Abstract
A fundamental tenet of journalism is that news articles are based on facts, not assumptions or evaluations. A content analysis of recent deceptive news articles found that they contain a lower proportion of report statements (facts) and a higher proportion of both inferential statements (assumptions) and judgment statements (evaluations) than a random sample of ostensibly legitimate articles produced by the same major news organizations during the same timeframe. Implications for the practice and future of journalism are discussed.
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