In 2016, “post-truth” was chosen as the word of the year by the Oxford Dictionaries. This is a concept that has come to be associated with a type of political discourse in which objective facts are less important than factual inaccuracies which appeal to emotion to influence people’s attitudes. Due to this recent increase in post-truth politics, critical thinking becomes an important skill to master. Yet, studies have suggested that students often lack the necessary skills for critical thinking. One way of approaching this problem is through the reading of literature. This essay specifically argues that George Orwell’s 1984 provides teachers with an excellent opportunity to develop critical thinking skills among upper secondary English as a foreign language (EFL) students, with the novel as an excellent platform to also promote student reflection on current post-truth politics. In order to work with 1984 to foster critical thinking, this essay utilizes a literature-based, pedagogical model developed by Bobkina and Stefanova that draws inspiration from elements of reader-response theory and critical literacy pedagogy (CLP). To show how 1984 can be used to discuss current post-truth politics, a thematic analysis was performed where central themes and concepts from the novel, such as doublethink, Newspeak and telescreens, were compared to current trends in post-truth politics. The analysis itself was structured around the following themes: the distortion of truth for political gains, the use of language as an instrument of political power and the use of technology to spread misinformation. Following the analysis, a lesson project based on Bobkina and Stefanova’s four-stage model was constructed, focusing on different pre-, while- and post-reading activities aimed at making the students develop their critical thinking skills as well as their awareness of the three themes mentioned above. While this approach is deemed suitable for working with 1984 to discuss post-truth politics, a suggestion for further research would be to use Bobkina and Stefanova’s model together with more contemporary dystopian novels in order to discuss other topics that are more relatable to young adults, e.g. identity issues and social stratification.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore how the use of clickbait marketing strategies by online news outlets affects consumer perceptions of online news content quality.   Design/methodology/approach A qualitative, deductive, exploratory and cross-sectional method, wherein data was collected through semi-structured interviews to understand consumer perceptions of how the use of clickbait strategies affects perceived online news content quality. The gathered data was then analyzed with the help of a directed content analysis supported by qualitative content analysis software Atlas.Ti. Findings This study found that the use of clickbait content strategies affected the perceived quality of online news content. Furthermore, it was found that there are two primary consumer groups, one of which seeks to avoid clickbait and one of which seems to engage with clickbait. Finally, several new variables were found for perceived news content quality that applied in the online space. Research limitations/implications The main implications of this research are that clickbait strategies should be utilized cautiously as they are often found misleading or displeasing, and may cause damage to the publisher. Furthermore, despite clickbait sometimes being entertaining, most clickbait was found to be highly context sensitive. Finally, a number of new variables were found that expanded previous understandings of perceived news quality. This study was limited by several factors - firstly, a lack of english as a first language which may have resulted in misunderstandings. Secondly, the articles utilized were found to have several shortcomings during the research procedure. Finally, due to the qualitative nature of this study, its findings are non-generalizable.

Syftet med den här masteruppsatsen är att förstå nyhetsdiskurser i public service och invandringskritiska alternativmedier i Sverige. Uppsatsen fokuserar på hur de fyra största politiska partierna behandlar invandringsfrågan månaden före det riksdagsvalet 2018. Uppsatsen syftar mot att förstå skillnader och likheter i diskursiva praktiker om invandringsfrågan i två public service medier (Sveriges Television och Sveriges Radio) samt två invandringskritiska alternativmedier (Fria Tider och Nyheter Idag), och för att undersöka hur detta kan kopplas till minskat förtroende i traditionella medier.Uppsatsen grundar analysen på diskursteori av Fairclough i sammanhanhet av minskat förtroende för traditionella nyhetsmedier. För analys av resultaten används gestaltningteorin och dagordningsteorin, tillsammans med teorier om kommersialiserad journalistik.Metoderna som används är en kritisk diskursanalys baserad på Faircloughs tredimensionella modell, tillsammans med en retorisk analys som appliceras på Faircloughs textnivå. Dessa metoder användes på tolv medietexter som handlade om samma nyhet under augusti 2018.Resultaten visade en Överlägsenhetsdiskurs, där de invandringskritiska medierna intar en roll som överlägnsa de andra deltagarna i det politiska "spelet". Jag presebterar också en erkännandediskurs för att förklara en tredimensionell modell som innehåller politiker i botten, traditionella medier på andra nivån och invandringskritiska medier på toppen. Den sista diskursen är en "Vänskaps"-diskurs där de invandringskritiska medierna intar en "vänskaplig" roll mot andra aktörer i det politiska spelet, vilket ytterligare expanderar på teorier om politisk nyhetsjournalistik som ett spel.Framtida forskning kan riktas mot att bredda analysen och inkludera flera sorters alternativa medier, utföras i andra länder eller utveckla den model jag presenterar. / The aim of this master’s thesis is to understand news discursive practices in public service and the immigration critical alternative media of Sweden. The thesis focus on how the four largest political parties addresses the topic of immigration the month before the Swedish election in 2018. The thesis aims at identifying and understanding similarities and differences in the discursive construction of immigration as a political topic in two public service media (Sveriges Television and Sveriges Radio) and two immigration critical alternative media (Fria Tider and Nyheter Idag), and to examine how this connects to the diminished trust in mainstream media.The thesis bases the analysis on discourse theory by Fairclough, and the context of distrust in traditional news media. To analyze the result, framing and agenda setting theories are used along with the theory of commercialized journalism.The methods used are a Critical Discourse Analysis based on Fairclough’s model supported by a rhetorical analysis which is applied on the text layer in Fairclough’s model. These methods are applied to a total of twelve media texts that covered the same stories during August of 2018.The results showed a superiority discourse where the immigration critical media enters a role of superior to other actors in the political “game”. I also present an acknowledgement discourse to support a three-level model, which consists of politics at the bottom, the mainstream media on the second level, and the alternative media on the top. The final discourse is the “Friendship” discourse where immigration critical media takes on a “friendship” role towards other actors in the political game, to further expand upon political journalism as a game.Future research could be aimed at widening the analysis to cover other forms of alternative media, be placed in other countries, or develop the model I propose.

This thesis focused on disinformation, providing analysis of media system in the Czech Republic. The main focus is on content analysis of disinformations and their persuasive function - explaining what are the ain characteristics of those news and which lingual and rhetorical tools they use. The main tool which is discussed and analysed in this thesis is fallacy, false or invalid arguments. Disinformation phenomenon and its place in today's world is explained in their first part of the thesis. The second, empirical part of the thesis looks at specific examples of disinformations which were published at selected Czech disinformation news websites (Aaronet, AC24, Instory.cz). Selection of those websites was guided by their diversity when it comes to structure and themes. The sample of analysed articles was subject to predefined standards, chosing articles with the theme of immigration crisis which were published between 2015 and 2017.

[ES] En tiempos recientes, el desarrollo de las redes sociales y de las agencias de noticias han traído nuevos retos y amenazas a la web. Estas amenazas han llamado la atención de la comunidad investigadora en Procesamiento del Lenguaje Natural (PLN) ya que están contaminando las plataformas de redes sociales. Un ejemplo de amenaza serían las noticias falsas, en las que los usuarios difunden y comparten información falsa, inexacta o engañosa. La información falsa no se limita a la información verificable, sino que también incluye información que se utiliza con fines nocivos. Además, uno de los desafíos a los que se enfrentan los investigadores es la gran cantidad de usuarios en las plataformas de redes sociales, donde detectar a los difusores de información falsa no es tarea fácil. Los trabajos previos que se han propuesto para limitar o estudiar el tema de la detección de información falsa se han centrado en comprender el lenguaje de la información falsa desde una perspectiva lingüística. En el caso de información verificable, estos enfoques se han propuesto en un entorno monolingüe. Además, apenas se ha investigado la detección de las fuentes o los difusores de información falsa en las redes sociales. En esta tesis estudiamos la información falsa desde varias perspectivas. En primer lugar, dado que los trabajos anteriores se centraron en el estudio de la información falsa en un entorno monolingüe, en esta tesis estudiamos la información falsa en un entorno multilingüe. Proponemos diferentes enfoques multilingües y los comparamos con un conjunto de baselines monolingües. Además, proporcionamos estudios sistemáticos para los resultados de la evaluación de nuestros enfoques para una mejor comprensión. En segundo lugar, hemos notado que el papel de la información afectiva no se ha investigado en profundidad. Por lo tanto, la segunda parte de nuestro trabajo de investigación estudia el papel de la información afectiva en la información falsa y muestra cómo los autores de contenido falso la emplean para manipular al lector. Aquí, investigamos varios tipos de información falsa para comprender la correlación entre la información afectiva y cada tipo (Propaganda, Trucos / Engaños, Clickbait y Sátira). Por último, aunque no menos importante, en un intento de limitar su propagación, también abordamos el problema de los difusores de información falsa en las redes sociales. En esta dirección de la investigación, nos enfocamos en explotar varias características basadas en texto extraídas de los mensajes de perfiles en línea de tales difusores. Estudiamos diferentes conjuntos de características que pueden tener el potencial de ayudar a discriminar entre difusores de información falsa y verificadores de hechos. / [CA] En temps recents, el desenvolupament de les xarxes socials i de les agències de notícies han portat nous reptes i amenaces a la web. Aquestes amenaces han cridat l'atenció de la comunitat investigadora en Processament de Llenguatge Natural (PLN) ja que estan contaminant les plataformes de xarxes socials. Un exemple d'amenaça serien les notícies falses, en què els usuaris difonen i comparteixen informació falsa, inexacta o enganyosa. La informació falsa no es limita a la informació verificable, sinó que també inclou informació que s'utilitza amb fins nocius. A més, un dels desafiaments als quals s'enfronten els investigadors és la gran quantitat d'usuaris en les plataformes de xarxes socials, on detectar els difusors d'informació falsa no és tasca fàcil. Els treballs previs que s'han proposat per limitar o estudiar el tema de la detecció d'informació falsa s'han centrat en comprendre el llenguatge de la informació falsa des d'una perspectiva lingüística. En el cas d'informació verificable, aquests enfocaments s'han proposat en un entorn monolingüe. A més, gairebé no s'ha investigat la detecció de les fonts o els difusors d'informació falsa a les xarxes socials. En aquesta tesi estudiem la informació falsa des de diverses perspectives. En primer lloc, atès que els treballs anteriors es van centrar en l'estudi de la informació falsa en un entorn monolingüe, en aquesta tesi estudiem la informació falsa en un entorn multilingüe. Proposem diferents enfocaments multilingües i els comparem amb un conjunt de baselines monolingües. A més, proporcionem estudis sistemàtics per als resultats de l'avaluació dels nostres enfocaments per a una millor comprensió. En segon lloc, hem notat que el paper de la informació afectiva no s'ha investigat en profunditat. Per tant, la segona part del nostre treball de recerca estudia el paper de la informació afectiva en la informació falsa i mostra com els autors de contingut fals l'empren per manipular el lector. Aquí, investiguem diversos tipus d'informació falsa per comprendre la correlació entre la informació afectiva i cada tipus (Propaganda, Trucs / Enganys, Clickbait i Sàtira). Finalment, però no menys important, en un intent de limitar la seva propagació, també abordem el problema dels difusors d'informació falsa a les xarxes socials. En aquesta direcció de la investigació, ens enfoquem en explotar diverses característiques basades en text extretes dels missatges de perfils en línia de tals difusors. Estudiem diferents conjunts de característiques que poden tenir el potencial d'ajudar a discriminar entre difusors d'informació falsa i verificadors de fets. / [EN] In the recent years, the development of social media and online news agencies has brought several challenges and threats to the Web. These threats have taken the attention of the Natural Language Processing (NLP) research community as they are polluting the online social media platforms. One of the examples of these threats is false information, in which false, inaccurate, or deceptive information is spread and shared by online users. False information is not limited to verifiable information, but it also involves information that is used for harmful purposes. Also, one of the challenges that researchers have to face is the massive number of users in social media platforms, where detecting false information spreaders is not an easy job. Previous work that has been proposed for limiting or studying the issue of detecting false information has focused on understanding the language of false information from a linguistic perspective. In the case of verifiable information, approaches have been proposed in a monolingual setting. Moreover, detecting the sources or the spreaders of false information in social media has not been investigated much. In this thesis we study false information from several aspects. First, since previous work focused on studying false information in a monolingual setting, in this thesis we study false information in a cross-lingual one. We propose different cross-lingual approaches and we compare them to a set of monolingual baselines. Also, we provide systematic studies for the evaluation results of our approaches for better understanding. Second, we noticed that the role of affective information was not investigated in depth. Therefore, the second part of our research work studies the role of the affective information in false information and shows how the authors of false content use it to manipulate the reader. Here, we investigate several types of false information to understand the correlation between affective information and each type (Propaganda, Hoax, Clickbait, Rumor, and Satire). Last but not least, in an attempt to limit its spread, we also address the problem of detecting false information spreaders in social media. In this research direction, we focus on exploiting several text-based features extracted from the online profile messages of those spreaders. We study different feature sets that can have the potential to help to identify false information spreaders from fact checkers. / Ghanem, BHH. (2020). On the Detection of False Information: From Rumors to Fake News [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/158570 / TESIS

During the past few years online misinformation, generally referred to as fake news, has been identified as an increasingly dangerous threat. As the spread of misinformation online has increased, fake news detection has become an active line of research. One approach is to use knowledge graphs for the purpose of automated fake news detection. While large scale knowledge graphs are openly available these are rarely up to date, often missing the relevant information needed for the task of fake news detection. Creating new knowledge graphs from online sources is one way to obtain the missing information. However extracting information from unstructured text is far from straightforward. Using Natural Language Processing techniques we developed a pre-processing pipeline for extracting information from text for the purpose of creating knowledge graphs. In order to classify news as fake or not fake with the use of knowledge graphs, these need to be converted into a machine understandable format, called knowledge graph embeddings. These embeddings also allow new information to be inferred or classified based on the already existing information in the knowledge graph. Only one knowledge graph embedding model has previously been used for the purpose of fake news detection while several new models have recently been developed. We compare the performance of three different embedding models, all relying on different fundamental architectures, in the specific context of fake news detection. The models used were the geometric model TransE, the tensor decomposition model ComplEx and the deep learning model ConvKB. The results of this study shows that out of the three models, ConvKB is the best performing. However other aspects than performance need to be considered and as such these results do not necessarily mean that a deep learning approach is the most suitable for real world fake news detection.

Background: It is evident that fake news has become more common since the world transitioned into a more digital age. Previous research on the topic of fake news has usually been done on different generations and often by comparing them to one another in order to highlight differences between age groups. However, there are no studies to be found on Generation X alone in Sweden.  Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine Swedish Generation X-ers and their relation to news posts found on Facebook, in order to find out how they interact with it and what they would do to make sure a news post is valid before sharing it with their network of contacts. With a focus on exploring their experiences and finding patterns among the different answers we collected, the goal with this thesis was to present an overview of how Swedish Generation X-ers relate to news posts on Facebook.  Method: The research conducted in this paper was done by a set of semi-structured interviews. The transcriptions and data were analyzed by using a thematic approach, which allowed us to find themes and codes in the material, and in turn to be able to draw conclusions.  Findings: The results showed that Swedish Generation X-ers generally tend to avoid interacting with news posts on Facebook. This is because they worry about accidentally sharing fake news, think news is too private to share with others, and do not like the presence that comes with presenting themselves online. However, if they were to share a news post, even hypothetically, the majority of our participants would take measures to ensure validity beforehand. This thesis can be used as a groundwork for similar studies in other countries to get a comparative view. Further research: Suggestions for further research include doing the same kind of research in a new and bigger context, in order to see if the results from this thesis are recurring throughout the population at large. Another suggestion would be to combine a larger qualitative study with an additional quantitative approach, in order to present a more mathematical overview. Lastly, further research could be done to see if Generation X-ers are as private with their political views in real life as they are on Facebook. This in order to see if the behavior is something they have brought from their disconnected life to Facebook, or if it is just an online behavior.

Fake news has long been a part of the news landscape but has in recent times, as the market for online news has grown, become an increasingly occurring problem in contemporary news media and society. By analyzing the content published by the largest American news organizations this thesis provides an overview of the occurrence of fake news and clickbait on the competitive news market. Competition for the readers' limited attention has been known to create a thirst to be first and may lead to the consequences of unethical behavior by the organizations. But what does that mean? Fake news can be categorized as biased information which in turn can be divided into two parts, misinformation and disinformation. Disinformation is the intentional spread of wrong or biased information and in the scope of this thesis a news site’s intention is determined through its use of clickbait. This study also evaluates the fake news and clickbait present in the most popular news articles by readers in order to see if the competition is increasing the use of tools for competitive advantages within the market for news. With this information it is possible to categorize the news article as one of three stages of morality which in turn is used to evaluate to what degree the organization is fulfilling the ethical aspect of their corporate social responsibility. The study finds that all but one of the explored organizations are fulfilling their ethical responsibility.

In the first phase of my thesis I seek to explore how novelist use the fictional architectural environments in order to propel narrative and create an immersive experience for a reader, using the well-known 1984 by George Orwell and The Castle by Franz Kafka as the primary vehicle for investigation. The thesis studies the narrative and architectural typologies, physical settings and imagined spaces used to connect the viewer to the narrative’s highly detailed world. In the second phase of my thesis, I used elements learned from this two novels and applied them to propose a building in Midtown Manhattan in New York. I chose misinformation and fake news as the my main theme in order to design a mixed use proposal as it is one of the biggest challenges of our era. I end my thesis with a comic-style story using my proposal building as the main key in the comic-strips. If the first phase is about how architecture is used in fiction, the second phase is about creating a fictional story using architecture.

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