. >> reporter: buzzfeed's craig si silverman has been tracking fake news on the internet for years. >> when you track the growth of these websites when did it go big? >> this year. 2016, incomparable to any other years. one of the big factors you can't ignore is donald trump. he generated a huge amount of online excitement. a lot of engagement on facebook. >> reporter: buzzfeed uncovered an unlikely breeding ground for some of the fake news sites. >> more than 100 websites in one small town in central macedonia. >> reporter: that's right, macedonia. depressed city of 45,000, the rust belt of the former yugoslavia. >> used to have an industrial economy, that has gone away, and there's a lot of young people there. it's a by for them to earn extra money, a way for them to find something to do. >> reporter: we decided to go to macedonia to see for ourselves. some of the websites' creators are speaking out in shadow for the first time on television. >> people found politics is a great field by accident. >> i have like 7.5 million views on one of my >> there is no protection from news, like