ations . ▁ ▁H ems ley , ▁Jacob son ▁et ▁al . ▁refer ▁to ▁this ▁phenomen on ▁as ▁" pse ud ok now ledge " ▁which ▁develop ▁false ▁narr atives ▁and ▁fake ▁news ▁that ▁are ▁supported ▁through ▁general ▁analysis ▁and ▁ide ology ▁rather ▁than ▁facts . ▁Social ▁media ▁as ▁a ▁news ▁source ▁is ▁further ▁question ed ▁as ▁sp ikes ▁in ▁evidence ▁surr ound ▁major ▁news ▁events ▁such ▁as ▁was ▁captured ▁in ▁the ▁United ▁States ▁ 2 0 1 6 ▁president ial ▁election . ▁ ▁Effect s ▁on ▁individual ▁and ▁collect ive ▁memory ▁News ▁media ▁and ▁television ▁journal ism ▁have ▁been ▁a ▁key ▁feature ▁in ▁the ▁sh aping ▁of ▁American ▁collect ive ▁memory ▁for ▁much ▁of ▁the ▁tw enti eth ▁century . ▁Indeed , ▁since ▁the ▁United ▁States ' ▁colonial ▁era , ▁news ▁media ▁has ▁influenced ▁collect ive ▁memory ▁and ▁disc ourse ▁about ▁national ▁development ▁and ▁tra uma . ▁In ▁many ▁ways , ▁main stream ▁journal ists ▁have ▁maintained ▁an ▁author itative ▁voice ▁as ▁the ▁story t ellers ▁of ▁the ▁American ▁past . ▁Their ▁document ary ▁style ▁narr atives , ▁detailed ▁ex poses , ▁and ▁their ▁positions ▁in ▁the ▁present ▁make ▁them ▁prime ▁sources ▁for ▁public ▁memory . ▁Specifically , ▁news ▁media ▁journal ists ▁have ▁sh aped ▁collect ive ▁memory ▁on ▁nearly ▁every ▁major ▁national ▁event ▁– ▁from ▁the ▁death s ▁of ▁social ▁and ▁political ▁figures ▁to ▁the ▁pro gression ▁of ▁political ▁hope ful s . ▁Journal ists ▁provide ▁elaborate ▁descri ptions ▁of ▁comm emor ative ▁events ▁in ▁U . S . ▁history ▁and