Andrew Bolt Sky News, Fox News all  open theirs for Nigel (ODT)

In the digital media age, declaring fake news has become the equivalent of crying wolf. Frequently, it is a slur hurled at journalists by those who do not like a story. Sometimes it is a real threat to informed discourse. It is disturbingly easy to propagate, and wields insidious power. This week, I learned just how damaging it can be.

I had just returned from an afternoon at the beach when a tweet with my name in it caught my eye. I recognised the image. It was one I had taken nearly three years ago at a pro-Syrian refugee rally while working as a reporter in Saskatchewan, Canada. In the original image, a woman wore an Amnesty International sign around her neck reading “My door is open for refugees”. But that’s not what this image said. The words had been edited to read “My legs are open for refugees”, in what looked like a Microsoft Paint chop-shop job by a 12-year-old, and it had been shared by none other than Nigel Farage. “What an insult to the victims of sexual abuse in Cologne and rape in Malmo. These people are sick,” he tweeted.

via Nigel Farage spread ‘fake news’. I know, because I took the real picture | Lasia Kretzel | Opinion | The Guardian