Fake News and Trust in News Media in the U.S.

Session Submission Type: Created Panel

Session Description

Once upon a time, the sources of national news were limited and trust in broadcast networks and national newspapers was high. Today news is created and consumed in many different forms, delivered through a variety of formats, and manipulated by many forces both inside and outside the newsrooms. This panel presents a series of timely studies exploring the manipulation of news, the creation of fake news, and the impact on democracy. One study explores the impact Russian internet trolls had on the 2016 Presidential election. Another evaluates important questions about how prepared young Americans are to evaluate fake news and how that impacts their trust in the news media. Next is a study exploring how partisanship affects trust in news media. The final study evaluates various ways that radical right media websites deviate from what we previously understood as news institutions bounded by common journalistic norms, codes of conduct, and ethics.

Sub Unit

• DIVISION 40: Information Technology and Politics

Cosponsor

• DIVISION 38: Political Communication

Individual Presentations

• Fake News and Social Media: The Communication Strategies of Russian Trolls - Michael J. Jensen, University of Canberra

• Internet Access and Discussion of Fake News Among Young Voters - Chelsea Kaufman, Wingate University; Michael R Brownstein, Purdue University

• No News is Real News: How Political Partisanship Impacts Trust in News - Jordon Brown, University of Texas at Austin; Jeremy L Shermak, University of Texas at Austin; Adrianne Grubic

• The Political Organization of Radical Right Media in the US - Yunkang Yang

Chair

• Yang Allen

Discussant

• David A. Karpf George Washington University