This diploma thesis aims at main methods of fighting against disinformation and propaganda in society. The goal of this thesis was to find out how the European Union tackles the problem at the level of its three main institutions and how the Czech and the Slovak Republic combat false news and propaganda at the government and state bodies level, at civil society level, and at the level of the media. The thesis consists of four chapters. The first two chapters describe the theoretical framework of communication, differentiate different types of information, and describe the practical determination of disinformation. The third chapter aims at analysis of access of the institutions of the European Union to the problem of disinformation in the society and on the internet. The fourth chapter introduces the results of a survey conducted on the above mentioned levels in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia. In the final part, the access of both countries and the European Union is evaluated by a comparative analysis method.

This work focuses on the issue of fake news and related disinformation in contemporary, especially electronic media. The aim of the thesis is to clarify the definition of fake news and their function in the context of media manipulation and to give a comprehensive picture of this issue. Fake news are also related with hoaxes, rumors, urban legends, conspiracy theories and more. This work also maps the incidence of fake news especially in the Czech environment, estimates the possible reach of false news to the audience and describes their characteristics. These characteristics include captions in the form of a clickbait, highlighting emotions, manipulation with lexical means and invective, misleading or completely not specified sources (and seeming authority) and the construction of reality by image materials. Another aim of this work is to delineate the problems that fake news affect. It includes violations of journalistic ethics, growing distrust in traditional media, possible influence on political preferences, violation of legislation or personalization of the content. The research is based on the analysis of a representative sample of fake news, their comparison and a survey of public opinion. In the end, this work also proposes solutions for a defense against fake news and prevent their...

The diploma thesis is focused on disinformation and its relationship to the mass media and public. The main aim of the thesis is to provide a general overview of disinformation, point out the menace resulting from its underestimating and present the clues on how to eliminate its impacts. The work is divided into two main parts. The first one is theoretical and summarizes the existing knowledge in information and disinformation theory. It is supplemented by own typology of the disinformation and includes a practical example of each type. The end of the theoretical part is addressed to the special place that mass media have in the process of disinforming. The second part is related to practical issues. It results from a detailed analysis of the most widely-read statewide daily newspapers and the structure of their readers. The social-demographic factors that influence the rate of received disinformation are set.

This thesis examines how traditional media could reinforce its position as a reliable source of information, overcoming the huge amount of misinformation in public space. First, the thesis analyzes the concept of fake news, examining different concepts of this expression across American and Anglo-Saxon environments. In the following chapters, the thesis presents a link between trust in media and the spread of fake news, outlines psychological factors that allow for fake news to be spread easily and highlights the role of media literacy. Next chapters list the specific ways in which traditional media can fight against fake news, for example through slow journalism or factual verification. That is how the thesis gets to the three analyzed fact-checking departments, which were established as a part of foreign traditional media: ARD Faktenfinder, BBC Reality Check and RFE / RL / VOA Polygraph.info. These departments were founded between 2015 and 2017 and perceive verification of information as an independent journalistic output. Using semi-structured interviews, the thesis examines how these departments work, how they define fake news, what are their future plans or whether they actively contribute to the development of media literacy. Comparative analysis has shown that none of the departments has...

The diploma thesis Evil Called Brussels! Why Czech Media Release euromyths deals with the issue of Euromyths. The aim of the thesis is to find out which common elements have the articles that are considered euromyths. The paper examines twenty cases of misinformation or inaccurate information about the European Union and consequently determines what the main issues are. The thesis deals with the definition of the word euromyth and its theoretical framing. The thesis shows on individual media articles where the journalists make the biggest mistakes and how to prevent those mistakes. The thesis describes the functioning of the work of the foreign rapporteur with advice on how to improve the Czech referencing on the EU. The theoretical part sets the boundaries of content analysis. The analytical part confirms that there are simple intelligence procedures that would greatly improve the journalist reporting on the EU.

Práce seznamuje s problematikou globálního terorismu, jeho formami, příčinami a důvody vzniku, včetně trendů a forem jeho realizace. Dále se zabývá jednou z klíčových forem boje proti tomuto fenoménu a to zpravodajskými službami. Práce poukazuje především na obecné principy fungování zpravodajských služeb, strukturu jejich činnosti a na problematiku práce analytických pracovníků, na nichž leží hlavní tíha činnosti zpravodajských služeb. V poslední části teoretického úvodu se zabývám problematikou dezinformací jako formy manipulace, kterou využívají mocenské či teroristické struktury k prosazení svých cílů. V praktické části je záměrem vytyčit hlavní příčiny a provést analýzu vzniku událostí 11. září 2001. V další části ukazuje práce praktickou aplikaci dezinformační kampaně a její důsledky včetně výkladu modelů komunikace v klasických sítích a v sítích typu ?malý svět?.

The main purpose of this master's thesis is to offer a deeper understanding of disinformation trends and their causes in Slovakia by utilizing the theoretical and analytical framework of the concept of Truth Decay defined by the RAND Corporation in 2018. At the same time, the work also contributes to the exploration of the phenomenon of Truth Decay in general. The research stems from a premise that disinformation should not be strictly perceived as a tool of hybrid warfare. Hence, there is an increasing need to analyze disinformation as a wider societal problem that leaves its marks on society in different ways. Based on 11 expert interviews with professionals with different backgrounds (academia, think tanks, government institutions, security institutions, journalism, or psychology), this master's thesis consists of two main analytical chapters. The first one analyzes four trends of Truth Decay in a Slovak setting: an increasing disagreement about facts and analytical interpretations of facts and data; a blurring of the line between opinion and fact; an increase in the relative volume, and resulting influence, of opinion and personal experience over fact; and lowered trust in formerly respected sources of factual information. The second analytical chapter is focusing on possible drivers of these...

The rise of 'information disorder' that undermine Western political principles has become one of the key political concerns in current Europe and United States and led to searching for new solutions how to fight the spread of mis- and dis-information. While the nature of this danger is still subject to much debate, we can already observe a rise of new experts explaining the threat of information war and how to deal with it. This research looks at how this novel problematization of security affects the politics of security expertise. Or, who gains power in this 'battle for truth'? Building on sociological approaches in security studies, this thesis focuses on the Czech Republic as a country that has become very active in the fight against disinformation and analyses the network of actors recognized as providing security expertise on information warfare. Based on social network analysis, the research maps the structure of social relations among actors recognized as experts and points out the empowerment of think-tanks and journalists, who build their expertise by bringing together their social capital, bridging knowledge of Russian politics and the new media environment, and introducing new practices to make the society resilient towards information warfare.

The submitted thesis focuses on the photograph and its role in the process of disseminating disinformation in the online environment. The thesis deals with the opinion that, despite the fundamental changes in the understanding of photography and its credibility, which together with the transition from its analogue form to digital one, photography retains the status of an authentic medium. For this reason photography is becoming a very powerful tool for spreading misinformation. The thesis deals with the theoretical basis of objectivity of photography, its documentary value and expectation of authenticity. The role of the context, which is crucial for understanding the photographic message, will be emphasized. The thesis also defines the basic concepts related to the phenomenon of disinformation. The strategies used to spread disinformation via photography is also presented. In the practical part of the thesis particular disinformative photographic messages is analyzed. Ways to verify the authenticity of particular photographic images are presented. Keywords: photography, authenticity, disinformation, hoax, fake news, online environment, manipulation

The master thesis Incorrect expression in selected news sites ́s Facebook pages: comparative analysis deals with uncivil comments in the Facebook pages of two news web sites, which are considered as disinformation - Aeronet.cz and ParlamentníListy.cz, and two news web sites, which are considered as serious - Aktuálně.cz and Novinky.cz. The theoretical part describes previous research with a similar focus, on the results of which I set hypotheses. The reader will be acquainted with the incivility, which is indecency, rudeness, but also with new media or social networks. The aim of the research is to find out whether incivility appear in the Facebook comments under the articles dealing with the migration crisis, and if so, to whom these incivility comments are directed. Comments were collected on articles shared on Facebook pages in the period from 1st January 2019 to 30th June 2019. Qualitative coding of comments identified several regularly recurring categories of incivility, as well as typologies of persons against whom incorrect expressions were directed. The results of the quantitative analysis showed that incivility occurs in the comments, they are most often directed against migrants, using contempt or vulgarisms. As part of the analyzed comments, more incivility appeared on the Facebook pages...