ABOUT

The spread of misinformation and fake news stories has gained substantial ground in the past few years, largely due to the rise of social media. The Columbia Journalism Review, a world leader in press criticism, wanted to expose Americans to the dangers of false news and educate them on how to recognize it. So we created the Fake News Stand.

We found misleading headlines that had been widely shared online, and we made them tangible for the first time by putting them on the covers of what looked like real newspapers and magazines. Then we put them on display at a heavily trafficked newsstand in Manhattan. Inside each publication, an educational publication prompted people to question what they were reading.