The waning influence of print journalism as the predominant news dissemination source has long been touted as inevitable. But the proliferation of “fake news” is likely to usher in an era where the line between fact and fiction will be as foggy as an early January morning on a winding desert road.

Right now, when a link is posted on Facebook, the social media platform projects it by showing an image, headline, and short sentence describing the article in a standardised format making no visual distinction between an article which has been published on the website of Gulf News and another that appears in an obscure, no-name blog.

The problem started when Facebook replaced editors with software to choose which headlines appear in its trending box. And since Facebook’s algorithm favours stories that generate engagement, a fabricated story carrying an archive picture of a man-eating crocodile allegedly spotted at a dark city centre alley by “credible witnesses who wish to remain anonymous” would rank much higher in the feed than the true, old-fashioned, factually correct — but less sensationalistic — news story about a big lizard seen by a group of people who are listed with their full names in the same article.

The issue is compounded when one considers the enormity of Facebook’s audience which is measured in billions and the ever-growing number of people who admit that the platform is the only source for their daily dosage of news. Prior to the advent of the internet and social media, the old adage used to be that “If it’s in the newspaper, it must be true”.

Today, Millennials — and not just them — seem to think the same about the news appearing on their Facebook and Twitter feeds.

If anything, this trend is likely to continue and will start becoming more prevalent in the region as more newspapers and magazines fold up their print editions as was the case of “7Days”, which pioneered tabloid-style reporting to the emirates when it launched nearly 13 years ago.

As this made the rounds, news about Facebook’s “fake fix for fake news” made headlines in one of the bastions of print journalism, Wall Street Journal. Soon after, the social media goliath unveiled its response to worldwide criticism about its decision to deputise volunteering “fact-checkers” with the task to decide if an article is credible.

What could go wrong? Well, for starters, volunteers don’t get paid, therefore, the very fact, that fact-checkers would take action only when they are in the mood to do so makes the whole process and its outcome rather unconvincing.

With a continuously dwindling advertising spend, 7Days is the latest in the long list of high-profile media casualties and could be the spur for more closures in the region, especially if they are able to at least sustain a digital presence.

As an ex-journalist who has seen the newspaper I worked for close to six years after I left it and as a PR professional who has worked closely with hundreds of journalists, writers, reporters, stringers, photographers and editors from all over the world, I lament these decisions.

But more importantly, as a regular consumer of news, like you, I fear that the diminishing influence of real journalism and everything that it stands for in terms of accuracy, independence, impartiality, fairness and accountability will create societies which reward lies, bias, injustice and complete lack of accountability.

One way to avoid falling into this downward spiral is to ensure that the news feeds of the most popular social media platforms take self-regulation as seriously as their bottom-line and introduce iron-clad policies and practices to help eradicate the burgeoning fake news phenomenon. Failure to do so has had a profound impact on the way the US electorate voted in November’s presidential elections.

If unchecked, the so-called “new media” stands on the verge of creating a new societal norm where our world view and perceptions are based on fabricated fantasies, deceptions and half-truths.

— The writer is Head of PR and Social Media at Al Futtaim and author of “Back to the Future of Marketing — PRovolve or Perish”. Follow him on Twitter @georgekotsolios