Fake news as a distortion of media reality: tell-truth strategy in the post-truth era

Abstract

The article deals with fake news which has been considered one of the greatest threats to information security. The expansion of digital technologies and the development of communication networks have contributed to the spreading of misinformation. In particular, the emergence of different sources of information on the Internet, the growing polarization of opinions in the political and socio-economic dimensions, the devaluation of the fact, and the widespread fake news on the Internet (e.g., social media) form the question of revision of the process of collecting, verifying presenting information, methods, and technologies for verifying facts, including methods for countering fake news. Although this issue has been widely investigated in academic discourse, there are still controversial arguments regarding which elements should form a tell-truth strategy. This paper focuses on recent research that reflects trends and patterns in this field and on the author’s empirical survey - interviews with university professors and media experts (N=6), journalists (N=6), and students (N=14) in Russia. In this study, the author describes the key characteristics of fake news and the elements of this tell-truth strategy. It is intended that this paper focuses on both professional journalists and professors who may use the results of this investigation in such courses as political science, sociology, philosophy, and journalism.