scholarly journals Fake News as Aberration in Journalism Practice: Examining Truth and Facts as Basis of Fourth Estate of the Realm

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sulaiman A. Osho

The deliberate publication of fake news by any media organisation or online network is an aberration in journalism practice. And such sophist intentions and dissemination of falsehood to the people through the virtual media, social media and old media is a depravity against humanity to spread mischief, acrimony, crises, disease, corruption, and squalor. It is total negation of journalism values and news values. Thus, this chapter seeks to examine the concept of newsworthiness in the wake of resurrection of the ghost of fake news in this digital age, which was the practice in the age of ignorance when unlettered men abound as journalists. It investigates the ideological constructs of news because it is a violation of journalism practice for any organisation to base its ideology on the publication of fake news. This study highlights news production process in tandem with the socio-cultural interests, political philosophy, and economic interests of the sponsors, financiers, and owners of the media. The chapter critically examines factors of news or factors of newsworthiness in relation to the concept of fake news. If the twelve factors of news are frequency, threshold, unambiguity, meaningfulness, consonance, unexpectedness, continuity, composition, reference to elite nations, reference to elite people, reference to elite persons, and reference to something negative, should there be anything fake called News? In narrative and argumentative form, the study concludes that anything fake or any information that is based on falsehood cannot be regarded as News. If it is news, it must be based on Truth and Facts. If it is news, it must be new. If it is news, it must be based on actualities. If it is news, it must be based on evidences. If it is news, it must be fair. If it is news, it must be based on realities. If it is news, it must not be based on vendetta. If it is news, it must not be hoax. If it is news, it must not be fallacy. If it is news, it must not be innuendoes.

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 361-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Schwarzenegger

While the perils of social media, fake news, and an alleged distrust in legacy media have attained considerable public attention, the implications of these public narratives for their audiences have remained understudied. The aim of this article is to identify consequences of an emerged “fake news and post truth-era-narrative” for media users’ personal epistemologies, media beliefs, and news navigation practices from a media repertoire perspective. Forty-nine in-depth media-biographical interviews with people from three different age groups and with different media repertoires were conducted. Based on the study, the three interrelated dimensions (1) selective criticality, (2) pragmatic trust, and (3) competence–confidence were developed to analyze users’ media and news navigation. These three dimensions can be applied to other scenarios to investigate how people navigate their media repertoires and interact with the news in general.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-133

Since the 2016 U.S. presidential election, attacks on the media have been relentless. “Fake news” has become a household term, and repeated attempts to break the trust between reporters and the American people have threatened the validity of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In this article, the authors trace the development of fake news and its impact on contemporary political discourse. They also outline cutting-edge pedagogies designed to assist students in critically evaluating the veracity of various news sources and social media sites.


2020 ◽  
pp. 019685992097715
Author(s):  
James Morris

“Fake News” has been a frequent topic in the last couple of years. The phenomenon has particularly been cited with regards to the election of Donald Trump to the presidency of the United States. The creation of “post truth” reports that are disseminated via the Web and social media has been treated as something new, a product of the digital age, and a reason to be concerned about the effects of online technology. However, this paper argues that fake news should be considered as part of a continuum with forms of media that went before in the 20th Century, and the general trend of postmodernity detailed by Baudrillard. The simulation of communications media and mass reproduction was already evident and has merely progressed in the digital age rather than the latter providing a wholly new context. The paper concludes by asking whether the political havoc caused by fake news has an antidote, when it appears to be a by-product of media simulacra’s inherent lack of connection to the real. In a communications landscape where the misrepresentations of the so-called “Mainstream Media” are decried using even more questionable “memes” on social media, is there any possibility for truth?


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-123
Author(s):  
Cristiane Guilherme Bonfim ◽  
Márcia Vidal Nunes

This article aims to reflect on the impact that the campaign #PrimeiroAssédio [first harassment], created by the NGO Think Olga, in 2015, had on the perception of Facebook female users on the subject of harassment, drawing from the perspective of Cultural Studies. This hashtag encouraged the sharing of content and placed the feminist issue of combating sexual harassment on the agenda. We have used Martín-Barbero’s (1997) concept of mediation to investigate the context in which users published posts on Facebook and have conducted interviews with women who have published comments in the campaign’s posts. In a context of prolific content generation and intense participation, with many people speaking to many people, many authors see the emergence of politically driven action on social media, the so-called “digital activism”, as being relative, holding little expectations of radical social change. Our interviewees’ answers indicate that, in terms of tangible changes, they found that they were able to engage in dialogue about the topic with the people who were closest to them.         Este artigo tem como objetivo refletir sobre o impacto da campanha #PrimeiroAssédio, criada pela ONG Think Olga, em 2015, na percepção de leitoras no Facebook sobre o tema assédio, sob a perspectiva dos Estudos Culturais. A hashtag incentivou compartilhamento de conteúdo e agendou veículos de mídia sobre assédio, uma pauta que é bandeira de movimentos feministas. O conceito de mediações de Martín-Barbero (1997) é usado para investigar o contexto de postagens no Facebook e entrevistas com mulheres que comentaram em posts da campanha. No cenário de geração de conteúdo em profusão e da participação de muitos falando para muitos, a atuação política nas redes sociais, o chamado ativismo digital, é perpassada com alguma relativização, sem expectativa de mudança radical. As respostas das entrevistadas sinalizam que campanhas como essa podem  alcançar repercussão fora das redes, mas indicam que a mudança gerada foi o diálogo mais frequente sobre o tema com o círculo de pessoas mais próximo.Este artículo objetiva hacer una reflexión sobre el impacto de la campaña #PrimeiroAssédio (#Primeracoso), creada por la Organización no Gubernamental Think Olga el 2015, en la percepción de lectoras en Facebook sobre el tema acoso, bajo la perspectiva de los Estudios Culturales. La etiqueta incentivó que el contenido fuera compartido y generó agenda setting de medios de comunicación sobre acoso, una pauta que es bandera de los movimientos feministas. El concepto de mediaciones de Martín-Barbero (1997) es usado para investigar el contexto de publicaciones en Facebook y entrevistas con mujeres que comentaron en posts de la campaña. En el escenario de geración de contenido en profusión y de participación de muchos comunicando para muchos, la actuación política en las redes sociales, el llamado activismo digital, se puede identificar alguna relativización, sin expectativa de cambio radical. Las respuestas de las entrevistadas señalan que campañas como esa pueden alcanzar repercusión más allá de las redes, pero apuntan que el cambio generado ha sido el diálogo más a menudo sobre el tema con el círculo de personas más cercanas.


Author(s):  
Marko Selaković ◽  
Anna Tarabasz ◽  
Monica Gallant

Internet and social media, as highly interactive platforms, enable two way-communication and content generation which was unprecedented in history. In the past, the media were decisive about content that should be presented, and what public impact it might have (Giessen, 2015). User-generated content provided an opportunity for single Internet users to reach large audiences in the same way as content originating from the traditional mass-media. Web 3.0 and Meta Web introduced a new myriad of available solutions and opportunities (Tarabasz, 2013). Smart technologies and integration networks of Web 4.0, with an ability to detect intentions and goals of the users and offer solutions based on users` preferences and habits (Benhaddi, 2017) are opening an entirely new dimension of the social media: digital identity becomes part of the identity of the Internet users. Keywords: Fake News; Crisis Communications; Online Communications; Management Research; Marketing Research


2020 ◽  
Vol V (II) ◽  
pp. 50-58
Author(s):  
Muhammad Shahid ◽  
Muhammad Ibrahim ◽  
Ibrar Ullah

This research focuses on fake news and how journalists understand and counter fake news. The researchers used purposive sampling and collected data through in-depth interviews. Members of Mardan and Nowshera press clubs were interviewed regarding how they counter fake news. All the respondents agreed that fake news must be discouraged and that not only the media persons but the government should also take action against media organizations that publish or onair fake news. Most of them said that social media is the main source of fake news and that there should be some kind of regulations on social media to discourage fake news. Some called for training for journalists on how to counter fake news.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roy Glueckstern ◽  
Alexi Benyacar ◽  
Sacha Grigri

According to Gill (2017), the present era of electronic revolution is one in which social media has become a means to an end in political sphere communication. Today, political marketing and advertising for persons seeking elective posts analyze, develop, execute and manage campaigns as a way of driving public opinion (Laing & Khattab, 2016). Social media provides a platform on which one can engage with the so-called connected generation. If the November 2016 elections are anything to go by, Twitter proved to be the medium of choice for citizens to engage and consume political content (Le et al., 2017). Ideally, tweets formed the basis of facilitating user engagement through the provision of content and newsbreaks. By extension, the mentioned discussions would influence the political discourse while establishing the capacity to determine the events of mainstream media. This study seeks to establish social media usage by President Donald Trump before and after his election. An understanding of such trend is essential in inferring as to whether Social media, in this case Twitter, plays a role in the current political spheres by promoting influence of a given aspirant. This stems from various studies that have stated that there is an association between social media use and an aspirant’s influence of the connected generation who are especially the youths. For instance, a thesis by Hwang (2016) observed that President Trump’s Twitter usage contributes to his political poll success which he associates with a reflection of his personality in the media use. This was also observed by Lilleker, Jackson, Thorsen and Veneti (2016) who stated that President Trump’s media use contributed to his election. It would hence be essential to understand President Trump’s nature of usage of Twitter. Allcott and Gentzkow (2017) conducted a study in which they observed use of fake news to influence people into certain political alignments. Twitter was also observed as one of the channels through which fake news was distributed. This study might help to create a foundation under which more studies can be done to determine the association of social media with other issues facing the society such as fake news and environment issues and their role on presidential elections. It would also be worth noting that there has been high politicization of President Trump’s use of Twitter especially during his Campaigns. This study would hence help to infer whether there is a change in this factor after his election.


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 392-425
Author(s):  
Heliney Nunes Resende Junior ◽  
Suzana Gilioli da Costa Nunes ◽  
Alain Santoyo

O objetivo dessa pesquisa e mensurar a influência das mídias sociais no processo de planejamento de viagens em relação a população da cidade de Palmas, capital do estado do Tocantins. A metodologia utilizada nessa pesquisa foi uma avaliação quantitativa a partir da aplicação de questionário. A amostra da pesquisa foi composta de 500 respondentes. A análise dos resultados mostrou que as mídias sociais já têm grande influência no processo de planejamento de viagens e que tem um espaço para um crescimento ainda maior, pois as mídias sociais estão em constante evolução de acordo com as necessidades as pessoas. A pesquisa também apontou que as pessoas confiam nas informações obtidas através das mídias e estão deixando de acreditar cada vez mais nos meios de comunicação convencionais.   PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Mídias sociais; Meios de comunicação; Planejamento de viagens     ABSTRACT The objective of this research is to measure the influence of social media in the process of travel planning in relation to the population of the city of Palmas, capital of the state of Tocantins. The methodology used in this research was a quantitative evaluation based on the questionnaire application. The research sample consisted of 500 respondents. The analysis of the results showed that social media already have great influence in the process of planning of trips and that has a space for an even greater growth, since the social medias are in constant evolution according to the needs the people. The survey also pointed out that people rely on information gained through the media and are increasingly reluctant to believe in conventional media.   KEYWORDS: Social media; Media; Travel planning     RESUMEN El objetivo de esta investigación y medir la influencia de los medios sociales en el proceso de planificación de viajes en relación a la población de la ciudad de Palmas, capital del estado de Tocantins. La metodología utilizada en esta investigación fue una evaluación cuantitativa a partir de la aplicación del cuestionario. La muestra de la encuesta fue compuesta de 500 respondedores. El análisis de los resultados mostró que los medios sociales ya tienen gran influencia en el proceso de planificación de viajes y que tienen un espacio para un crecimiento aún mayor, pues los medios sociales están en constante evolución de acuerdo a las necesidades de las personas. La investigación también apuntó que la gente confía en las informaciones obtenidas a través de los medios y están dejando de creer cada vez más en los medios de comunicación convencionales.   PALABRAS CLAVE: Medios sociales; Medios de comunicación; Planificación de viajes


Author(s):  
Laboni Bhattacharya

Political theory agrees that the charismatic leader’s cult of personality is a cornerstone of populist politics, with an increasingly distrustful, contentious, and internally divided society seeing the leader as the embodiment of the popular will more viscerally than the electoral process allows (Laclau 2005). The power of the hypermasculine leader persists in the digital age where populists exert authoritarian control over media narratives and infrastructures, as feminist critiques of the iconography of statesmen like Putin, Erdogan and Duterte demonstrate (Chavez and Pacheo 2020). Yet this brand of strongman politics is discursively co-produced by the leader’s physical presence; my presentation argues in contrast that Indian PM Narendra’s Modi’s affective body is animated by its persistent digitization, virtualization, and absence of liveness. Modi’s populism is driven by his appeal as a technocrat, a man accessible to the people via hologram, Twitter, exclusive apps, 3D modelled YouTube videos, and other digitally enabled forms of disembodied representation which create a “fantasy of unmediated access” (Govil and Baishya 2018). When Modi appears in public to perform yoga or lay a silver brick in the foundations of a temple, his corporeal form is one iteration of his virtualized, mediated persona. Modi’s independence from the demands of embodiment is made possible by his substantive digital presence. The experiential intensity and interactivity of social media creates what I term “platform affect”, which mobilizes affective discourses like nationalism to material effect, such as drawing large crowds galvanized by a sense of intimacy with Modi’s virtual and physical person.


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