Disinformation and communicative intent: A proposal for fake news classification in professional journalistic environments

Abstract

This research analyses the impact that fake news has on the loss of journalistic credibility and the social alarm thereby raised. The aim is to contribute to understanding of the phenomenon by clarifying the responsibility incurred by journalists as professional news broadcasters. Exploratory research was conducted on news published in newspapers in recent years and subsequently unmasked as fake news. Accordingly, a classification model of disinformation phenomena from the journalist's intention as sender was established. In addition, a review of paradigmatic cases helping to systematise the distinctive features of journalistic texts containing fake news and, subsequently, not disseminating quality information, was performed. The lack of a repository of false news originating from, or disseminated by newspapers, limited the conclusions drawn. However, the proposed study paradigm helps to delimit the position of journalists in the phenomenon of disinformation, provides an alert to the presence of obvious signs of disinformation in texts not designed for this purpose and, hence, shows the need to expand the concept of disinformation itself to encompass unintended false news.