Viral Lies in the 2016 Presidential Election: a content analysis of 2016’s widespread “fake news” articles
Public Deposited- Last Modified
- February 26, 2019
- Creator
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Nunn, Sharon
- Affiliation: Hussman School of Journalism and Media
- Abstract
- The purpose of this study is to perform a content analysis of news articles based on or containing the inclusion of false information and find commonalities therein. The depths of the internet and its available information are seemingly infinite, with news, ideas, items for sale, music, literature, culture, and calls to action popping up on online forums or websites in one part of the world and spreading with lightening speed, ricocheting from one online platform to the next. The dissemination of false information comes with the territory of the internet, particularly when democratic societies’ ideals of free speech rights collide with an open forum in which everyone can have a voice and hide behind a veil of anonymity and the screens they look into daily. It is futile and short-sighted to claim fake news stories can be eliminated entirely, but the importance of mitigating the effects of viral news articles that contain false information is of the utmost importance to creating a well-informed populace that has the ability to make responsible decisions based on facts. Understanding the way in which these inaccurate stories are written and presented is a part of the first steps to tackling the much larger problem of internet misinformation.
- Date of publication
- autumn 2017
- Keyword
- DOI
- Resource type
- Rights statement
- In Copyright
- Note
- Funding: None
- Advisor
- Nunn, Sharon
- Degree
- Bachelor of Arts
- Academic concentration
- Journalism & Mass Communication
- Honors level
- Honors
- Degree granting institution
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Graduation year
- 2017
- Language
- English
Relations
- Parents:
This work has no parents.
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