FAKE news has been in the real news for the last few months. It is the phrase of the moment, with people high and low latching on to it whenever someone says something about them that they don't like.

President Donald Trump refused to take a question from a reporter from CNN, accusing his organisation of being a purveyor of fake news, while over here besieged Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn dismissed as fake news a question from the BBC's Andrew Marr concerning the possibility of Mr Corbyn stepping down from his role as prime-minister-in-waiting.

Unfortunately, with so much fake news around – almost entirely thanks to the internet – it is becoming increasingly easy for publicly accountable people such as the Trumps and Corbyns of this world to dodge difficult or unpalatable questions from legitimate journalists.

Fake news is a real problem. Those who provide it, do so in order to drive online traffic to their websites, in order to garner those all-important clicks. I would call it clickbait journalism, except that there is nothing remotely journalistic about these websites which traffic non-news about celebrity deaths and divorces, and about non-existent interventions by important people in important matters.

The internet has been a force for good – only the most trenchant Luddite could deny that. It has opened worlds of opportunities across the globe, brought people closer together, and provided at-a-click information on absolutely anything and absolutely everything.

It has also allowed people to tap into the darker side of humanity, as the popularity of online hardcore pornography sites illustrates; and it has allowed terrorists to disseminate their repellent views and barbaric actions via uploaded videos.

Fake news flourishes because the the online world is almost entirely impossible to police. It also flourishes because so many people with access to social media fancy themselves as journalists or social commentators.

Twitter and Facebook among others are awash with millions of half-baked thoughts and opinions; of people trolling those with whom they disagree; or pompously virtue signalling on any issue of the day. Rarely a week goes by without someone being hounded out of their job because social media users have take exception to something they've said and unleashed a torrent of online "outrage", or without someone having to fall on their sword because they couldn't stop themselves from posting something inappropriate, offensive or both on their social media accounts.

To the backdrop of all this unwise behaviour and unregulated verbiage, the mainstream media (or MSM as it is dismissively referred to by so-called liberal elites) plugs away providing real news and considered analysis for the dwindling numbers of people prepared to pay for it. And therein lies the problem.

Why pay for proper journalism in the print press or via legitimate news websites, when you can get it free online? That is the rationale adopted by millions of people in this era of instant, rolling, 24-hour news.

The problem, of course, is that so awash is the internet with sites purporting to provide proper news, that even the most discerning user of the worldwide web will sometimes struggle to tell the difference between real and fake news.

Channel 4 News devoted its programmes last week to the phenomenon of fake news and, when Krishnan Guru Murthi's interviewees were allowed to get a word in edgeways, it provided some fascinating insights.

Don't blame us, was the clear message from those fake news providers who agreed to be interviewed: we're simply supplying what the public demands. It's just business. It may well be. But it's becoming an increasingly murky business. And as the tide of fake news gathers momentum and becomes a tsunami, hard facts and legitimate opinions are in danger of being almost literally drowned out.

The mainstream media may get things badly wrong from time to time but by and large it is a real force for good – whether by its uncovering of scandals, its calling those in high places to proper account, or its willingness to embark upon crusading campaigns.

The growth of fake news is a real threat to the mainstream media. That may be a welcome thought for the Donald Trumps of this world who don't want to be held to account by the mainstream media. It should not, however, be a welcome thought for the rest us.

Louise Allonby