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Utah State University journalism professor Matthew LaPlante gave his students an atypical exercise last semester: Throw together a fake news story.

The goal, LaPlante told them, was to learn how to identify hoax stories, which are written to mislead readers, boost website traffic or push out propaganda.

"The scary thing was, I honestly believe they were better at writing fake news than they are at writing real news," said LaPlante, a former Salt Lake Tribune reporter.

The prevalence of fake news — and the public's consumption of it — has become a story itself in the current political climate. On March 22, LaPlante, along with Tribune editorial writer George Pyle and Utah Valley University professor Gae Lyn Henderson, will discuss what the trend means for the public and the implications it has for journalists.

The Trib Talk Live discussion — "Fake or Fact: What is news?" — will be moderated by Tribune Editor Jennifer Napier-Pearce at Salt Lake City Main Library, 210 E. 400 South. The event will start at 7 p.m., and is free and open to the public.

"Manufacturing stories for power or profit isn't new, but the rise of social media has taken fake news to a whole new level," Napier-Pearce said. "We hope this forum will help people figure out what information is true, what's false, what's satire and why all of this matters to our democracy."

As an associate professor of English at Utah Valley University, Henderson said she sees firsthand how younger people are absorbing news.

"Students I see get most of their news from Facebook or other social media, usually only scanning headlines," she said. "We need to become more critical consumers of the media."

LaPlante said it is important to identify if a story is fake — through proper vetting of a "news" website, its previous articles, its web address and the author's background — and to take a hard look at why a story resonates.

"If my first impulse is, 'Oh yeah, that's right, it must be true because it totally conforms to what my preconceived notion of the world is,'" he said, "that's what we have to look out for."

Readers have more resources than ever to help them discern what's fake and what's real, he said — and society ought to shame those who pass along fabricated stories.

"The expectation should be you don't share fake news — and if you do get fooled, you should be embarrassed," LaPlante said.

Henderson — co-editor of the new essay collection, "Propaganda and Rhetoric in Democracy: History, Theory, Analysis" — said she also worries that dismissing real reporting as "fake news" is the latest attempt to direct the public into having a one-sided world view.

"Authoritarian leaders always attack a free and independent press, so the accusation of 'fake news' falls into that definition and fits a historical pattern," she said. —

Fake or Fact: What is news?

P The Tribune will explore the recent surge of "fake news" and its implications with Tribune editorial writer George Pyle, Utah Valley University professor Gae Lyn Henderson and Utah State University professor Matthew LaPlante. The panel will be moderated by Tribune Editor Jennifer Napier-Pearce.

When • Wednesday, March 22, 7 p.m.

Where • Salt Lake City Main Library, 210 E. 400 South.

Admission • Free and open to the public.