Journalism and Democracy: Fake News Research in the East - JTM701

• Title: Journalism and Democracy: Fake News Research in the East
• Guaranteed by: Department of German and Austrian Studies (23-KNRS)
• Faculty: Faculty of Social Sciences
• Actual: from 2023
• Semester: winter
• E-Credits: 6
• Examination process: winter s.:
• Hours per week, examination: winter s.:2/0, Ex [HT]
• Capacity: 15 / unknown (15)
• Min. number of students: unlimited
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: no
• State of the course: taught
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment
• Guarantor: prof. Chao-Chen Lin
• Teacher(s): doc. PhDr. Tomáš Nigrin, Ph.D.

Annotation

Last update: doc. PhDr. Tomáš Nigrin, Ph.D. (20.09.2023)

The term “fake news” in the recent news climate is indicating misinformation,
disinformation, propaganda, conspiracy, exaggeration, and manipulated facts. Fake news
affects not only democracy but also the credibility of Journalism. These current fake news
debates are heavily focused on American and British post-truth politics, neglecting the factor
of context in different societies. Such debates also seriously overlook the role of mainland
China’s government, which employs propaganda on social media. Discussing China’s role in
Hong Kong and Taiwan is equally important and comparative to Russia’s election interference
in the U.S.

Aim of the course

Last update: doc. PhDr. Tomáš Nigrin, Ph.D. (20.09.2023)

This micro-course will try to discuss the related phenomenon and refer to the topics below:

1. Journalism, social media and content farm in the Mandarin-speaking society.
2. Fake news and political polarization of news media in Taiwan
3. Fake news and elections in Taiwan
4. Fake news and propaganda from Mainland China
5. Mobile reporting and fake news of Hong Kong Protests in 2019
6. Fake news and fact checks in the Arab Society
7. Fake news, real money: How to make money with fake news.
8. Digital platforms and fake news distribution in the global world.

Teaching methods

Last update: doc. PhDr. Tomáš Nigrin, Ph.D. (20.09.2023)

Lecture.

Syllabus

Last update: Mgr. Jakub Šindelář (26.09.2023)

1. Journalism, social media and content farm in the Mandarin-speaking society. (October 5)

Readings:

1.Silverman, C.(2015).Lies, damn lies, and viral content: How news websites spread online rumors, unverified claims, and misinformation. Retrieved from http://towcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/LiesDamnLies_Silverma

7TowCenter.pdf

2 Borges-Tiago, M.T., Tiago, F., & Cosme, C.(2019). Exploring users' motivations to participate in viral communication on social media, Journal of Business Research, 

101, 574–582

 

2. Fake news and political polarization of news media in Taiwan (October 5)

Readings:

1.Barnidge, M. &Peacock, C.(2019). A third wave of selective exposure research? The challenges posed by hyperpartisan news on social media, Media and Communication, 7(3), 4–7.

2. Brummette, J., Distaso, M., Vafeiadis, M., & Messner, M.(2018). Read all about it:

       The politicization of “fake news” on Twitter, Journalism & Mass

        Communication Quarterly, 95(2), 497–517.

 

3. Fake news and elections in Taiwan (October 10)

Readings:

1.Larsson, A.O.(2019). News use as amplification: Norwegian national,

regional, and hyperpartisan media on Facebook, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 96(3), 721–741.

2..Falcous, M., Hawzen, M.G., &Newman, J. I.(2018).Hyperpartisan sports media in Trump’s America: The metapolitics of Breitbart sports, Communication & Sport, 1-23.

 

4. Fake news and propaganda from Mainland China (October 10)

 Readings:

 1.Benkler,Y., Faris, R., &Roberts, H.(2018). Network propaganda: Manipulation, disinformation, and Radicalization in American Politics.London, UK.:OxfordUniversityPress.(pp. 3-44)

2.Bastos,M. & Farks, J.(2019). “Donald Trump is my president!”: The internet   

  research agency propaganda machine, Social Media + Society, July-September,

  1–13.

 

 

5. Mobile reporting and fake news of Hong Kong Protests in 2019 (October 12)

Readings:

1. Gordon, M.(2018).Lying in politics: Fake news, alternative facets, and the challenges for deliberate civics education. Education Theory, 68(1), 49-64.

2.King,G., Pan,J.,& Roberts, M.E. (2017). How the Chinese Government fabricates social media posts for strategic distraction, not engaged argument, American Political Science Review, 111( 3), pp. 484-501.http://j.mp/2pGQ843

 

6. Fake news and fact checks in the Arab Society (October 12)

Readings:

1. Farkas,J., Schou, J.& Neumayer, C. (2018).Cloaked Facebook pages: Exploring fake Islamist propaganda in social media. New Media & Society, 20(5), 1850-1867.

2.Albadi, N., Hurdi, U.M., & Mishra, U.S.(2019).Hateful people or hateful bots? Detection and characterization of bots spreading religious hatred in Arabic social media. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction. Retrieved from

https://arxiv.org/pdf/1908.00153.pdf

 

7. Fake news, real money: How to make money with fake news. (October 17)

Readings:

1.Braun, J.A., Eklund, J.L.(2019).Fake news, real money: Ad tech platforms, profit-

driven hoaxes, and the business of journalism. Digital Journalism, 7(1), 1-21

2Arvidsson, A.(2016). Facebook and finance: On the social logic of the derivative.

Theory Culture & Society, 33(6), 3–23.

 

8. Digital platforms and fake news distribution in the global world. (October 19)

Readings:

1.Graham, R. (2017). Google and advertising: Digital capitalism in the context of Post-Fordism, the reification of language, and the rise of fake news. Palgrave Communications, 3(1), 1-19.

2.Picard, V. (2020).Confronting the misinformation society: Facebook’s”fake news” is a symptom of unaccountable monopoly power. In M.Zimdars & K. Mcleod(Eds.), Fake news: Understanding media and misinformation in the digital age.(pp.123-132).London,UK: The MIT Press.