Open AccessConstructing Discourses on (Un)truthfulness: Attributions of Reality, Misinformation, and Disinformation by Politicians in a Comparative Social Media Setting
Author(s) -
Michael Hameleers,
Sophie Minihold
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
communication research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.915
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1552-3810
pISSN - 0093-6502
DOI - 10.1177/0093650220982762
Subject(s) - disinformation , misinformation , populism , politics , honesty , social media , sociology , political science , attribution , internet privacy , media studies , social psychology , law , psychology , computer science
In the setting of increasingly more fragmented digital communication settings, the accuracy and honesty of (political) information has become subject of fierce debates and partisan attacks. Hence, the challenge of mis- and disinformation not only pertains to the truthfulness of information itself, but also to the discursive construction of supporting information as truthful and dissonant information as untrue or deliberately false. This paper inductively analyzes discourses of (un)truthfulness (Study 1, N = 1,777) and uses an Automated Content Analysis (Study 2, N = 56,666) to assess how reality, mis-, and disinformation are constructed by politicians in Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands. The findings point to an affinity between populism and disinformation: Right-wing populist politicians take issue ownership in discrediting established knowledge and attempt to create momentum for alternative realities that resonate with populist worldviews. Such discourses of (un)truthfulness may have an important impact on defining reality for voters.