The paper examined the phenomena of fake news during public emergencies and evaluated how news
consumers discern reality in an increasing environment of misleading information during emerging
situations. To adequately probe how individuals respond to fake news, the study conducted an online
survey using the chat group BSU ACADEMICS on Telegram. The chat group is open to academic staff of
the Benue State University, Makurdi, Nigeria. Findings from the study showed that the public is
increasingly relying on online media as their first point of call for news, including social media, blogs, and
web pages of traditional media. News consumers encounter fake news online, and are not oblivious of its
presence, especially during emergencies such as the Covid-19 pandemic; news consumers resort to
crosschecking unverified information from more credible outlets; doing online background check on
suspected content and discouraging the re-sharing of fake news as it can create panic and distort genuine
information. It is increasingly becoming a reality that emergencies present themselves with the spread of
fake news that requires verifications by information consumers. Media literacy is therefore required to
ensure the crosschecking of readily available online information with other credible sources and then
discourage the spread of fake news as it can create panic and distort genuine information.