ABSTRACT

The term ‘fake news’ aims to delegitimize news and is weaponized by political leaders and partisan media. Research has noted the negative impact of the phrase ‘fake news’ yet little work has investigated alternative discourse. We explore whether the phrase ‘fake news’ is distinct from alternative phrases such as ‘misinformation’ and ‘false news.’ Using two experiments, we compare effects of these phrases on evaluations of trust and credibility regarding U.S. news media. Results indicate that ‘fake news’ exerts disproportionate negative effects on perceptions of news and journalists, when controlling for political ideology, compared to ‘misinformation.’ Effects are pronounced when the phrase is used by a politician. Findings challenge research to address the communicative underpinnings of the fake news phenomenon rather than focus on “fake news” as a varietal of misinformation. Insights are discussed for news organizations seeking to distance themselves from the term while providing audiences with accurate information.

摘要

“假新闻”一词旨在使新闻失去合法性，并被政治领导人和党派媒体武器化。研究已经注意到“假新闻”一词的负面影响，但很少有研究调查替代性话语。我们探讨“假新闻”一词是否与“错误信息”和“虚假新闻”等其他短语不同。通过两个实验，我们比较了这些短语对美国新闻媒体信任和可信度评估的影响。结果表明，在控制政治意识形态的情况下，与“错误信息”相比，“假新闻”对新闻和记者的看法产生了不成比例的负面影响。当政客使用该短语时，效果会很明显。研究结果对研究提出了挑战，要求研究解决假新闻现象的传播基础，而不是将“假新闻”视为一种错误信息。为寻求与该术语保持距离同时为受众提供准确信息的新闻机构讨论了见解。