Fake News in Formation of Public Opinion (on the Example of Broadcasting of CNN and «Russia» TV Channels)

The work is devoted to the phenomenon of fake news as a tool for forming an opinion of the audience. As an empirical basis, we took the materials of the FOX News, CNN, NBC and CNBC channels, as well as relevant statistical indicators and survey data demonstrating the ideological, media and electoral preferences of the American voter. Also, in order to comprehensively explain the reasons for the influence of fake news on the opinion of the voters, we built our research on the conclusions of several theories - media and electoral behavior. The research question that we are asking is: How did the television fake news, despite the existence of the Internet with the possibility of mere fact-checking and the initially low ratings of Donald Trump, have been able to influence the opinion of voters and make the president a Republican candidate? Hence, we derive the following hypothesis: Against the backdrop of a sharp polarization of the political views of the American electorate and a high level of negativity toward both candidates, fake news played an important role in the outcome of the US presidential election in 2016.