Conspiracy Theories for Journalists

2018 ◽  
pp. 443-452
Author(s):  
Joseph E. Uscinski
Keyword(s):  
Public Trust ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
The Media

Both scholars and journalists should consider the positive aspects of conspiracy theories and consider that removing them from society (if such a thing could be done) may present unintended consequences. Conspiracy theories have been covered by news outlets more frequently in recent years. How should journalists address conspiracy theories? When should conspiracy theories and theorists attract news attention? What are the pitfalls that journalists need to avoid when discussing conspiracy theories? What can news outlets do more generally to curb belief in conspiracy theories? It is vitally important in democracies that news outlets be perceived as independent and trustworthy, but conspiracy theories, particularly those about the media, undermine public trust. How can new outlets regain this trust?

scholarly journals Conspiracy Theories and Their Societal Effects During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 194855062110002
Author(s):  
Lotte Pummerer ◽  
Robert Böhm ◽  
Lau Lilleholt ◽  
Kevin Winter ◽  
Ingo Zettler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Random Sample ◽  
Social Engagement ◽  
Risk Groups ◽  
Conspiracy Theory ◽  
Sample Survey ◽  
Institutional Trust ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
The Media ◽  
And Behavior

During COVID-19, conspiracy theories were intensely discussed in the media. Generally, both believing in conspiracy theories (i.e., explanations for events based on powerholders’ secret arrangements) and being confronted with a conspiracy theory have been found to predict cognition and behavior with negative societal effects, such as low institutional trust. Accordingly, believing in conspiracy theories around COVID-19 should reduce institutional trust, support of governmental regulations and their adoption, and social engagement (e.g., helping members of risk groups). We tested these predictions in a national random sample survey, an experiment, and a longitudinal study ( N total = 1,213; all studies were preregistered). Indeed, believing in and being confronted with a COVID-19 conspiracy theory decreased institutional trust, support of governmental regulations, adoption of physical distancing, and—to some extent—social engagement. Findings underscore the severe societal effects of conspiracy theories in the context of COVID-19.

Creating Conspiracy Beliefs

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dolores Albarracin ◽  
Julia Albarracin ◽  
Man-pui Sally Chan ◽  
Kathleen Hall Jamieson
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Ideological Bias ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Disciplinary Perspective ◽  
Conspiracy Beliefs ◽  
The Media ◽  
Information Sciences

Conspiracy theories spread more widely and faster than ever before. Fear and uncertainty prompt people to believe false narratives of danger and hidden plots, but are not sufficient without considering the role and ideological bias of the media. This timely book focuses on making sense of how and why some people respond to their fear of a threat by creating or believing conspiracy stories. It integrates insights from psychology, political science, communication, and information sciences to provide a complete overview and theory of how conspiracy beliefs manifest. Through this multi-disciplinary perspective, rigoros research develops and tests a practical, simple way to frame and understand conspiracy theories. The book supplies unprecedented amounts of new data from six empirical studies and unpicks the complexity of the process that leads to the empowerment of conspiracy beliefs.

scholarly journals MEDIA AND PUBLIC TRUST TOWARDS COVID-19 INFORMATION

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-176
Author(s):  
Muhammad Yunus Patawari
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
New Media ◽  
Public Trust ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
The People ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Mass Media ◽  
Media Channels ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Attitudes And Behavior

Mass media is one of the leading sectors in handling COVID-19. Amidst current health emergency, public trusttowards the information conveyed by the mass media is the key to successful mitigation. Various types of newsregarding massive COVID-19 reports in several media channels have the potential to cause information bias whichends in pros and cons. Insubstantial debates in varied media are counter-productive to the efforts of various partiesin educating the society to avoid misinformation. Based on this, it is important to know the media that are referencesand that gain public trust in seeking information. This study examines the level of public trust in information aboutCOVID-19 in the mass media, both old and new media, using an online questionnaire methodology on May 3, 2020,which was given to 60 respondents. The results show that the respondents’ level of faith in television is higher, but itsconsumption by viewers is much lower than that of online media (news sites and social media). The results showedthat viewers still deemed television a reliable reference for information. From these data it was found out why themedia are rarely used by the people but are able to gain high trust in the eyes of the public. The results of this studyare expected to provide an overview of the attitudes and behavior of the community in understanding COVID-19information so that relevant parties can make appropriate policies in the perspectives of media and communication.

scholarly journals Who Believes in Conspiracy Theories about the COVID-19 Pandemic in Romania? An Analysis of Conspiracy Theories Believers’ Profiles

Societies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 138
Author(s):  
Raluca Buturoiu ◽  
Georgiana Udrea ◽  
Denisa-Adriana Oprea ◽  
Nicoleta Corbu
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Critical Thinking ◽  
News Media ◽  
Perceived Usefulness ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Critical Thinking Disposition ◽  
News Consumption ◽  
The Media ◽  
Thinking Disposition

The current COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by the circulation of an unprecedented amount of “polluted” information, especially in the social media environment, among which are false narratives and conspiracy theories about both the pandemic and vaccination against COVID-19. The effects of such questionable information primarily concern the lack of compliance with restrictive measures and a negative attitude towards vaccination campaigns, as well as more complex social effects, such as street protests or distrust in governments and authorities in general. Even though there is a lot of scholarly attention given to these narratives in many countries, research about the profile of people who are more prone to believe or spread them is rather scarce. In this context, we investigate the role of age, compared with other socio-demographic factors (such as education and religiosity), as well as the role of the media (the frequency of news consumption, the perceived usefulness of social media, and the perceived incidence of fake information about the virus in the media) and the critical thinking disposition of people who tend to believe such misleading narratives. To address these issues, we conducted a national survey (N = 945) in April 2021 in Romania. Using a hierarchical OLS regression model, we found that people who perceive higher incidence of fake news (ß = 0.33, p < 0.001), find social media platforms more useful (ß = 0.13, p < 0.001), have lower education (ß = −0.17, p < 0.001), and have higher levels of religiosity (ß = 0.08, p < 0.05) are more prone to believe COVID-19-related misleading narratives. At the same time, the frequency of news consumption (regardless of the type of media), critical thinking disposition, and age do not play a significant role in the profile of the believer in conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic. Somewhat surprisingly, age does not play a role in predicting belief in conspiracy theories, even though there are studies that suggest that older people are more prone to believe conspiracy narratives. As far as media is concerned, the frequency of news media consumption does not significantly differ for believers and non-believers. We discuss these results within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

scholarly journals KRISIS KOMUNIKASI PADA MASA PANDEMI COVID-19 (Studi Kasus Pemberitaan Penyebaran Covid-19 melalui Udara)

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Fera Indasari ◽  
Ida Anggriani
Keyword(s):  
Crisis Communication ◽  
Human Error ◽  
Communication Theory ◽  
Public Trust ◽  
World Health ◽  
Situational Crisis Communication Theory ◽  
The Public ◽  
Corona Virus ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Difference

This study discusses the communication crisis in the mass pandemic Covid-19, a case study in the coverage of the spread of Covid-19 by air. This research uses the theory of SSCT (Situational crisis communication theory) by Choombs, 2007. The method used in this research is descriptive qualitative. the crisis that occurred at WHO could result in the loss of public trust in WHO as a reliable source of world health information, WHO was proven wrong. Based on an understanding of crisis communication, the crisis of the difference in information conveyed by WHO regarding the spread of the corona virus through the air is an information crisis that occurs due to human error, where WHO is considered negligent in reviewing any information before it is submitted to the public. Based on crisis communication theory, WHO is trying to rebuild public trust using the rebuild method, here WHO is rebuilding trust by not condemning the actions of some researchers who think that WHO has been wrong in conveying information to the public, In addition to having acknowledged to the media that based on available evidence regarding the spread of Covid-19 WHO has also not posted information that contains opposition that the corona virus could not be transmitted through the air a few months ago, based on the results of a survey conducted by researchers by checking the WHO Instagram account, and the WHO official website.  Keywords: situational crisis communication theory, WHO, Covid-19

scholarly journals From liberal to predatory mass media in post-communist Lithuania

2009 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 159-179
Author(s):  
Irmina Matonytė
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Trust ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Government Relations ◽  
Local Media ◽  
The Media ◽  
Basic Functions ◽  
Zero Sum

Referring to the concepts, communicative democracy is defined as free, open and democratic communication organized around three equally legitimate public sphere actors – politicians, journalists and public opinion, and populism is understood as good, entertaining and effective communication with people, eroding basic functions of the political parties (institutionalization of ideological conflicts) and politicians (representation), the paper provides insights about the dangers to quality of democracy if the free mass media gets utterly away from political parallelism. Special attention is placed on the tendencies of media personnel to be active in the political life. The paper conceptualizes a tremendous decrease (by one third) in public trust in mass media in Lithuania, observed from 1998 to 2009 and interprets this change as a cumulative result of the post-communist illstructured political field under pressing liberalization and democratization coupled with specific patterns of the Lithuanian political culture and public sphere. In the conditions of a still relatively high public trust in mass-media and scarce foreign ownership of the mass-media outlets in Lithuania, the local media barons are able to produce and impose their own public-agenda. The Lithuanian massmedia and government relations evolve along the lines of the zero-sum game: they seek to control each other, and at the same time try to avoid being controlled by the other, while any other pattern of inter-relations does not appear as viable and appropriate. INTUNE project survey (2009) shows that the media elite’s influence in the national decision making process is significantly higher in Lithuania than, for instance, in Germany or Hungary.Key words: populism, communicative democracy, mass-media ownership, public sphere, public trust.

scholarly journals Media and Health – “Angel and Devil”

In medias res ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (18) ◽  
pp. 2803-2811
Author(s):  
Ivana Marasović Šušnjara ◽  
Maja Vejić
Keyword(s):  
Media Literacy ◽  
Bad News ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
The Public ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Health Related ◽  
The Media ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Credible Information

All media have been flooded with news related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Top scientists have been addressing the public more frequently than ever before. In addition to positive attitudes, there have also been negative ones. In the midst of the pandemic, information about health systems that cannot respond adequately, a large number of deaths, and the lack of vaccines provoked a number of unwanted reactions, such as fear and associated disorders. Bad news kept coming. They were followed by conspiracy theories. Certain groups set out to find information they wanted to accept as true on various social networks. Should the media be allowed to inform about health without check, should they be allowed to pass on “fake news” in the domain of illness and health, or even manipulate information? They shouldn’t? In order to minimize the negative impacts, there should be mutual responsibility of experts and the media in presenting health-related topics and in disseminating useful and credible information, whereby the media literacy of the end users is indispensable.

News wars will not deter Philippines’s Duterte

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Public Trust ◽  
Foreign Ownership ◽  
International Community ◽  
Internal Security ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government ◽  
Trade Preferences ◽  
The Eu

Significance The SEC in January ordered Rappler to shut down for breaking foreign ownership laws, which Rappler denies. Critics suggest the move was a politically motivated attempt by President Rodrigo Duterte’s government to clamp down on news outlets critical of the government, which Duterte and his administration deny. Impacts The international community, for instance the EU, could decide to halt or cancel trade preferences. Improved Philippine internal security could enhance journalists’ safety, but money shortages will bedevil this effort. Any self-censorship by journalists could undermine public trust in the media and scrutiny of the government. Large Philippine television networks use PDRs and could be at risk if Rappler loses its court appeal.

CONSPIRACY THEORIES AS A PHENOMENON OF MEDIA IMPACT ON PUBLIC CONSCIOUSNESS

2020 ◽  
pp. 94-102
Author(s):  
Andrei A. Khokhlov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Conspiracy Theory ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Media Impact ◽  
Modern Media ◽  
The Social ◽  
Public Consciousness ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Official Information ◽  
Alternative Theories

The article deals with the issue of spreading conspiratorial ideas in social networks and in the media, in connection with the COVID19 epidemic in the Russian Federation. A brief overview of the most well-known scientific approaches to the study of non-conventional concepts and various “conspiracy theories” is given. Special attention is paid to the connection of the conspiracy theories with postmodern ideas and a critical attitude to any official information from authoritative sources. It is emphasized that the equality of statements, that was insisted on by the supporters of postmodernism, leads to an increase in information noise and blurring the boundaries between fact and fiction. Modern conspiracy theory is the audience’s reaction to alarmism in official media publications. The author denotes an increase in such perceptions in the context of the crises, catastrophes and epidemics. An attempt is made to identify typical conspiracy versions for the causes of the coronavirus epidemic in the Russian segment of the social network Facebook. The article examines the fact of the growing popularity of “alternative theories” in the context of social fears of Russians, in connection with the deepening economic crisis and the prospect of losing their jobs. The growth of conspiracy ideas is analyzed in connection with the phenomenon of media influence on public consciousness. The functions of modern media are determined by the gradual replacement of the social reality of media with a reality that replicates simulacra, and is not only engaged in informing The article states that the influence of media materials on consumers of the news content is quite strong, which is one of the reasons for the spread of conspiracy theories in various groups and communities of media users.

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