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LESSON 1 · Don't Get Fooled: Media Literacy

Fake Story Blueprint

Fake news stories share consistent features:

  • Sensational headline that triggers outrage, fear, or moral disgust
  • Emotional language — loaded words like shocking, destroyed, exposed
  • No named sources that can be independently verified
  • Vague timing — words like recently or just now create false urgency
  • One-sided framing with no opposing view

The most effective fakes contain a grain of truth: a real event taken out of context, exaggerated, or mixed with fabricated details. Those real elements hold up to a quick fact-check, lending the whole story false credibility.