Let’s get real about fake news; a broadly used phrase with a largely overstated impact. Many blamed the scourge of fake news for Trump’s election. Yet, as we approach the hundred day mark of his administration, only about two percent of his backers say they regret the vote. That suggests that people who support Trump liked what they saw and they still do. That said, fake news and the spread of misinformation is clearly a societal problem. And it’s unclear that the proposed fixes will make things any better. I’d argue that transforming massive tech companies from providers of agnostic social platforms into editors of our online experiences is equally if not more dangerous than phony news. Let’s start the discussion with a question posed by Farhad Manjoo in the NYT Mag: Can Facebook Fix Its Own Worst Bug? “Fake news was only part of a larger conundrum. With its huge reach, Facebook has begun to act as the great disseminator of the larger cloud of misinformation and half-truths swirling about the rest of media. It sucks up lies from cable news and Twitter, then precisely targets each lie to the partisan bubble most receptive to it.”

+ Recode: Now Facebook will suggest articles to get you out of your filter bubble. (I’d be more interested in help getting out of my social networking bubble.)

+ “What would happen if you combined professional journalism with fact checking by the people?” Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales is launching Wikitribune to find out.

+ I’d imagine more people trust search results than shared news articles. So it may be an even bigger deal that Google is rewriting its powerful search rankings to bury fake news. But again, your view of the world is in that hands of a tech company.

+ Fake news is bad. Fake search results might be worse. But neither seems nearly as dangerous as the never-ending wave of state bills aimed at allowing schools to teach science as if it were a form of dystopian fan fiction. From Vice: Climate Denial In Schools.

+ And, somehow related: Pro-wrestling fans are experts on authenticity. “When a performer falls to the ground, Smart Fans look for the tiny blade he’s using to cut his forehead to make the damage look more convincing. It’s Smart Fans who follow the plot leaks and who know what will happen in each fight. It’s Smart Fans who know which feuds are scripted and which ones probably represent real animosity.”