Ever wonder where all those crazy political headlines on social media come from? There’s a good bet they originated in Veles, Macedonia – which is (incredibly) treating fake news as a growth industry. They used to make porcelain there. But, of course, social media isn’t all bad. As another RR entry notes, victims of recent hurricanes have used it to get help. We’re also reading about counterfeit shoes, a fabled Forbes editor, how zoos and aquariums deal with natural disasters and a podcast about the nature of self. Also, make sure to check out Senior Vice President Pam Munoz’s post about Greentarget’s work with the Domestic Violence Legal Clinic. With that, here’s Recent Reads. The Fake News Machine – You’ve probably never heard of Veles, Macedonia, but it’s one of the origin points for fake political news – and its entrepreneurs are getting rich and ready for 2020 (with the not-so-tacit support of local government officials). This is a chilling account of what we’re facing as a democracy – as a world? – when it comes to finding enough shared beliefs to even function. With headlines like “Michelle Was Caught Cheating with Eric Holder – OBAMA IS FURIOUS!!!” – and the knowledge that 2017 isn’t even a major election year, I can’t imagine what the next presidential election will look like. – Paul Wilson Hurricane Harvey Victims Turn to Social Media for Assistance – As a Houston native, my Facebook feed – typically filled with photos of babies, political frustration and bold asks from “friends” to buy the latest life-changing product – was flooded (pun intended) by people I grew up with asking for emergency assistance in real time in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. This article focuses on the use of social media relating to the storm, including the U.S. Coast Guard and the Houston Police Department urging people to call specific phone lines for disaster response instead of using social media. But as detailed in a recent Vogue story (which quotes a friend’s dad), when one man called an emergency phone line, the operator told him there were 2,000 calls ahead of him. A philanthropist with celebrity connections, the man reached out to his pal Montel Williams who made a plea via Instagram and got him the help he was looking for. Sounds to me social media was the way to go. – Lisa Seidenberg Counterfeit Yeezys and the booming sneaker black market – Replica sneakers have taken street fashion by storm. Sneaker companies do what they can to stop counterfeits, but the buzz surrounding Yeezys and other designs boosts the replica industry even more. Sneaker collectors don’t feel the need to hide the fact that their shoes are replicas either – buying a pair that is indecipherable from the legitimate design is a badge of honor. This article explores the replica sneaker market and the global network of sneaker collectors that fuels it. – Scarlett Wardrop Flamingos In The Men’s Room: How Zoos And Aquariums Handle Hurricanes – With much of the country dealing with major hurricanes and their aftermath, human evacuation becomes a priority – but what about the animals? This story highlights the unusual solutions zookeepers had to come up with to solve an impossible problem: what to do with the zoo animals when the hurricane hits? In my own career, I often find myself with my own flamingo problems. In PR, it is inevitable that you will need to create unusual solutions to impossible problems. Much like the zookeepers, we get creative and find a way to “make it work” even when it shouldn’t. Although the flamingo situation makes for an interesting photograph, it required some PR thinking to solve the problem. – Lauren Kokoskie The instructive poetry of a legendary Forbes editor – The last six months of Jim Michaels’ 27-year reign as editor of Forbes were my first six months as a staff writer there. A former UPI reporter who broke the news of Gandhi’s assassination, Michaels gets a lot of credit for bringing classical journalistic discipline to business news. At Forbes we worshiped and feared him in equal measure. His editing notes in our stories usually took the form of profane all-caps whippings. For those of us who wanted to be good at it, the response was always “thank you sir, may I have another?” – Brandon Copple GT Podcast Recommendation The Road Back to You – Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile teach not only awareness of the self, but also how to develop an awareness of others in this podcast. Derived from the Enneagram personality type system, this program explores nine distinct personalities and the intricacies of each. Unlike traditional personality tests, the Enneagram is uniquely fluid in that it recognizes the adaptive nature of human personality. The test reveals each personality type’s tendencies when healthy, stressed out, happy, etc. Cron and Stabile interview nine individuals who each possess a different one of the nine personality types outlined in the Enneagram. The podcast provides valuable introspection while opening up a great capacity to empathize with the ways other personality types view the world.  – Aubrey Martin

It’s pretty incredible how quickly the phrase fake news has permeated public discourse. The term itself has been around for a long time – but it really blew up during the 2016 presidential election. Our lead item in this edition focuses on the role of social bots, which continue to hold some sway despite the retirement of those dumb egg photos. We’re also reading about how being a journalist can be bad for your mental health, how one ski bum got political, how blue dogs (not the political kind) descended on India and a look at who really makes Trader Joe’s popular products. With that, here’s Recent Reads. First Evidence That Social Bots Play a Major Role in Spreading Fake News — Fascinating and relevant to the PR industry, this article explores findings from a first-ever systematic study of the way online misinformation spreads. The key finding: social bots are the main player in the spread of fake news soon after it is published. One way to combat this problem, according to the authors, would be to outlaw specific social bots. However, knowing which bots to outlaw is challenging because many social bots spread legitimate information. A modern day conundrum that was unimaginable even a decade ago now challenges our ability to make informed decisions, based on facts, that align with our values. Maybe that’s dramatic, but the fake news problem is anything but trivial. – Pam Munoz When Being a Journalist is Terrible for Your Mental Health – Many journalists (perhaps too many) have written about their personal struggles over the past few years, as traditional outlets have been forced to adapt, sometimes painfully, and layoffs have decimated newsrooms. But this article addressed journalists’ mental health, a topic that probably doesn’t get enough attention. Throw in the vitriol directed at the news media – and the fact that the journalists covering the most important news are people, too – and it’s no wonder that many of them are likely struggling. – Paul Wilson From Ski Bum to City Council – As a college student in Colorado, I had plenty of friends who longed for the ski bum lifestyle. So it was refreshing to read about Eric Balken, a long-time ski bum at Utah’s famed Alta Ski Resort, and his transition from ski bum to City Council member. As a bum, he learned that vacationers to resort towns largely take things like public transportation, affordable housing, taxes and other community issues for granted. Seeing an opportunity help his town, Balken leveraged his years growing up in Utah and working at a local non-profit to add his voice to the issues. Now, who’s going to fill Balken role in the ski bum trade? – Padraic Swanton Blue dogs roaming India lead to discovery of chemical firm’s river contamination – When a group of activists in India saw dogs and birds turning blue, they knew something was amiss. The critters had been wandering around an industrial area in India, which led the state pollution control board to investigate the strange occurrence. They found that Ducol Organics, a plant that exporters, manufacturer and supplies pigments, was releasing untreated waste, specifically blue dye, into the air and Kasadi River in Taloja. Officers immediately shut down the facility. As for the animals? Don’t worry – they’re safe. Blood tests performed on some of the affected dogs showed the dye was water soluble and no threat to the hounds’ health. – Dana Provost What Brands Are Actually Behind Trader Joe’s Snacks? — Using big data (publically available via government filings), Eater uncovered the origins of Trader Joe’s private label snacks and food. While the conclusions are hardly earth-shattering, I like the way the reporters used data was used to uncover and support the hypothesis that Trader Joe’s food isn’t as hip or boutique-y as it seems. The authors then went a step further, with primary research (taste tests) to further support their findings that the food tasted no different from its name-brand counterparts. – Kevin Iredell

It’s sort of hard to imagine, but many business owners in the Middle Ages were focused on helping their communities. That sort of bucks all the stuff we learned about feudalism, but we suppose it’s nice to know that doing the right thing isn’t just a product of worrying about bad press going viral. Also in this edition, some thoughts on Silicon Valley’s effect on journalism, LaCroix’s world takeover and the curious case of increased investment in malls. With that, here’s Recent Reads. The Ben & Jerry’s of Medieval Times – Patagonia, REI, Ben & Jerry’s. All these companies share one common thread – a strong social conscience. It’s probably easy to find a majority of companies not interested in this unless they’re able to slap a hashtag on it. But this concept of “compassionate capitalism” actually dates back to the Middle Ages. And that’s exactly what two researchers from the University of Manchester set out to prove in looking at entrepreneurial and philanthropic behaviors between the 5^th and 15^th centuries and the relation to today’s current environment of corporate social responsibility. – Christian Erard When Silicon Valley Took Over Journalism – In the olden days of 2012, Christopher Hughes bought the New Republic in what was viewed as a profound step in the “future of journalism.” Franklin Foer, Hughes’ editor, writes a first-person account with some important takeaways amid some definite navel-gazing. Here’s my favorite passage: “Journalism may never have been as public-spirited an enterprise as editors and writers liked to think it was. Yet the myth mattered. It pushed journalism to challenge power; it made journalists loath to bend to the whims of their audience; it provided a crucial sense of detachment. The new generation of media giants has no patience for the old ethos of detachment.” – Paul Wilson These ‘9 Cans of LaCroix’ paintings are Warhol’s ‘soup cans for millennials’ – fnnch, a Californian artist, has uniquely captured the current state of American culture through his collection of paintings “9 Cans of LaCroix.” LaCroix, the fizzy drink replacing the soda cans that once relentlessly occupied Americans’ hands, has become the staple of starving artists and tech billionaires alike. fnnch’s exhibit stands to act as a tongue-in-cheek commentary on the obsession with this particular brand of seltzer water, and we thank him for forcing us to confront and question our own willingness to conform. – Jordan Niezelski Reporter Goes from Source to Sea – In a Canoe – Most people in Chicagoland and Illinois (and those elsewhere who care about our politics) know ABC 7’s Paul Meincke. We’re used to seeing him on our televisions talking about what’s happening in Springfield, at City Hall or at the State Fair, or wherever politicians congregate. What we’re not used to is seeing him in a canoe on the Mississippi – with a huge beard. Meincke traveled from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico courtesy of what he estimates were 950,000 paddle strokes. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of the river “from source to sea,” likely a testament both to growing up on the Mighty Mississippi and his years of political reporting. But this story isn’t about the river, it’s about “river angels,” the kind folks across the country who provided warm meals and cold beers at every stop. When thinking about adventure, isn’t it always as much about the people as the place? – Padraic Swanton If Retail Is Dying, Why Is Money Pouring Into Malls? – Given the evolution of retail from brick-and-mortar to e-commerce, it’s easy to wonder why money is being poured into malls. In fact, more than $1.6 billion went to construction spending on shopping centers in June, the most in a month in nearly a decade. It’s partly because malls need to renovate or die. Still, mall owners are betting that consumers will opt for a classic trip to the mall, dining out or shopping on a Friday evening, over filling their virtual carts on Amazon. – Lauren Kokoskie

It turns out that Wendy’s Twitter feed is downright hilarious. When Wendy’s took a swing at Hardee’s about offering a similar promotion, their rival responded that being first didn’t make it best. Wendy’s response: “Tell us the fourth person to walk on the moon without googling it.” We have more thoughts on Wendy’s Twitter acumen in this edition of Recent Reads, along with articles about “truth decay,” whether music improves your focus and warehouse workers competing with robots. Also, a multimedia piece about homes people used to order from Sears (you read that right) and a podcast recommendation about self-improvement. With that, here’s Recent Reads. You Want Snark With Those Fries? No One Is Safe From Wendy’s Tweets – I don’t fall within the Millennial demo Wendy’s is looking to target – and fast food isn’t a staple of my diet. But after reading this WSJ piece on Wendy’s snarky Twitter feed, I am craving their infamous chocolate frosty with a side of fries. Instead of coming out with the latest 10-pound burger or fancy chicken sandwich, Wendy’s has found an even better way to stand out in the burger wars: contentious tweets. I think what they’re doing is hilarious and am particularly amused that many of their competitors can’t take the heat and have taken measures to block them. Wendy’s social media team has successfully created a brand personality and extended the chain’s market reach, all while likely keeping many struggling comedians employed. Win, win. – Lisa Seidenberg A Heart that Watches and Receives – In a commencement speech earlier this year, Hampton Sides spoke about “truth decay,” saying that “the real problem, I think, is not that there’s no such thing as truth anymore. Rather, it’s that there are multiplicities of truth, multiplexes of reality.” At Greentarget, we work hard to convey truth through facts, evidence and informed perspectives. Sides’ take on truth – the various forms and complexities he says it now has – is one that I hadn’t heard before, but one that we should all consider. One perspective, one truth for a single person is not inherently the same as it is for someone else. This phenomenon is shaping the news, it’s shaping journalism and it should be shaping our conversations. – Megan Duero Does Listening to Music Improve Your Focus? – Walking through our office any given afternoon, you’ll likely see roughly half of our employees wearing headphones or, if you listen closely, hear music playing from their computers. In this article a neurology expert delves deep into music’s relationship to language, examining the “Mozart Effect” and deciphering if background music can help you focus on a task. The conclusion: “The effects of listening to music are highly individual and based on experience and pleasure.” – Sarah Rocca Robots will take your job, if you work in warehousing – Fresh off the heels of Jeff Bezos being named the richest person in the world (albeit briefly), Crain’s Chicago Business has an interesting look at the future of Amazon’s warehouses, specifically regarding their robot team members. This isn’t surprising, of course. Industries ranging from transportation, shipping and logistics to insurance, technology and financial services are grappling with their business models and, effectively, their workforce in terms of costs, overhead, efficiency and more. While state and local governments are quick to dole out tax credits and other incentives with visions of job-creation grandeur, Crain’s notes that these jobs may not last. Jobs numbers notwithstanding, the lure of major companies to your city or state may be a positive sign of investment, perhaps spurring future development, if nothing else. Is this enough to roll out the red carpet? Like the businesses looking for a new location to take up shop, legislators across the country may want to take a good, hard look at the long-term ROI on these incentive packages. – Padraic Swanton Would you buy a home from Sears? These people did and they love it – This one’s a video, not a read, but it’s about a weird bit of American history that’s fascinated me for years. Essentially, in the early 20^th century, Sears, Roebuck and Co. used to sell “kit homes” that people would order and have delivered via the railroad. The buyers would then assemble the contents of the kits and make a house. Even more impressive is that some of these homes are still standing (and standing solidly, if this video is any indication) today. If you’ve lived in a town with a major rail line, you’ve probably even walked by some of these homes without knowing it. – Paul Wilson GT Podcast Recommendation The Art of Charm (AoC) – Sometimes I like to mindlessly listen to music on my commute, but other times I think I should be more productive, and this is one of my go-to podcasts for that. In the vein of Radio Lab and Freakonomics, AoC is entertainingly educational. Each episode focuses on self-improvement, but episodes vary in format. Some feature interviews with successful business professionals, some feature coaches and trainers discussing their area of expertise, and others are “how-tos” from the hosts on self-improvement. Regardless of the format, each episode provides listeners with tools to use to improve communication, confidence, mindset, persuasion and overall success. – Tana Watanabe