Fake Online News

2019 ◽  
pp. 152-166
Author(s):  
Janet Aver Adikpo
Keyword(s):  
Online News ◽  
Primary Reason ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Media Environment ◽  
Influence Model ◽  
Production And Consumption ◽  
Information Spread ◽  
The Media ◽  
Hierarchy Of Influence ◽  
Model Trajectory

Today, the media environment has traversed several phases of technological advancements and as a result, there is a shift in the production and consumption of news. This chapter conceived fake news within the milieu of influencing information spread in the society, especially on the cyberspace. Using the hierarchy of influence model trajectory with fake news, it was established that it has become almost impossible to sustain trust and credibility through individual influences on online news content. The primary reason is that journalists are constrained by professional ethics, organizational routines, and ownership influence. Rather than verify facts and offer supporting claims, online users without professional orientation engage in a reproducing information indiscreetly. The chapter recommends that ethics be reconsidered as a means to recreate and imbibe journalistic values that will contend with the fake news pandemic.

Fake Online News

2021 ◽  
pp. 83-97
Author(s):  
Janet Aver Adikpo
Keyword(s):  
Online News ◽  
Primary Reason ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Media Environment ◽  
Influence Model ◽  
Production And Consumption ◽  
Information Spread ◽  
The Media ◽  
Hierarchy Of Influence ◽  
Model Trajectory

Today, the media environment has traversed several phases of technological advancements and as a result, there is a shift in the production and consumption of news. This chapter conceived fake news within the milieu of influencing information spread in the society, especially on the cyberspace. Using the hierarchy of influence model trajectory with fake news, it was established that it has become almost impossible to sustain trust and credibility through individual influences on online news content. The primary reason is that journalists are constrained by professional ethics, organizational routines, and ownership influence. Rather than verify facts and offer supporting claims, online users without professional orientation engage in a reproducing information indiscreetly. The chapter recommends that ethics be reconsidered as a means to recreate and imbibe journalistic values that will contend with the fake news pandemic.

scholarly journals A family of falsehoods: Deception, media hoaxes and fake news

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 350-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teri Finneman ◽  
Ryan J. Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
False Information ◽  
Media Environment ◽  
News Organizations ◽  
Information Spread ◽  
History Of

“Fake news” became a concern for journalists in 2017 as news organizations sought to differentiate themselves from false information spread via social media, websites and public officials. This essay examines the history of media hoaxing and fake news to help provide context for the current U.S. media environment. In addition, definitions of the concepts are proposed to provide clarity for researchers and journalists trying to explain these phenomena.

A Taxonomy Approach to Fake News

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan Valchanov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Communication Channels ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Online Environment ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Media Environment ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Media ◽  
Fact Checking ◽  
Points Of View ◽  
Media Corporations

The development of the Internet and social media and networks as a media environment and communication channels combined with the specificity of the journalistic profession in the online environment are a factor which contributes to the emergence and proliferation of fake news. The lack of reliable fact checking by the media and the fast news consumption by the public lead to mass disinformation about certain issues or subjects. The current paper examines fake news from several points of view and describes the models of their use – as harmless jokes, as lack of journalistic competence or professionalism and as means of manipulation and intentional misleading of public opinion. The attempts of big media corporations to fight fake news are also described.

scholarly journals Fighting Deepfakes: Media and Internet Giants’ Converging and Diverging Strategies Against Hi-Tech Misinformation

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 291-300
Author(s):  
Ángel Vizoso ◽  
Martín Vaz-Álvarez ◽  
Xosé López-García
Keyword(s):  
Technological Development ◽  
Mobile Apps ◽  
Online News ◽  
Washington Post ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Wall Street ◽  
Media Forensics ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Wall Street Journal ◽  
Real Challenge

Deepfakes, one of the most novel forms of misinformation, have become a real challenge in the communicative environment due to their spread through online news and social media spaces. Although fake news have existed for centuries, its circulation is now more harmful than ever before, thanks to the ease of its production and dissemination. At this juncture, technological development has led to the emergence of deepfakes, doctored videos, audios or photos that use artificial intelligence. Since its inception in 2017, the tools and algorithms that enable the modification of faces and sounds in audiovisual content have evolved to the point where there are mobile apps and web services that allow average users its manipulation. This research tries to show how three renowned media outlets—<em>The Wall Street Journal</em>,<em> The Washington Post</em>,<em> </em>and<em> Reuters</em>—and three of the biggest Internet-based companies—Google, Facebook, and Twitter—are dealing with the spread of this new form of fake news. Results show that identification of deepfakes is a common practice for both types of organizations. However, while the media is focused on training journalists for its detection, online platforms tended to fund research projects whose objective is to develop or improve media forensics tools.

Mammon’s Algorithm

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yochai Benkler ◽  
Robert Faris ◽  
Hal Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Presidential Election ◽  
Fake News ◽  
American Democracy ◽  
Media Environment ◽  
Behavioral Manipulation ◽  
Democratic Practice ◽  
The Media

This chapter examines three main threats to American democracy related to Facebook: Facebook microtargeting and dark ads, behavioral manipulation by Cambridge Analytica, and political clickbait factories. The chapter considers the effectiveness of psychographically microtargeted advertising and the question of exposure to “fake news” on Facebook during the months leading up to the 2016 presidential election. The chapter explains why behaviorally informed, microtargeted dark ads are an important novel threat to democratic practice independent of the overall architecture of the media environment, even as it cautions that there is no evidence to support this theory. It also argues that both the Cambridge Analytica and political clickbait threats were overstated.

scholarly journals Exploratory Study on Audience Perception of Information Credibility on Media Platforms in Ghana

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-27
Author(s):  
Acquaye P. ◽  
Ofosu-Boateng I.
Keyword(s):  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Media Environment ◽  
Media Audiences ◽  
Media Messages ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
The Media ◽  
Credible Information

Using a focus group discussion, this study sought to understand how media audiences perceive information in the media environment in Ghana. The study found out that the prevalence of fake news on social media platforms serves as a disincentive to consumers of media messages from giving attention to information from some media platforms. Legacy media, radio and television, for many of the participants, present credible information on its platform with the belief that rigorous scrutiny is done by the media organisation before information is shared with their audiences on air. Though participants in the group discussions are often dismissive of media information they have doubts about, they occasionally, not routinely, verify information from news portals they deem credible. Participants also rely on their intuition to assess the truthfulness or otherwise of a story.

scholarly journals Media Coverage in Times of Crisis. Intermedia Agenda-setting of COVID-19 – related Topics

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Dana Raluca Buturoiu ◽  
Ana Voloc
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Agenda Setting ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Television News ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Online News ◽  
Media Environment ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Intermedia Agenda Setting ◽  
The Media

In times of crisis, the media play a crucial role in offering people information and updates related to the ongoing events. Thus, the media implicitly shape public opinion on the issues they cover and, as a result, influence public attitudes and behaviors. In this context, this paper aims at analyzing the media coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, by means of quantitative content analysis (N=1511) conducted on both television and online news stories released during March 18-31 2020, this study sheds light on the agenda-setting effects of the media and the phenomenon known as intermedia agenda-setting. Main results show that, in spring 2020, both television and online news stories extensively covered COVID-19 topics, focusing on domestic issues such as decisions taken by the authorities in order to manage the pandemic, effects of the virus, and statistics. Furthermore, results show a relatively high intermedia agenda-setting effect within the Romanian media environment. Content published online (either in the form of social media content or online stories) is frequently “borrowed” and cited in both online and television news stories, leading us to the idea that digital media might have become mainstream information sources.

The Theory of Post-Truth. Identification and Limitation of Fake News

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maya Vasileva
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Media Environment ◽  
Emotional Context ◽  
Main Thesis ◽  
Alternative Facts ◽  
The Media

The paper presents the theoretical and research aspects of media interrelations among the phenomena of post-truth, fake news, populist statements, and the use of alternative facts in political communication. It conducts a comparative analysis of these concepts and analyzes illustrative examples from the media environment in which the terms operate in the same information discourse. The main focus is on two key academic empirical studies whose theoretical and empirical scholarly approaches point to the main thesis of this paper – that post-truth and fake news create an emotional context of information perception and that this is the basis on which consumers and voters shape their behavior, reactions, understandings and views.

scholarly journals Rethinking the generational gap in online news use: An infrastructural perspective

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 1792-1812 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harsh Taneja ◽  
Angela Xiao Wu ◽  
Stephanie Edgerly
Keyword(s):  
Social Groups ◽  
Online News ◽  
Media Environment ◽  
Age Cohorts ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
News Websites ◽  
The Media ◽  
Reported Data ◽  
Vast Range

Our study investigates the role of infrastructures in shaping online news usage by contrasting use patterns of two social groups—millennials and boomers—that are specifically located in news infrastructures. Typically based on self-reported data, popular press and academics tend to highlight the generational gap in news usage and link it to divergence in values and preferences of the two age cohorts. In contrast, we conduct relational analyses of shared usage obtained from passively metered usage data across a vast range of online news outlets for millennials and boomers. We compare each cohort’s usage networks comprising various types of news websites. Our analyses reveal a smaller than commonly assumed generational gap in online news usage, with characteristics that manifest the multifarious effects of the infrastructures of the media environment, alongside those of preferences.

scholarly journals Journalism and Convergence

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 56
Author(s):  
Carolyne M. Lunga
Keyword(s):  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Online News ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Positive Side ◽  
The People ◽  
Production And Consumption ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Online News Sites

<p><em>The internet’s influence on the production and consumption of news has brought about revolutionary changes in the field of journalism. The people previously known as the </em><em>“</em><em>audiences</em><em>”</em><em> are now actively involved in creating and disseminating news via online news sites and websites. This increase in players has both positive and negative consequences for democracy. </em><em></em><em></em></p><p><em>This paper provides an overview of the positive and negative changes that have come about due to convergence. Through an observation of what is happening on various online sites and journalists’ everyday experiences, the paper offers an analysis of the impact globally. On a positive side, for example, citizens are engaging in conversations online with journalists and also with each other on various social platforms on issues that matter to them. The internet is applauded for promoting the number of voices online and freedom of expression. On a negative side, citizens bemoan the rise in fake news and disinformation which is harmful for democracy and is discrediting journalism. Journalism is fundamental as it influences society’s worldview. It thus becomes paramount for media houses and society to be more digital literate so as to distinguish between “real” and “fake” news in order to make more informed decisions.</em></p>

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