“One Big Fake News”: Misinformation at the Intersection of User-Based and Legacy Media

Authors

  • Aya Yadlin Hadassah Academic College
  • Oranit Klein Shagrir Hadassah Academic College; Open University of Israel

Keywords:

public service broadcasting, user comments, misinformation, fake news, legacy media, user-based media

Abstract

This article explores audiences’ online reactions to public service broadcasting content manipulations. Drawing on a case study of Israeli televised content, we discuss the role user comments play in mediated calls for media literacy and civic awareness, allowing audiences to gather and discuss the impact of misinformation and fake news on culture, civic participation, and trust in public service media and other democratic institutions. We show how online mediated spaces that are considered aggressive and counterproductive should also be understood as facilitators of calls against misuse of public resources and manipulations spread in society. We thus suggest that alongside legacy mainstream media, user comments can become part of the solution for the prevalence of disinformation in our current digital media ecosystem.

Author Biographies

Aya Yadlin, Hadassah Academic College

Aya Yadlin is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics and Communication at Hadassah Academic College, Jerusalem. Her research explores every-day uses of new media platforms for processes of cultural negotiation in a globalized mediascape.

Oranit Klein Shagrir, Hadassah Academic College; Open University of Israel

Oranit Klein Shagrir is a Senior lecturer at Hadassah Academic College, Jerusalem and an academic course coordinator at the Open University of Israel. She studies television and interactivity, multi-platform television production and Public Service Media.

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Published

2021-05-29

Issue

Vol. 15 (2021)

Section

Articles

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