FAKE NEWS AND THE ROLE OF JOURNALISM IN THE AGE OF DISINFORMATION

Abstract

In contemporary life, fabricated news has become significant issue of the digital age. It enormously affects the public opinion, elections and health decisions. This article explores how fake news spread via social media and what strategies professional journalists and institutions can apply to tackle this issue. Through academic research and real-life global examples, the article investigates the effectiveness of current approaches, including fact-checking and media literacy initiatives. The goal is to highlight the responsibility of modern journalism in protecting the truth, while simultaneously arguing that the priority should be given to verified governmental sources.