Why People Create and Spread Hoaxes

Here’s the thing — spotting fake news is harder than we like to admit. At Canadaland, we spend all day in the media. We’re supposed to know what’s real and what’s not.

But when you want something to be true? You let it slide. You give it the benefit of the doubt.

So we put it to our staff and you, the audience: tell us your fake news stories. The harmless ones, the ones that fooled you for a second, and the ones that didn’t stay harmless. The ones that actually caused panic — which, apparently, happens more than you’d think.

Host: Sam Konnert

Credits: Tristan Capacchione (Producer), Tony Wang (Executive Producer), max collins (Director of Audio), Jesse Brown (Publisher)

Photo: Tony Wang (Note: The photo was generated by A.I. in the past, and Tony Wang edited it to include the text “FAKE NEWS”.)

Additional music by Audio Network

Further Reading:

• Child-snatching eagle video created as student project — CBC
• University Cancels Swim Program, StatsCan Apology, the Fifenstocks, and the "Winter Wasteland" (Documentary) — CBC
• Calgary Aquarium Closure, Advertising to Infants, Winnipeg Real Estate Heating Up, Actor Malcolm Kind interview, and Dave's Homemade Drugs — CBC
• Caring hands: man becomes Canada's first male doula — CBC (This isn’t fake news, I just thought it was funny that there was a real story about the first male doula, that came out after This is That)
• AI Generated Avengers Doomsday trailer
• Flemish Secession Hoax — Wikipedia

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