
Characteristics: Can be explicit or implicit, influencing how information is presented or interpreted.
Example: A news outlet consistently portraying a political party in a negative light while praising the opposition without balanced reporting.
Key Differences
It’s worth remembering that intent is not always clear-cut. We rarely know with certainty whether someone is deliberately trying to deceive or simply misinformed. Still, we can make informed judgments based on patterns, context, and impact.
Intent
Disinformation: purposeful deception.
Propaganda: systematic use of disinformation to shape beliefs.
Misinformation: unintentional sharing of falsehoods.
Sensationalism: seeks attention, often through exaggeration.
Bias: reflects perspective or predisposition, not necessarily deceit.
Accuracy
Information: accurate and reliable.
Disinformation/Propaganda: deliberately inaccurate.
Misinformation: inaccurate, but not malicious.
Sensationalism/Yellow Journalism: distorts or exaggerates.
Bias/Hyper-partisan framing: skews how facts are presented.
Midinformation: evolving or incomplete, accuracy uncertain.
Purpose
Information: to inform and educate.
Disinformation/Propaganda: to manipulate or control.
Misinformation: often spread in error.
Sensationalism/Yellow Journalism: to entertain or provoke.
Bias/Hyper-partisan framing: to reinforce identity or viewpoint. | GritandGrace! This post is public so feel free to share it.
Why It Matters
Distinguishing among these categories sharpens our ability to think critically about what we read and share. Misleading content takes many forms, some intentional, some careless, some distorted through bias or outrage. In practice, the lines often blur, and intent is not always easy to prove. But even asking the question What might be going on here? is a powerful act of discernment.
What makes this challenge especially difficult, as media scholars note, is that much of today’s misinformation and disinformation does not arrive as pure falsehood. Instead, it often blends fact with fiction, making it harder to verify and easier to believe. Evaluating truth, then, requires more than fact-checking. It requires understanding how narratives are built, how biases shape interpretation, and how emotion and identity drive what we accept as “real.”
Rather than treating truth as a simple on/off switch, it helps to see information as something we actively navigate. Some claims are accurate, some false, some incomplete, and many are designed to influence how we think and feel. The more we understand these distinctions, the better equipped we are to pause, question, and respond with clarity rather than reaction. Discernment doesn’t mean we will always know what is true, but it does help us recognize when fact and fiction are being blended, when narratives are shaping perception, and when uncertainty itself is being exploited.
References & Further Reading
Facciani, M. (2025). Misguided: The Psychology of Misinformation. New York: Prometheus Books.
Jack, C. (2017). Lexicon of Lies: Terms for Problematic Information. Data & Society Research Institute.
Lazer, D. M. J., et al. (2018). “The Science of Fake News.” Science, 359(6380), 1094–1096.
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