Fact vs Fiction: dissecting our news feeds

News 1: A ruthless and determined enemy force of 30 to 40 fighters attacked the U.S. base at 5:20am. In just a few minutes, the U.S. sustained three casualties. A U.S. Army specialist was killed when a rocket propelled grenade destroyed a truck he was driving. Two contract pilots died when their plane caught fire during take off after it was barraged by small arms fire and a rocket propelled grenade. The enemy force destroyed six U.S. aircraft, one allied aircraft, several vehicles, and other property. The U.S. and its ally engaged the enemy fighters for several hours before they withdrew leaving behind six dead.

News 2: The desert wind whipped sand against the canvas of the supply canvas cover. The U.S. sergeant squinted, his eyes watering, as he guided his string of camels through the treacherous terrain. The humped animals, though stubborn, were faring better than the exhausted mules they'd replaced to haul military supplies. A sudden, sharp crack echoed across the hills, followed by the whiz of a bullet. They'd been ambushed.

What do I think?

How do you distinguish fact from fiction when scrolling through a newsfeed or thumbing through a magazine? You probably analyze the characters, context, and facts; if any of them seem out of place then the story must be false. So what if I told you that News 1 took place after 9/11 and neither story took place in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Pakistan, North Africa, or South America? What do you conclude? Are they fact or fiction? Both of them or only one? 

What happens when I give you a visual?

Battle scene: fact or fiction - camels, destroyed fighter jets

Image generated by Gemini, 3/7/2025

I’m probably taunting you to read them both again, more carefully. Your brain is processing the text and is being misled by the single picture. After all, I said two different news sources. What do you conclude now? 

The first incident happened in January 2020. It was an attack on Camp Simba, in Manda Bay, a few miles from the historic and quaint city of Lamu on the Kenyan Coast. (US DOD 2022). 

The second is generated by ChatGPT (3/8/2025) but is based on the real U.S. Camel Corps. This was a mid-1800s experiment to use camels as pack animals. According to the US Army University Press, 

On 10 May 1855, Secretary of War Jefferson Davis personally penned one of the most unusual orders in the US Army’s history … “Sir: [You are] assigned to special duty in connection with the appropriation for importing camels for army transportation and for other military purposes….(Shapard 1975)

Why Should You Care

We are being bombarded: on social media, news feeds, left and right wing media, media that claims to be independent. Our private groups circulate pictures and stories that we instinctively believe. Where did I hear about these two stories: the attack on Manda Bay surfaced as I was researching a chapter of my forthcoming book on Peace and Security in Kenya. The Camel Corps was in the March 1st episode of favorite funny news podcasts, NPR’s Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me. 

As the consumer, you have to separate fact from fiction. Luckily we have tools that can help us. I use google, wikipedia, and ChatGPT but triangulate everything by asking for credible citations. I don’t believe many of the stories I see on social media; I dig in before believing or sharing. Be a responsible consumer of information in this information-overload, polarized, fake news, artificial intelligence world we live in.

References

Department of Defense Press Briefing on U.S. Africa Command Investigation of Jan. 5, 2020, Al-Shabaab Attack at the Cooperative Security Location in Manda Bay, Kenya, published March 10, 2022,  Retrieved March 8, 2025.

Shapard, John. “The United States Army Camel Corps 1856-66”, Originally published in Military Review, August 1975. Army University Press. Retrieved March 8, 2025.

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