Yes, you have to be a little careful about the background of the web content you read.
“Islam has won.” This headline fits. Is the Pope now giving his pontifical order for mass conversion? If the Berliner Express article is to be believed, then the Pope actually called for people to submit to Islam. Out of pure surrender.
However, “believe” may be the important clue here, because the relatively young website “Berliner-Express” is a satirical website that writes on its own website that in its opinion there is too little online satire. With their offer they help at this point.
Like the publication “There should be a ban on the sale of alcohol in Ramadan”, this article also represents web content from the satire category. By the way, you can find out quite easily, because the following also applies to this article:
Fact check for unknown content
What you should always do with unknown content or websites: Look at who writes there, why the content is there and why it was written there the way it was written. In the case of the “Berliner Express” this is quite simple. The most important thing is that you even come up with the idea of carrying out a fact check.
An exaggerated presentation of content without further explanations should be the first alarm signal. A lot of opinion, little content, a barely reliable source if there is one at all, as well as very shortened presentations that are almost compressed to headlines should mean that you at least take a look at what a text is all about.
Satire is the program here!
Look at the imprint of a website or blog. Are you dealing with transparent and reputable information or are you dealing with random and untraceable address information for a post office box in Central America? Or maybe there is no imprint at all? Non-existent contact persons are to be classified more critically. Is there an “About me / About us” section? This information is often very helpful. And that is the case with the offer on the “Berliner-Express” website; there is a part that describes it itself.
Here you can find out that the website is a satirical offering, which, according to the company, wants to establish itself alongside the Postillon and the daily press. Furthermore, similar to the abbreviations of press agencies such as (dpa), the operators have created their own abbreviations with which the articles are introduced. In this case it is the abbreviation (fna), which stands for “Fake News Agency”.
Only the imprint of the website is a little non-transparent; a little improvement may be necessary here, because the portals with which the comparison is made (i.e. Postillon and Daily Press) have a consistently transparent imprint.
Satire problem at Mimikama
In principle, Mimikama does not use satire to point out satire. By the way, satire is not a form of fake news, but rather satire is satire and should be consumed as such. We usually deal with satire sites when the source is not clearly recognizable as satire, it is a pseudo-satire or, as here, it is a young and barely known website.
[vc_message message_box_color=“green” icon_fontawesome=“fa fa-check“] NOTE: Berliner Express = Satire[/mk_info]
It often happens that readers only get stuck on the so-called “teaser” (Facebook preview) and often don’t even check the content for its character.
It can be very easy not to fall for satire.
What questions should you ask yourself as a reader?
- Who writes? (Imprint)
- What is the character of the website?
- What genre does this text belong to? (is there a corresponding note above the content or below the content?)
Based on this, the classic test points then follow (if they are still necessary at all):
- Content cross-check –> use search engines
- Image check –> reverse search
Even if it takes a little more work than just reading a headline, it's worth it in the end! Simply because you can protect your nerves, which can cause outrage to boil. Stay calm in an emergency! If you look behind the scenes, you'll discover that you often don't need to get too invested in something.
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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )


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