Assessing And Mitigating The Impact Of Fake News In Nigeria
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24297/jssr.v20i.9677Keywords:
social media, mitigating impact, Fake newsAbstract
\The high rate fake news - news (presentation) that has been distorted or totally false - in the Nigerian media space is at the moment of concern to communication scholars, journalists, publicists, and political leaders. Like most fake products, fake news is made to look like or to have the characteristics of the original product – magnitude, timeliness, novelty, proximity, etc., thereby having the lethal impact of propaganda. The present study examines the sources, patterns of fake news dissemination, impact of and solutions to fake news in Nigeria. Questionnaires were randomly administered online to 398 heavy users of social media (257 bloggers; 97; regular users of social media who are non-professionals; 37 journalists and 7 others based on their followership ratings. The investigation revealed that most fake news in Nigeria revolve social, entertainment, and religious issues and are reported more often in “text” and “videos” on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The main sources of fake news in Nigeria are non-professional journalists and the high rate of fake news has largely been due to the skilful framing by their disseminators, lack of time and skill to fact-check fake news by the audience, and lack of effective enforcement of best journalism practices.
Downloads
References
Adaja, A.T. & Talabi, F.O. (2019). Freedom of information and the spread of fake news. In N. Owens-Ibie, M. Oji, & J. Ogwezi. Fake news and hate speech: Narratives of political instability. Canada University Press.
Bateson, G. (1972). A theory of play and fantasy. In G. Bateson (Ed.), Steps to the ecology of mind: A revolutionary approach to man’s understanding of himself. (pp.177-193). Ballantine Books.
Creswell, J.C. (2006). Research design: Qualitative & quantitative approaches.Sage
Druckman, J.N. (2001). The implications of framing effects: Who can frame? Journal of Politics. 63: 1041-66.
Edwards, C. (2017, Feb 16). “Italy debates fines and prison terms for people who spread fake news.” The Local. Retrieved from: http:/www.thelocal.it/20170216/Italy-mulls-introducing-flase-news-fines.
Entman, R.M. (1991). Framing U.S. coverage of international news: Contrasts in narratives of the KAL and Iran Air incidents. Journal of Communication, 41(4), 6-28.
Goffman, E. (1974). Frame analysis: An essay on the organization of experience. Northeastern University Press.
Kwok, Y. (2017, Jan. 6). “Where names could kill: Indonesia’s worsening problem of take news.” Time.retrieved from http://time.com/462049/indonesia-fake-news-ahok-chinse-christian-islam
McGonagle, T. (2017). “Fake news”: False fears or real concern? Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights. Vol. 35(4).
McIntyre, K. (2017, December 14). Solutions journalism: The effects of including solution information in news stories about social problems. Journalism Practice, 1-19. doi: 10.1080/17512786.2017.1409647
McLuhan, Marshall, (1965). Understanding media: The extensions of man. McGraw Hill.
McQuail, D. (2012). McQuail’s mass communication theory. London: Sage
Merrill, John C., (1971), The role of the mass media in national development: An open question for speculation, Gazette XVIII No. 4, p. 240.
Mohammed, l. (2017).Hate speech, disinformation, delivered e-news and nation building: Speech delivered at the extra-ordinary meeting National Council of Information, Nigeria.
Nigerian Constitution (1999). The 1999 Constitution, Federal Republic of Nigeria. Federal Ministry of Information.
Obi-Okoye, A. (2024). Newspaper coverage of the academic staff union of universities (ASUU) strike 2019-2022. Unpublished PhD Thesis, Lagos State University School of Communication.
Okukwu, O. (2017, September 19). Government accuses IPOD of sharing fake videos in deceiving Nigerians.Retrievedfromhttps//.premiumtimesng.com/new/more-news243610-govt-accuses-ipod-of-sharing-fake-videos-in-deceiving-nigerians.html.
Osuagwu T. (2019). Influence of digital image on the propagation of fake news among residents of South-East Nigeria. In N. Owens-Ibie, M. Oji, & J. Ogwezi. Fake news and hate speech: Narratives of political instability. Ontario: Canada University Press.
Owens-Ibie, N., Oji, M. & Ogwezi, J. (2019). Fake news and hate speech: Narratives of political instability. Ontario: Canada University Press.
Scheufele, B. (1999). Framing as a theory of media effects. Journal of Communication. 49, 103-122.
Scheufele, B. (2000). Agenda-setting, priming and framing revisited: Another look at cognitive effects of political communication. Mass Communication & Society. 3 (2&3), 297-316.
Scheufele, B. (2003). Frames, framing, framing effects: Theoretical and methodological critique. European Journal of Communication Research, 29, 401-428.
Scheufele, B. (2006). Frames, schemata and news reporting. European Journal of Communication Research. 31, 65-83.
Scheufele, D.A. (2017). Communicating science effectively: A research agenda. National Academies of Sciences, Division of Behavioral Social Sciences, National Academies Press.
Scheufele, D.A. & Krause, N.M. (2019). Science audiences, misinformation and fake news. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences I16 (1)
Tuchman, G. (1978). Making news: A study of the construction of reality. Knopf.
Perse, E.M. (2010). Media effects and society. Erlbaum.
Reese, S.D. (2007). The framing project: A bridging model for media research revisited. Journal of Communication. 57(1, 148-154.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Bolu John Folayan, Abosede Olubunmi Banjo, Timothy Omolaso Odenike
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
All articles published in Journal of Advances in Linguistics are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
