What does fake look like? A review of the literature on intentional deception in the news and on social media.

Author(s)
Alyt Damstra, Hajo Boomgaarden, Elena Broda, Elina Lindgren, Jesper Strömbäck, Yariv Tsfati, Rens Vliegenthart
Abstract

This paper focuses on the content features of intentional deceptive information in the news (i.e., fake news) and on social media. Based on an extensive review of relevant literature (i.e., political journalism and communication, computational linguistics), we take stock of existing knowledge and present an overview of the structural characteristics that are indicative of intentionally deceptive information. We discuss the strength of underlying empirical evidence and identify underdeveloped areas of research. With this paper, we aim to contribute to the systematic study of intentional deception in the news and on social media and to help setting up new lines of research in which intentionally deceptive news items can be operationalized in consistent ways.

Organisation(s)
Department of Communication
External organisation(s)
University of Gothenburg, University of Haifa, University of Amsterdam (UvA)
Journal
Journalism Studies
Volume
22
Pages
1947-1963
No. of pages
17
ISSN
1461-670X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670x.2021.1979423
Publication date
2021
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
508008 Media analysis
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Communication
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/72e09ab9-b94f-47a5-8aa4-537f353705d6