Fake and Post-Truth News in the Information Agenda in the Context of the First “Wave” of the Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19)
https://doi.org/10.25205/1818-7919-2023-22-6-161-170
Abstract
The article argues the synchronized processes of diffusion of misinformation (fakeization) and spread of post-truth news in the information agenda, disposed in the context of the first “wave” of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The methods of case study, discourse analysis, and comparative analysis are applied. The empirical base is the materials of television channels (Channel One, Rossiya 1, NTV) and social networks (VKontakte and banned on the territory of the Russian Federation Facebook, Instagram). Timeline of the study – March-June 2020. The outcomes of the study demonstrate that the above processes were due to the problematization simultaneously with the “high and low threshold” – the spread of this social precedent to the entire social space and complete lack of such experience among individuals causes social disorientation and particularly manipulative susceptibility of society – and due to the differentiated motives of the actors. Based on the author's concept of pseudo-news, it is determined that fake is a product of mass consciousness, and post-truth – a result of the planned and deliberate tactics implemented by the powers that control media. Inspiring the processes of fakeization and post-truthization of the information agenda correlated with stable narratives of the main communication channels (the Internet and television), strengthening the established media picture, thereby constituting the qualification of conditional “heroes” and “enemies” in public opinion.
Keywords
About the Author
A. A. Yefanov
Russian State University for the Humanities; Higher School of Economics (HSE University)
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Aleksandr A. Yefanov, Candidate of Sciences (Sociology), Associate Professor
Scopus Author ID 57221263439
WoS Researcher ID I-4904-2018
RSCI Author ID 742079
Moscow
References
1. Blokhin I. N., Ilchenko S. N. Fake as a Format of Modern Journalism: the Information Reliability Problem. Indian Journal of Science and Technology, 2015, vol. 8, p. 10.
2. Chugrov S. V. Post-truth: transformatsiya politicheskoi real'nosti ili samorazrushenie liberal'noi demokratii? [Post-truth: Transformation of Political Reality or Self-destruction of Liberal Democracy?]. Polis. Politicheskie issledovaniya [Polis. Political Studies], 2017, no. 2, pp. 42–59. (in Russ.)
3. Cohen B. The Press and Foreign Policy. Princeton, NJ, Princeton Uni. Press, 1963, 288 p.
4. Efanov A. A. Dekonstruktsiya obraza inflyuensera v sovremennom mediaprostranstve [Deconstruction of an Influencer Image in the Modern Media Space]. Monitoring obshchestvennogo mneniya: ekonomicheskie i social'nye peremeny [Public Opinion Monitoring: Economic and Social Changes], 2021, no. 5 (165), pp. 32–46. (in Russ.)
5. Efanov A. A. Funktsionirovanie psevdonovosti v polyakh televideniya i Interneta: tipologiya, praktiki, sotsial'nye effekty [Fakes on Television and Internet: Typology, Practices, Social Effects]. Kommunikologiya [Communicology], 2018, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 156–165. (in Russ.)
6. Efanov A. A. “Zakon o feikovykh novostyakh” s pozitsii metodologicheskoi korrektnosti [“Fake News Act” from the Standpoint of Methodological Correctness]. Informatsionnoe obshchestvo [Information Society], 2020, no. 1, pp. 49–56. (in Russ.)
7. Fuller S. Postpravda: Znanie kak bor'ba za vlast' [Post-truth: Knowledge as a Struggle for Power]. Moscow, HSE Uni. Press, 2021, 368 p. (in Russ.)
8. Ibarra P., Kitsyuz Dzh. Diskurs vydvizheniya utverzhdenii-trebovanii i prostorechnye resursy [Statement-Making Discourse and Vernacular Resources]. Sotsial'nye problemy: konstruk- tsionistskoe prochtenie [Social Problems: A Constructionist Reading]. Kazan, Kazan Uni. Press, 2007, pp. 55–114. (in Russ.)
9. Ilchenko S. N. Feik v praktike elektronnykh SMI: kriterii dostovernosti [Fake in the Practice of Electronic Media: Validation Criteria]. Mediaskop [Mediascope], 2016, no. 4, pp. 24–28. (in Russ.)
10. Issers O. S. Mediafeiki: mezhdu pravdoi i vymyslom [Media Fakes: Between Truth and Fiction]. Kommunikativnye issledovaniya [Communicative Research], 2014, no. 2, pp. 112–123. (in Russ.)
11. Iyengar S., Peters M. D., Kinder D. R. Experimental Demonstrations of the “Not-so-minimal” Consequences of Television News Programs. American Political Science Review, 1982, no. 76, pp. 848–858.
12. Khokhlov A. A. Konspirologicheskie teorii kak fenomen mediavozdeistviya na obshchestvennoe soznanie [Conspiracy Theories as a Phenomenon of Media Impact on Public Consciousness]. Vestnik RGGU. Seriya: Filosofiya. Sotsiologiya. Iskusstvovedenie [RSUH Bulletin. Series: Philosophy. Sociology. Art Studies], 2020, no. 1, pp. 96–104. (in Russ.)
13. Levitin D. Putevoditel' po lzhi: Kriticheskoe myshlenie v epokhu postpravdy [A Guide to Lies: Critical Thinking in the Post-truth Era]. Moscow, Mann, Ivanov i Ferber, 2018, 272 p. (in Russ.)
14. McCombs M. E., Shaw D. L. The Agenda-setting Function of Mass Media. Public Opinion Quarterly, 1972, vol. 36, pp. 176–187.
15. Pocheptsov G. The Origins of Fake and Alternative Facts Can Help us Understand the Concept of Post-Truth. Russian Journal of Communication, 2017, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 210–212.
16. Rosnow R. Rumor as Communication: a Contextualist Approach. Journal of Communication, 1988, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 12–28.
17. Toffler E. Tret'ya volna [The Third Wave]. Moscow, AST, 2009, 795 p. (in Russ.)
18. Zucker H. G. The Variable Nature of News Media Influence. Annals of the International Communication Association, 1978, vol. 2, pp. 225–240.
19. Zuikina K. L., Sokolova D. V. Spetsifika kontenta rossiiskikh fejkovykh novostei v Internete i na televidenii [The Specifics of the Content of Russian Fake News on the Internet and on Te- levision]. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seriya 10: Zhurnalistika [Bulletin of the Moscow University. Series 10: Journalism], 2019, no. 4, pp. 3–22. (in Russ.)
Review
For citations:
Yefanov A.A. Fake and Post-Truth News in the Information Agenda in the Context of the First “Wave” of the Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19). Vestnik NSU. Series: History and Philology. 2023;22(6):161-170. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.25205/1818-7919-2023-22-6-161-170
Views:
292
Email this article 