Abstract
Orchestrated manipulations spread lies and can create an environment of uncertainty in society, leading to concerns from politicians, scholars, educators, and journalists, among others. In this paper we explore what the emergence of fake news (understood as false news) represents for journalists, trying to answer the following question: Does false news pose a threat to the credibility of good journalism, causing a disruption of the traditional work? To answer it, we interviewed a sample of journalists from various media organizations in Portugal and Brazil. Among the main findings, journalists are aware that fake news is a problem to be faced, as the blame for the dissemination of false news erroneously lies with the profession. They are conscious that something must be done and agree that the best way to fight against fake news is to invest in media literacy. Most of the journalists of our sample think they must be also more cautious to check sources for veracity and for political motivations. The results show that there is a resolve to reinforce the role of journalism in society.
Highlights
Orchestrated manipulations spread lies and can create an environment of uncertainty in society, leading to concerns from politicians, scholars, educators, and journalists, among others
Freedom of expression in cyberspace would lead institutions, companies, and individuals to become their own media. It seems that we find ourselves in the antechamber of major changes in journalism and fake news has a role in it
Where previous studies focused on the explosion or scandal brought on by fake news, this study focused on what all this discussion causes for the so-called journalistic class and what the opinion is of the ones who produce “real news”
Summary
Orchestrated manipulations spread lies and can create an environment of uncertainty in society, leading to concerns from politicians, scholars, educators, and journalists, among others. Journalists are aware that fake news is a problem to be faced, as the blame for the dissemination of false news erroneously lies with the profession They are conscious that something must be done and agree that the best way to fight against fake news is to invest in media literacy. 1) found out that some people are not capable of making a clear distinction between news and fake news, and they consider that the expression “fake news” has become a way for politicians to discredit the media that criticize them. In this paper we try to find what the recent explosion of fake news represents for journalists. Our working hypothesis is as follows: Does that mean that false news poses a threat to the credibility of good journalism, causing a disruption of traditional work?
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