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This Is Not Real News: Discursive Struggles over Fake News, Journalism, and Democracy
Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS), Institutionen för konst, kultur och kommunikation (K3).ORCID-id: 0000-0003-2272-7174
2023 (Engelska)Doktorsavhandling, sammanläggning (Övrigt vetenskapligt)
Abstract [en]

Fake news has attracted significant global attention and contestation in recent years. This PhD thesis explores the explosive and oftentimes contradictory rise of fake news and dives into the discursive struggles around journalism, politics, digital media, and liberal democracy that have emerged in its wake. Through a series of interrelated publications – spanning more than five years of research – the thesis examines how and with what consequences journalistic and political actors articulate and dispute the very meaning of fake news. Through a careful and critical mapping of the discursive signification of fake news, the thesis does not only situate the issue in wider political and historical contexts; it also draws out and reflects upon its implications for the future of liberal democracies. 

Deploying detailed empirical investigations based on news content, textual analysis, and qualitative interviews, the thesis sheds light on discursive struggles around fake news within a number of distinct socio-political contexts. It dives into cases from the US and UK, where fake news first rose to prominence in 2016, as well as from Denmark, where fake news has increasingly become a topic of journalistic and political concern. 

Drawing on the ontological and conceptual framework of discourse theory, the thesis demonstrates how fake news has come to function as a floating signifier; it is a deeply political concept mobilised within conflicting hegemonic projects with fundamentally different forms of meaning. Having done so, the thesis goes on to show that fake news has not only become central in debates around lies and falsehoods but also for conflicting visions about what ‘politics,’ ‘journalism,’ and ‘liberal democracy’ fundamentally are and ought to be. Indeed, the core argument levelled in this thesis is that fake news has come to function as a prism through which wider struggles over liberal democracy and human co-habitation have become visible at a time of growing political instability. 

Taken together, the findings offered by the thesis contribute to the field of media and communication studies by addressing a pertinent gap regarding the discursive signification of fake news. Connecting the rise of fake news to structural transformations at the heart of both contemporary media landscapes and liberal democracy, the thesis moves beyond formalistic conceptions of fake news and into the highly conflictual terrain surrounding the concept.

Ort, förlag, år, upplaga, sidor
Malmö: Malmö University Press, 2023. , s. 223
Serie
School of Arts and Communication Dissertation Series ; 8
Nyckelord [en]
Fake news, disinformation, misinformation, journalism, democracy, digital media, discourse theory, metajournalistic discourse
Nationell ämneskategori
Medie-, kommunikations-, och informationsvetenskaper
Identifikatorer
URN: urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-58996DOI: 10.24834/isbn.9789178773169ISBN: 978-91-7877-315-2 (tryckt)ISBN: 978-91-7877-316-9 (digital)OAI: oai:DiVA.org:mau-58996DiVA, id: diva2:1746944
Disputation
2023-06-02, Auditorium C, Nordenskiöldsgatan 1, 211 19, Malmö, Sweden, Malmö, 09:34 (Engelska)
Opponent
Handledare
Tillgänglig från: 2023-04-11 Skapad: 2023-03-30 Senast uppdaterad: 2025-02-07Bibliografiskt granskad
Delarbeten
1. A Case Against the Post-Truth Era: Revisiting Mouffe’s Critique of Consensus-Based Democracy
Öppna denna publikation i ny flik eller fönster >>A Case Against the Post-Truth Era: Revisiting Mouffe’s Critique of Consensus-Based Democracy
2020 (Engelska)Ingår i: Fake news: Understanding Media and Misinformation in the Digital Age / [ed] Melissa Zimdars and Kembrew McLeod, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2020Kapitel i bok, del av antologi (Refereegranskat)
Ort, förlag, år, upplaga, sidor
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2020
Nationell ämneskategori
Medie-, kommunikations-, och informationsvetenskaper
Identifikatorer
urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-17455 (URN)9780262538367 (ISBN)
Tillgänglig från: 2020-06-09 Skapad: 2020-06-09 Senast uppdaterad: 2025-02-07Bibliografiskt granskad
2. Fake news as a floating signifier: hegemony, antagonism and the politics of falsehood
Öppna denna publikation i ny flik eller fönster >>Fake news as a floating signifier: hegemony, antagonism and the politics of falsehood
2018 (Engelska)Ingår i: Javnost : The Public, ISSN 1318-3222, Vol. 25, nr 3, s. 298-314Artikel i tidskrift (Refereegranskat) Published
Abstract [en]

‘Fake news’ has emerged as a global buzzword. While prominent media outlets, such as The New York Times, CNN, and CBS, have used the term to designate misleading information spread through websites, President Donald Trump has recently used the term as a negative designation of these very ‘mainstream media’. In this article, we argue that the concept of ‘fake news’ has become an important component in contemporary political struggles. We showcase how the term is utilised by different positions within the social space as a means of discrediting, attacking and delegitimising political opponents. Excavating three central moments within the construction of ‘fake news’, we argue that the term has increasingly become a ‘floating signifier’: a signifier lodged in-between different hegemonic projects seeking to provide an image of how society is and ought to be structured. By approaching ‘fake news’ from the viewpoint of discourse theory, the paper reframes the current stakes of the debate and contributes with new insights into the function and consequences of ‘fake news’ as a novel political category.

Ort, förlag, år, upplaga, sidor
Taylor & Francis, 2018
Nyckelord
fake news, floating signifier, misinformation, disinformation, discourse theory, Donald Trump, Ernesto Laclau
Nationell ämneskategori
Samhällsvetenskap
Identifikatorer
urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-14340 (URN)10.1080/13183222.2018.1463047 (DOI)000441651500003 ()2-s2.0-85045337778 (Scopus ID)24514 (Lokalt ID)24514 (Arkivnummer)24514 (OAI)
Tillgänglig från: 2020-03-30 Skapad: 2020-03-30 Senast uppdaterad: 2025-01-14Bibliografiskt granskad
3. News on Fake News: Logics of Media Discourses on Disinformation
Öppna denna publikation i ny flik eller fönster >>News on Fake News: Logics of Media Discourses on Disinformation
2023 (Engelska)Ingår i: Journal of Language and Politics, ISSN 1569-2159, E-ISSN 1569-9862, Vol. 22, nr 1, s. 1-21Artikel i tidskrift (Refereegranskat) Published
Abstract [en]

This article presents a qualitative study of media discourses around fake news, examining 288 news articles from two national elections in Denmark in 2019. It explores how news media construct fake news as a national security threat and how journalists articulate their own role in relation to this threat. The study draws on discourse theory and the concept of logics to critically map how particular meaning ascriptions and subject positions come to dominate over others, finding five logics undergirding media discourses: (1) a logic of anticipation; (2) a logic of exteriorisation; (3) a logic of technologisation; (4) a logic of securitisation; and (5) a logic of pre-legitimation. The article concludes that fake news is constructed as an ‘ultimate other’ in Danish media discourses, potentially contributing to blind spots in both public perception and political solutions. This resonates with previous studies from other geo-political contexts, calling for further cross-national research.

Ort, förlag, år, upplaga, sidor
Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2023
Nyckelord
journalism, European Parliament, election reporting, discourse theory, news, disinformation, Denmark, fake news, disinformation, misinformation
Nationell ämneskategori
Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap
Identifikatorer
urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-55475 (URN)10.1075/jlp.22020.far (DOI)000922976800001 ()2-s2.0-85147651407 (Scopus ID)
Tillgänglig från: 2022-10-24 Skapad: 2022-10-24 Senast uppdaterad: 2025-02-17Bibliografiskt granskad
4. Fake News in Metajournalistic Discourse
Öppna denna publikation i ny flik eller fönster >>Fake News in Metajournalistic Discourse
2023 (Engelska)Ingår i: Journalism Studies, ISSN 1461-670X, E-ISSN 1469-9699, Vol. 24, nr 4, s. 423-441Artikel i tidskrift (Refereegranskat) Published
Abstract [en]

In recent years, fake news has become central to debates about the state and future of journalism. This article examines imaginaries around fake news as a threat to democracy and the role of journalism in mitigating this threat. The study builds on 34 qualitative interviews with Danish journalists, media experts, government officials, and social media company representatives as well as 42 editorials from nine national Danish news outlets. Drawing on discourse theory and the concept of metajournalistic discourse, the analysis finds that media actors mobilise fake news to support opposing discursive positions on journalism and its relationship with falsehoods. While some voices articulate established journalism and journalistic values, such as objectivity, as the antithesis to fake news, others blame contemporary journalistic practices for potentially contributing to misinformation, calling for change and reform. These contrasts are particularly notable between the public stances of editors-in-chief, expressed through editorials, and reflections based on personal experience from news reporters and media experts. The paper concludes that fake news functions as a floating signifier in Danish metajournalistic discourse, mobilised not only to attack or defend journalism, but also to present conflicting visions for what journalism is and ought to be.

Ort, förlag, år, upplaga, sidor
New York: Taylor & Francis, 2023
Nyckelord
Fake news, disinformation, misinformation, journalism, metajournalistic discourse, journalistic values, discourse theory, discourse analysis, Denmark
Nationell ämneskategori
Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap
Identifikatorer
urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-58028 (URN)10.1080/1461670X.2023.2167106 (DOI)000926161800001 ()2-s2.0-85147705286 (Scopus ID)
Tillgänglig från: 2023-02-04 Skapad: 2023-02-04 Senast uppdaterad: 2025-02-11Bibliografiskt granskad
5. Mimicking News How the credibility of an established tabloid is used when disseminating racism
Öppna denna publikation i ny flik eller fönster >>Mimicking News How the credibility of an established tabloid is used when disseminating racism
2020 (Engelska)Ingår i: Nordicom Review, ISSN 1403-1108, E-ISSN 2001-5119, Vol. 41, nr 1, s. 1-17Artikel i tidskrift (Refereegranskat) Published
Abstract [en]

This article explores the mimicking of tabloid news as a form of covert racism, relying on the credibility of an established tabloid newspaper. The qualitative case study focuses on a digital platform for letters to the editor, operated without editorial curation pre-publication from 2010 to 2018 by one of Denmark's largest newspapers, Ekstra Bladet. A discourse analysis of the 50 most shared letters to the editor on Facebook shows that nativist, far-right actors used the platform to disseminate fear-mongering discourses and xenophobic conspiracy theories, disguised as professional news and referred to as articles. These processes took place at the borderline of true and false as well as racist and civil discourse. At this borderline, a lack of supervision and moderation coupled with the openness and visual design of the platform facilitated new forms of covert racism between journalism and user-generated content.

Ort, förlag, år, upplaga, sidor
SCIENDO, 2020
Nyckelord
racism, letters to the editor, borderline discourse, digital journalism, fake news
Nationell ämneskategori
Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap
Identifikatorer
urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-17320 (URN)10.2478/nor-2020-0001 (DOI)000528218400001 ()2-s2.0-85079163669 (Scopus ID)
Tillgänglig från: 2020-05-18 Skapad: 2020-05-18 Senast uppdaterad: 2025-02-11Bibliografiskt granskad

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