Fake news refers to distorted and sometimes falsifed reports with the intention to mislead. Initially fake news referred to political reports but the concept can be expanded to refer to reporting intentionally inaccurate information about other topics as well.
There are usually multiple goals behind fake news. They include:
Note: Journalists can report on a story that naturally develops; sometimes in the process the information changes. That is not fake news. A journalistic story has the intention of providing the most accurate information available at that time. Fake News intends to mislead.