Saying something doesn’t make it so. 

Reading something on the internet doesn’t make it so. 

Sharing something, posting something, “liking” something doesn’t make it so. 

Writing something in a letter to the editor or a column doesn’t make it so either. 

There are so many bogus news sites on the internet that it is hard to believe anything anymore. 

No, we are not talking about Fox News or CNN, though both can be partisan in the way they report the news. 

We are talking about sites such as:

— WashingtonPost.com.co 

— USATodayNews.me

— CNN-Business-News.ga 

— TheNewYorkEvening.com 

— NYDailyNews-TV.com 

— NBC.com.co 

— BostonTribune.com 

— ABCNews.com.co 

— 24online.news

— 247News.Media.com 

— AmericanNews.com 

— AmericanPeopleNetwork.com

— BuzzFeedUSA.com 

— ChristianToday.info 

— ConservativeDailyPost.com 

— BreakingNews247.net

— World.Politics.Com 

This is just a sampling. There are so many more online sites which are imposter web addresses or which, quite frankly, just post completely made up, bogus stories. 

Look at that list. 

Many of those URLs look legitimate. 

Surely you can trust ABC News. Right? In fact, ABC is generally rated as one of the most factually reliable news sources. 

The problem is that ABCNews.com.co is not ABC News. It looks right but adding the .co at the end of the web address takes you to an imposter site. When you are looking at something in your Facebook feed, however, you might not look at the web address that carefully and be easily deceived by a headline which is simply not true. 

Think what you will about Fox News and CNN but this is something far more sinister than a major media outlet reporting the news through a conservative or progressive lens. 

When sharing or liking something online it would be wise for you to always check the source and make sure it is legitimate. 

Here is a link that might help you a bit:  https://bit.ly/32M7UVD

PolitiFact maintains a database of imposter websites, but the problem is as soon as one site is exposed or shuts down, many more pop up. 

Here is the thing: The right thinks it is under attack from the left. The left thinks it is under attack from the right. In reality, the truth is under attack from both the far right and the far left. 

So, be careful what you read, what you post, what you share and what you like. 

We are also asking that those of you who write letters to the editor and submit guest columns to the newspaper to cite your sources and always fact check before submitting to our editors for a final fact check. As always, we reserve the right to reject or to edit anything submitted for publication.