Real Fake News. It’s Hiding In Your Feeds

Our courts reporter sent me a story tip she got off Facebook feed last week about some back-and-forth Gov. Gretchen Whitmer allegedly had with Detroit Red Wings player Moritz Seider. 

The post, from some entity calling itself “Detroit Red,” states that Whitmer called Seider a “traitor” for refusing to take part in some LGBTQ+ awareness campaign. At that, the hockey player allegedly shot back, “Sit down, Barbie!” to which the crowd within earshot broke into applause.

The post looked legitimate. It had good pictures of both Whitmer and Seider, separate from each other. The writing seemed professional. There was a link to the story.

It seems legitimate. More than 1,000 people on Facebook interacted with it. As of Tuesday afternoon it received 436 comments, most ragging on the Governor for overstepping her bounds as a political official.

Only a few of the respondents questioned the legitimacy of the report. 

So, I’ll answer it for the people who care. The whole thing is bullshit. Never happened. 

No reputable media reported the interaction. Nobody else commented on the alleged exchange. The Governor’s Office quickly confirmed to me that it didn’t happen.

The whole story was a complete fabrication.

Just like the story that reported Dylan Larkin’s mom died or just about everything else they’ve put up on Facebook. The Detroit Red Wings do have an LGBTQ+ Pride night. It’s April 11. Hasn’t even happened, yet. Look it up.

Or go to the post yourself. It’s dated March 12, 12:15 p.m. Click through to the link. It’ll take you to a deathtrap website so packed with pop-ups and banner ads you won’t be able to move your cursor after 15 seconds.

The post looked legitimate. It tricked my courts reporter and literally hundreds of other people. They saw a post on social media. You like sports? You like politics? The algorithms will push it in your feed. Dinner served!

Now, let’s say, I or any other professional journalist had printed this same crap. We put our name to a story completely crafted out of whole cloth to gin up likes and hits. Maybe it’s for the thrill of it all. Maybe for some financial kickback. Drive traffic. 

Whatever. You know what happens to that journalist? I’ve seen it happen. In Dalton, Georgia. It was 1997 or ‘98. The reporter I worked with wrote a story quoting someone who he never talked to.

I can’t remember his name, but he was my age. Got called into the publisher’s office one minute and was shown the door the next. No two weeks. No exit package. Flat out fired.

Today, the type of content my old colleague tried to pass as news isn’t even taken off the web. Oh, no. It’s still there for more people to comment on.

This whole “fake news” campaign has made facts fungible – regardless of where you get them. You don’t like what is presented? Create your own.

A couple years ago, I overheard someone at a cross-country meet tell a fellow spectator that the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks didn’t happen. It was all propaganda and high-tech camera work, he claimed. Instead of pushing back, the other person actually started questioning whether the Twin Towers actually collapsed.

This conspiratorial nonsense can be dated back to the lunar landing or Aristotle letting us all know the earth is a sphere.

However, in 2026, social media is creating a platform to spread real fake news. Not news you don’t like. Stuff that flat out Is. Not. True. 

Facebook, X, Instagram and all the rest of them make it too easy. They give you everything you want to see.

It lets you turn your brain off. It’s literally addicting.  And when you’re not thinking, posts like this one can pass as real.

Real news starts with named professionals who would be kicked to the curb for making up a story. Outlets that could be sued out of business for fictitious content.

Stuff like Detroit Red’s make-believe? At best, it’s entertainment.

 (Kyle Melinn is the editor of the Capitol news service MIRS. You can email him at melinnky@gmail.com.)