Thesis (M.A. (Media Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2020 / This study examined the effect of digital news reporting on professional journalistic practice focusing on fake sport news websites. It evolves from the fact that, despite the progressive benefits of the digital revolution, the rise of fake news websites has become common practice associated with the clickbait that spreads rumours posted on unofficial accounts often with a journalistic pretext. The aim of this study was to examine how fake digital sport news reporting impacts on professional journalistic practice. The objectives of the study were: to describe the nature of internet-based fake sport news stories and websites; to assess the credibility of sport news disseminated through fake news sites, and to determine the implications of fake sport news stories and websites on standard news practice. The descriptive design within the qualitative interpretive paradigm was used to determine the negative effect that fake sport news has on professional journalistic practice. Qualitative content analysis of ten sample news excerpts and in-depth interviews with sixteen expert informants were complementarily used to collect data. Interpretive phenomenological analysis was applied to generate discursive themes which yielded the study outcomes. The data from screenshots and interviews were collected, corroborated and analysed, using content and thematic analysis techniques. After analysing both the screenshots and the interviews, a total of eight themes emerged from the study. The study notes how fake sport news and its associated litany of misinformation and/or disinformation has contributed to the creation of false hypes about sports news to the detriment of professional journalism practice. The study revealed that fake sport news is prominent on social media and poses a major challenge to journalistic integrity and credibility. From the various screenshots, fake headlines were identified as a contributing factor to the rise of fake news stories. It was also found that fake sport news has a negative effect on journalism practice, as it spreads lies, makes people more interested in emotional stories and forces credible news agencies to also use sensational headlines to gain the attention of an audience. The interviews revealed that characteristics of fake sport news stories are exaggerated, misleading, have no source or attributions, no by-lines or unknown authors and misrepresent so-called facts. iv vi The study recommends that research, fact-checking, naming and shaming people/websites that popularize fake sport news should be made known to the public; proper training and assertion of certain rules, regulations and ethics for new reporters and journalists to follow and stick to; there must be thorough research and cross checking of information gained from a secondary source; a governing body to possibly monitor and crack down on serial propagators and spreaders of fake sports news stories; sport journalists should alert readers of fake sport news and fake sport news websites, as these are common in sport due to the popularity of sport news sites; and sport journalists should stay away from reporting/re-writing and sharing fake news in order to maintain credibility and ethics in sport news reporting.

Social media platforms have revolutionized how people interact with each other and how people gain information. However, social media platforms such as Twitter quickly became a platform for public manipulation and spreading or amplifying political or ideological misinformation. Although malicious content can be shared by individuals, today millions of coordinated automated clients disguised as individuals exist, also called social bots which have become a significant contributor of the malicious content spread on social media platforms. Therefore, this study aims to investigate in closer look what the requirements are to create a basic social bot from resources available from the internet. A proof-ofconcept prototype is implemented in the form of a social bot on Twitter. The experiences from the work indicate thatthe skills required to create a basic social botare well within reach ofa third-year Bachelor student in the field of computer science. / Sociala medier har revolutionerat människors sätt att integrera med varandra samt hur de delar och hämtar information. Däremot har sociala medier såsom Twitter snabbt blivit en plattform för offentlig manipulation och spridning eller förstärkning av politisk eller ideologisk desinformation. Även om skadligt innehåll kan delas av individer finns det idag miljontals koordinerade automatiserade klienter förklädda som individer, även kallade sociala bottar som har blivit en betydande bidragsgivare till det skadliga innehållet som sprids på sociala medieplattformar. Därför syftar detta arbete på att närmare undersöka vad som krävs för att skapa en grundläggande social bot på en social mediaplattform från resurser tillgängliga från internet. En bevis-på-koncept-prototyp implementeras i form av en social bot på Twitter. Erfarenheterna från arbetet tyder på att de färdigheter som krävs för att skapa en grundläggande social bot ligger väl inom räckhåll för en tredjeårs kandidatstudent inom området datavetenskap.

Community resilience (CR) has been studied as an indicator to measure how well a given community copes with a given disaster and provides policy directions on what aspects of the community should be improved with high priority. Although the impact of the COVID-19 has been serious all over the world and every aspect of our daily life, some countries have handled this disaster better than others. In this thesis, I aim to assess the effect of various news and Tweets collected during the COVID-19 pandemic on community functionality and resilience. First, we measure the community resilience (CR) in five different countries using Tweeter data and investigated how each country shows different trends of the CR, which is measured based on real or fake Tweets. We use Tweets generated in Australia (AUS), Singapore (SG), Republic of Korea (ROK), the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US) for Mar.-Nov. 2020 and measured the CR of each country and associated attributes for analyzing the overall trends. In the next step, we scrap and manually clean 4,952 full-text news articles from Jan. 2020 to Jun. 2021 and classify them into real, mixed, and fake news by fact-checking. Then we retrieve Tweets from 42,877,312 Tweets IDs from the same period and classify them into real, mixed, and fake Tweets using machine learning classifiers. We compare CR measured from news articles and Tweets based on three categories, namely, real, mixed, and fake. Based on the news articles and Tweets collected, we quantify CR based on two key factors, community wellbeing and resource distribution. We evaluate community wellbeing by assessing mental wellbeing and physical wellbeing while evaluating resource distribution by assessing economic resilience, infrastructural resilience, institutional resilience, and community capital. Based on the estimates of these two factors, we quantify CR from both news articles and Tweets and analyze the extent to which CR measured from the news articles can reflect the actual state of CR measured from Tweets. / M.S. / The COVID-19 pandemic has severely harmed every aspect of our daily lives, resulting in a slew of social problems. It is critical to accurately assess the current state of community functionality and resilience under this pandemic to recover from it successfully. To accomplish this, various types of social sensing techniques, such as Tweeting and publicly released news, have been employed to understand individuals’ and communities’ thoughts, behaviors, and attitudes during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, some portions of the released news are fake and can easily mislead the community to respond improperly to disasters like COVID-19. In this thesis, I aim to assess the effect of various news and Tweets collected during the COVID-19 pandemic on community functionality and resilience. First, we measure the community resilience (CR) in five different countries, i.e., Australia (AUS), Singapore (SG), Republic of Korea (ROK), the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US), for Mar.-Nov. 2020 and measured the CR of each country and associated attributes for analyzing the overall trends. In the next step, we compare CR measured from news articles and Tweets based on three categories, namely, real, mixed, and fake. We quantify CR based on two key factors, community wellbeing and resource distribution. We evaluate community wellbeing by assessing mental wellbeing and physical wellbeing while evaluating resource distribution by assessing economic resilience, infrastructural resilience, institutional resilience, and community capital.

The aim of this thesis is to study how the international media CNN frame their news reporting with the change of presidency in America, after a year of being accused of spreading fake news by president Trump. By using a Critical Discourse Analysis, CDA and a rhetorical analysis I examined a selection of articles published in CNN. In total I examined ten articles from 2015 focusing on how CNN choose to portray the identity of the president at the time Barack Obama. I also selected ten articles from 2017 to analyze how the CNN choose to construct Trumps identity a year after his ascent to the president office. The result show that Barack Obama is portrayed as an inspiring president always there for his people. Donald Trump is instead portrayed as a bad leader for the country while CNN started to focus on regaining the trust of the public. In 2015 CNN also used more pathos and ethos arguments than in 2017 when they instead focus on arguments through logos. CNN show that they stand by their goal to control and oversee the power of governments in democracy. Media and governments in a democracy work together to balance their power. / Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att studera hur det internationella mediet CNN gestaltar sin nyhetsrapportering, med förändringen av olika presidenter, efter ett år att ha blivit anklagade att sprida falska nyheter av president Trump. Genom att använda en kritisk diskursanalys och en retorisk analys undersökte jag ett urval av artiklar publicerade i CNN. Totalt studerade jag tio artiklar från 2015 som handlade om Barack Obama som var president det året. Sedan valde jag tio artiklar från 2017 för att analysera hur CNN valde att gestalta Trumps identitet, ett år efter han blivit president. Resultatet visade att Barack Obama gestaltas som en inspirerande ledare som alltid finns där för sitt folk. Donald Trump gestaltades istället som en sämre ledare för landet och CNN fokuserade på att vinna tillbaka förtroendet från allmänheten. 2015 använde CNN också mer patos och etosargument än 2017 då de istället fokuserade på logosargument. CNN visar att de står fast vid sitt uppdrag att kontrollera och bevaka demokratiska länders regeringar. Medierna och regeringar arbetar tillsammans för att balansera sin makt.

Цифровизация современного общества оказывает существенное влияние на коммуникацию индивидов. При создании сообщения, эффектность и воздействующая функция, оказываются более релевантными , чем истинность передаваемой информации. В интернет-пространстве проявляется релятивистское отношение к объективным фактам. Такое состояние общества, когда реальность и объективные факты теоряют свою значимость, является результатом постправды. Fake-news является текстовой экспликацией постправды. В настоящее время постправда является предметом междисциплинарных исследований. В данной работе проводятся как теоретическое, так и практическое исследования. В теоретической главе обозреваются исследований постправды в гуманитарной сфере и исторический контекст постправды. Теоретическая глава завершается рассмотрением с помощью риторики способов воздействия, осуществляемых в тексте fake -news. Практическая глава представляет собой лингво-риторический анализ фейковых новостей. В данной работе вводятся ранее не изучаемые тексты. / The digitalization of modern society has a significant impact on the communication of individuals. When creating a message, showiness and influencing function turn out to be more relevant than the truth of the transmitted information. In the Internet space, a relativistic attitude towards objective facts is manifested. This state of society, when reality and objective facts theorize their significance, is the result of post-truth. Fake-news is a textual explication of post-truth. Currently, post-truth is the subject of interdisciplinary research. In this work, both theoretical and practical research is carried out. The theoretical chapter reviews post-truth research in the humanities and the historical context of post-truth. The theoretical chapter concludes with a rhetorical examination of the ways in which fake-news is used in the text. The practical chapter is a linguo-rhetorical analysis of fake news. In this work, previously unstudied texts are introduced.

L'évolution rapide des réseaux sociaux en ligne (RSO) représente un défi significatif dans l'identification et l'atténuation des fausses informations, incluant les fausses nouvelles, la désinformation et la mésinformation. Cette complexité est amplifiée dans les environnements numériques où les informations sont rapidement diffusées, nécessitant des stratégies sophistiquées pour différencier le contenu authentique du faux. L'un des principaux défis dans la détection automatique de fausses informations est leur présentation réaliste, ressemblant souvent de près aux faits vérifiables. Cela pose de considérables défis aux systèmes d'intelligence artificielle (IA), nécessitant des données supplémentaires de sources externes, telles que des vérifications par des tiers, pour discerner efficacement la vérité. Par conséquent, il y a une évolution technologique continue pour contrer la sophistication croissante des fausses informations, mettant au défi et avançant les capacités de l'IA. En réponse à ces défis, ma thèse introduit le cadre FACTS-ON (Fighting Against Counterfeit Truths in Online Social Networks), une approche complète et systématique pour combattre la désinformation dans les RSO. FACTS-ON intègre une série de systèmes avancés, chacun s'appuyant sur les capacités de son prédécesseur pour améliorer la stratégie globale de détection et d'atténuation des fausses informations. Je commence par présenter le cadre FACTS-ON, qui pose les fondements de ma solution, puis je détaille chaque système au sein du cadre : EXMULF (Explainable Multimodal Content-based Fake News Detection) se concentre sur l'analyse du texte et des images dans les contenus en ligne en utilisant des techniques multimodales avancées, couplées à une IA explicable pour fournir des évaluations transparentes et compréhensibles des fausses informations. En s'appuyant sur les bases d'EXMULF, MythXpose (Multimodal Content and Social Context-based System for Explainable False Information Detection with Personality Prediction) ajoute une couche d'analyse du contexte social en prédisant les traits de personnalité des utilisateurs des RSO, améliorant la détection et les stratégies d'intervention précoce contre la désinformation. ExFake (Explainable False Information Detection Based on Content, Context, and External Evidence) élargit encore le cadre, combinant l'analyse de contenu avec des insights du contexte social et des preuves externes. Il tire parti des données d'organisations de vérification des faits réputées et de comptes officiels, garantissant une approche plus complète et fiable de la détection de la désinformation. La méthodologie sophistiquée d'ExFake évalue non seulement le contenu des publications en ligne, mais prend également en compte le contexte plus large et corrobore les informations avec des sources externes crédibles, offrant ainsi une solution bien arrondie et robuste pour combattre les fausses informations dans les réseaux sociaux en ligne. Complétant le cadre, AFCC (Automated Fact-checkers Consensus and Credibility) traite l'hétérogénéité des évaluations des différentes organisations de vérification des faits. Il standardise ces évaluations et évalue la crédibilité des sources, fournissant une évaluation unifiée et fiable de l'information. Chaque système au sein du cadre FACTS-ON est rigoureusement évalué pour démontrer son efficacité dans la lutte contre la désinformation sur les RSO. Cette thèse détaille le développement, la mise en œuvre et l'évaluation complète de ces systèmes, soulignant leur contribution collective au domaine de la détection des fausses informations. La recherche ne met pas seulement en évidence les capacités actuelles dans la lutte contre la désinformation, mais prépare également le terrain pour de futures avancées dans ce domaine critique d'étude. / The rapid evolution of online social networks (OSN) presents a significant challenge in identifying and mitigating false information, which includes Fake News, Disinformation, and Misinformation. This complexity is amplified in digital environments where information is quickly disseminated, requiring sophisticated strategies to differentiate between genuine and false content. One of the primary challenges in automatically detecting false information is its realistic presentation, often closely resembling verifiable facts. This poses considerable challenges for artificial intelligence (AI) systems, necessitating additional data from external sources, such as third-party verifications, to effectively discern the truth. Consequently, there is a continuous technological evolution to counter the growing sophistication of false information, challenging and advancing the capabilities of AI. In response to these challenges, my dissertation introduces the FACTS-ON framework (Fighting Against Counterfeit Truths in Online Social Networks), a comprehensive and systematic approach to combat false information in OSNs. FACTS-ON integrates a series of advanced systems, each building upon the capabilities of its predecessor to enhance the overall strategy for detecting and mitigating false information. I begin by introducing the FACTS-ON framework, which sets the foundation for my solution, and then detail each system within the framework: EXMULF (Explainable Multimodal Content-based Fake News Detection) focuses on analyzing both text and image in online content using advanced multimodal techniques, coupled with explainable AI to provide transparent and understandable assessments of false information. Building upon EXMULF’s foundation, MythXpose (Multimodal Content and Social Context-based System for Explainable False Information Detection with Personality Prediction) adds a layer of social context analysis by predicting the personality traits of OSN users, enhancing the detection and early intervention strategies against false information. ExFake (Explainable False Information Detection Based on Content, Context, and External Evidence) further expands the framework, combining content analysis with insights from social context and external evidence. It leverages data from reputable fact-checking organizations and official social accounts, ensuring a more comprehensive and reliable approach to the detection of false information. ExFake's sophisticated methodology not only evaluates the content of online posts but also considers the broader context and corroborates information with external, credible sources, thereby offering a well-rounded and robust solution for combating false information in online social networks. Completing the framework, AFCC (Automated Fact-checkers Consensus and Credibility) addresses the heterogeneity of ratings from various fact-checking organizations. It standardizes these ratings and assesses the credibility of the sources, providing a unified and trustworthy assessment of information. Each system within the FACTS-ON framework is rigorously evaluated to demonstrate its effectiveness in combating false information on OSN. This dissertation details the development, implementation, and comprehensive evaluation of these systems, highlighting their collective contribution to the field of false information detection. The research not only showcases the current capabilities in addressing false information but also sets the stage for future advancements in this critical area of study.

En el marco de la pandemia global del coronavirus, las desinformaciones han ido aumentando cada vez más, especialmente, en redes sociales. Aunque este fenómeno no es nuevo, ha cobrado una mayor relevancia en los últimos años debido al avance de las tecnologías. En este trabajo de investigación, uno de los principales planteamientos, busca reconocer cuáles son las herramientas que utilizan los medios de verificación para detectar una noticia falsa en temas de salud e infodemia. Para esto se analizará el trabajo de dos medios verificadores: Ojo Público y Maldita.es / In the framework of the global coronavirus pandemic, misinformation has been increasing more and more, especially on social networks. Although this phenomenon is not new, it has become more relevant in recent years due to the advancement of technologies. In this research work, one of the main approaches, seeks to recognize which are the tools used by the verification media to detect false news on health and infodemic issues. For this, the work of two verifying media will be analyzed: Ojo Público and Maldita.es / Trabajo de investigación

The diploma thesis "Fake News: Methods of assessing and verifying fake news by their recipients" is focused on the ways of evaluating media content by their recipients and the factors that affect the assessment process in the context of fake news phenomenon. The purpose of the thesis is to find out how people perceive the content they read; what affects their perception; and what are the criteria that govern their assessment. The theoretical part first defines the concept of fake (false) news, among other things in connection with the overuse of the term fake news. In the next chapters, the current role of the media and the issue of credibility and trust in the media are approached. The conclusion of the theoretical part discusses the social and psychological assumptions that affect the perception and actions of recipients. The second part presents the research background of this thesis. The research is based on a combination of qualitative and quantitative inquiry. The qualitative approach is focused on the description of the processes and criteria used by the recipients in assessing and verifying the news. Data collection is therefore realized through eight semi-structured interviews, which are analysed by the open coding method. The quantitative research part is based on hypotheses about the...

This thesis discusses source criticism from a critical perspective which encompasses its challenges, demands and possibilities for teaching practice. The questions guiding the core of this research are the following:1) What differentiates people’s activities in the process of evaluating sources? 2) What characterizes an effective practice in critical evaluation of sources? 3) Which criteria, factors and strategies might be important to consider in order to have a successful source critical methodology that promotes the improvement of critical thinking when analysing information and news?The studied materials include data from one survey and 54 semi-structured interviews. The interviews, analysed by using a methodology based on Grounded Theory, led to the development of a concept, critical source criticism (CSC), which define a broad perspective for the analysis of sources, and a related theoretical model (the CSC-model) aimed to be used for didactical purposes. The outcomes from this research suggest that different forms and levels of knowledge in history and social studies (in theory and practice), have a critical impact on the way we interact with information. The results also suggest that the combinations of theories and methodologies, alongside an emphasis on pluralism and multiperspectivity, can turn source criticism into an effective practice to achieve several educational goals. Subsequently, these results, are considered in the development of the proposed model in this thesis. The CSC-model developed in this study could be suitable for the analysis of information such as news, in planning of source-critical based teaching and in source critical discussions. I argue that this methodological structure, can be applied to facilitate the development of critical thinking, as well as other skills and abilities essential for democratic participation. This thesis Includes summaries in Swedish and Spanish as appendices".

Teachers need to be equipped with the tools necessary to evaluate content on the Internet and determine if it is a credible source, or a hoax website since they are expected to instruct and prepare students on how to evaluate the sites which is now a relevant phenomenon. The purpose of the mixed‑method study was to obtain an understanding of the web evaluation strategies of prospective teachers regarding the evaluation of hoax websites and how their epistemic beliefs may influence their evaluation. Another aspect of this study was to find out what outcomes resulted from providing guidance, or not to prospective teachers before evaluating the hoax websites. Seventy‑two prospective teachers from undergraduate education courses completed an online questionnaire, where they evaluated four websites (two hoaxes and two credible) and completed questions regarding their epistemic beliefs. Two groups of prospective teachers were selected. Group A was the control group and Group B was the experiment group. Group A simply took the online questionnaire. However, Group B was provided with an overview of a specific web evaluation strategy, the WWWDOT Framework, before taking the online questionnaire. Sixteen participants were interviewed. Interestingly, almost half of the participants (48.6%), trusted at least one of the hoax websites. The study concluded that teaching the WWWDOT Framework helped to increase the number of people that did not trust the aesthetically appealing hoax website in Group B. Regarding epistemic beliefs, prospective teachers, who displayed feeling‑based epistemic beliefs, tended to trust the hoax website that was aesthetically appealing in Group A. The qualitative results provided additional insights and supported the quantitative data. The qualitative research suggests that lateral reading, spending sufficient time to read and evaluate and knowing the definition of a hoax website as being the most important web evaluation strategies displayed by those that did not trust the hoax websites.