Presentations Flashcards
What is a frame?
“Framing refers to the process by which people develop a particular conceptualization of an issue or reorient their thinking about an issue.”
“The central organizing idea for news content that supplies a context and suggests what the issue is through the use of selection, emphasis, exclusion and elaboration.”
Who are the actors in framing?
“Most framing studies assume that the communicators are elite actors such as politicians, the media, scientific experts, and other opinion leaders, and that the audience consists of members of the general public.”
What are the effects on stakeholders in framing?
“Conflict among competing stakeholders is a main driving force for news. Usual discussions of news values state that conflict provides the drama needed to attract audiences and that the level of conflict indicates the passions felt and therefore the importance of the story. Perhaps more important, conflict motivates stakeholders to increase their efforts to shape media content.”
What are the effects on the public in framing?
“Frames in the news may affect learning, interpretation, and evaluation of issues and events. […]. The consequences of framing can be conceived on the individual and the societal level. An individual level consequence may be altered attitudes about an issue based on exposure to certain frames. On the societal level, frames may contribute to shaping social level processes such as political socialization, decision-making, and collective actions. ”
Framing theory
- Strength of a frame
o Predispositions and actors o Reliance on symbols - Framing – positive and negative
- Framing as a means of deliberation
Disinformation vs Misinformation and malformation
According to Hernon (1995), both have the same result - spread of inaccurate information. The main difference in the intention.
Misinformation → an honest mistake, not intentionally trying to cause harm (Still can result in overall chaos and problems)
Disinformation → deliberate attempt to deceive or mislead.
“False or misleading content that is spread with an intention to deceive or secure economic or political gain and which may cause public harm“ (European Commission, 2020.)
Errors, satire, parody, clearly identified partisan news and commentary are not included in the disinformation concept. (EU vs Disinfo)
Malinformation - causes harm to the audience. Information that is based on reality but it is used to inflict harm on a person, organisation or country.[1][2]Examples of malinformation includephishing,catfishing,doxing,swattingandrevenge porn.
Major Types of Disinformation
● Lies ( false information)
● Visual disinformation (adjusted or forged photos, fake maps, deepfakes…)
● True disinformation (false implicatures)
● Side effect disinformation (example of inaccurate information published in
Wikipedia to test its functioning)
Fake News → inaccurate, sensationalist, misleading information with strong political connotation, simplified, inaccurate to describe the complexity of the issues at stake.
Why is it harmful?
Originates from someone who is intentionally attempting to deceive (Fallis, 2014).
If people are given false information about crucial issues like political candidates, medical treatments, or investment opportunities, it can immediately result in major emotional, financial, and even physical harm.
Creates lack of trust and reduces ability to effectively share information. Uses psychological tactics to appeal to audiences
Exploits uncertain political situation, emotional overwhelmedness, anxiety, appeal to personal interests and values. (Shu et al., 2020)
Fact-checking vs Debunking
Fact – checking
Ensures that all facts in a news article, speech or other means of media are correct. “It derives from a need to hold those in power to account for their claims, and is traditionally conducted by journalists, newsrooms and political analysts.“ (Pamment and Lindwall, 2021) It is broader, non partisan, and not as strategic
Debunking
Not always non-partisan, could be used by governments expose a “hostile” actor
Targets a particular actor or a topic, starts with decision about whose information should be corrected
Focuses on a strategic problem, tries to reduce its harm, non-priority information is not that important to debunk
Goals of Debunking
Assert the truth - Use established facts as a means of counteracting the negative impact of mis and disinformation.
Catalogue - Develop a public record of falsehoods that are being spread by an actor in order to raise awareness of their behaviour and provide evidence of their actions.
Expose - Use identified mis- and disinformation as a starting point to expose the actors and networks behind the spread of false information.
Attribute - Collect evidence of an actor’s behaviour in order to publicly shame them and support the imposition of costs to their actions.
Build capacity - Develop the skills and procedures to protect vulnerable institutions. Educate - Build societal resilience by educating the public about the tactics,
techniques and procedures of disinformation.
Levels of debunking initiatives
The governments (NetzDG (Germany), MSB Handbook for Communicators (Sweden).
Intergovernmental organizations (EU vs Disinfo, The NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, UN) News media outlets (15 min paneigta (tiesometras), DELFI melo detektorius, LRT FAKTAI…)
Non-profit organizations (Debunk.eu, stopfake.org (Ukraine), EU Disinfo Lab, propastop (Estonia)…)
Universities and think tanks (Pew research center, Carnegie , Stanford Internet Observatory (Stanford University)..) Digital investigators (The Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab)
Philanthropists (Craig Newmark Philanthropies, Knight foundation)
Temporary initiatives (Fact-checking projects for U.S. elections)
Challenges
Backfire effect. People don’t trust the corrected information if false information was closer to their partisanship ideology or values. (Nyhan and Reifler, 2010.)
Implied truth effect. Increased belief in news headlines without the false information tags or debunked tags. People are more likely to assume that if a news article is not specifying that it is a debunked story, it is probably true and checked. That lessens the need to think critically and decreases the desire to search up the author of the article or to check the facts. (Pennycook et al., 2020.)
Fact-checking takes time. Even though the stories and headlines will be eventually classified as fake and tagged as such, there still exists a time period when the untagged version of the headline is circulating, some people will find it intriguing or reflective of their values and share it. (Pennycook et al., 2020.)
Example 2 (debunk.eu) - Russia worried about freedom of speech in the Baltics
According to the European Commission’s decision adopted in 2018, Lithuania proved that RTR Planeta’s broadcasts repeatedly recorded clear and serious violations of the prohibition on the dissemination of hatred by threatening several countries, including the Baltic States, with occupation and military reprisals, and by inciting discord and national hatred.
In the annual World Press Freedom Index, organised by the international organisation Reporters Without Borders to assess media freedom in different countries around the world, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania ranked 14, 22 and 28 respectively in 2020.
