The news media, online disinformation and democracy in this digital era

The phenomenon of online misinformation has gained in prominence worldwide these past few years, especially since Trump's 2016 campaign and the Brexit vote. Research has connected this increase in online dissemination of false information to digitalization and the  growing  importance of social media as platforms for the production, distribution and consumption of diverse political contents. Yet, contrarily to traditional news media which use gate keeping and other editorial processes to ensure that only accurate political information is disseminated,  social media platforms on their part enable any individual to post a claim from a private account, without any control, and reach a large number of people across the world  instantly. 
Indeed, research has suggested that the online circulation of erroneous political information represents a serious threat to democratic institutions. It misleads the public and sows confusion in the society. Now, considering that traditional news media have the duty to provide the public with accurate political information which will inform their opinions and voting behaviors,  this project investigates how the traditional news media deal with the dissemination of misinformation online. In this perspective, the project will pay particular attention to the news media coverage the phenomenon of misinformation , journalistic fact-checking, the news media use of social media platforms within the frame of combatting misinformation and the relation between news media and tech giants.

Article 1: Facebook and fake news in the Aglophone crisis in Cameroon

Article 2: News media coverage fake news: A content analysis of the US and Swedish newspapers

Article 3:  Practices, methods and epistemologies of journalistic fact-checking: The Swedish and French experiences in a comparative approach

Article 4: Traditional news media participation on social media platforms

Article 5: Journalists' perceptions of tech giants' efforts in the fight against misiformation