Fake News and Propaganda: A Critical Discourse Research Perspective

Abstract

Having been invoked as a disturbing factor in recent elections across the globe, fake news has become a frequent object of inquiry for scholars and practitioners in various fields of study and practice. My article draws intellectual resources from Library and Information Science, Communication Studies, Argumentation Theory, and Discourse Research to examine propagandistic dimensions of fake news and to suggest possible ways in which scientific research can inform practices of epistemic self-defense. Specifically, the article focuses on a cluster of fake news of potentially propagandistic import, employs a framework developed within Argumentation Theory to explore ten ways in which fake news may be used as propaganda, and suggests how Critical Discourse Research, an emerging cluster of theoretical and methodological approaches to discourses, may provide people with useful tools for identifying and debunking fake news stories. My study has potential implications for further research and for literacy practices. In particular, it encourages empirical studies of its guiding premise that people who became familiar with certain research methods are less susceptible to fake news. It also contributes to the design of effective research literacy practices.

Shameless normalization as a result of media control: The case of Austria

“…Vamanu (2019) summarizes a range of approaches to describe, understand, and explain ‘propaganda’ and ‘fake news’, such as from philosophy, cognitive and evolutionary psychology, communication sciences, and discourse analysis (e.g. Ball, 2017; Brown et al, 2021).…”

“…If the alleged plausibility and evidence do not hold, the argument necessarily becomes fallacious (Helder, 2011: 117). As Vamanu (2019: 202) maintains, pictorial elements are particularly relevant to propaganda, as images tend to elicit powerful emotional reactions (e.g. Richardson and Wodak, 2009).…”

Using information science to enhance educational preventing violent extremism programs

“…Thomas (2010) has observed that information in the form of EPVE programs can be seen as an attempt to engineer "value changes" within Muslim communities. These are all valid perspectives, however, given that the type of EPVE programs in our study aim to use information and education to counter propaganda, we argue that is apt to apply information science to understand their logics as well as in parallel to use information science to understand how propaganda and fake news work (see Vamanu, 2019).…”

The Relevance of Discursive Strategies to Information Evaluation Practices

“…Recent work across disciplines has examined the current post-truth climate and various types of information disorders, Poroi 17,2 (May 2022) which have permeated the internet (Calvert, 2001;Fallis, 2004Fallis, , 2015Hernon, 1995;Lynch, 2001;Piper, 2002;Rubin & Conroy, 2012;Skinner & Martin, 2000;Whitty et al, 2012). Scholars and professionals across disciplines and fields of practice have elaborated personal, legal, technical, and educational models and solutions to make sense of these phenomena and contain them (Agarwal & Alsaeedi, 2020;Auberry, 2018;Delellis & Rubin, 2020;Elmwood, 2020;Karlova & Fisher, 2013;Mathiesen, 2019;Neely-Sardon & Tignor, 2018;Oltmann, Froehlich, & Agosto, 2018;Vamanu, 2019;Vamanu & Zak, 2022;Young, 2021). In particular, information scholars and professionals have articulated information evaluation frameworks for information literacy instruction in schools and libraries (Cullen, 2014;Elmborg, 2006;Lloyd & Talja, 2010;Mercer, 2018;Musgrove, 2021;Swanson, 2004;Walsh, 2010).…”