Definitions, Uses, and Current Contexts for “Fake News”

The Authority File

Ah, “fake news”—for Americans, doesn’t that take you right back to 2016? However, fake news and mis/disinformation have existed long before then, even if the social, political, and technological environments have drastically shifted in the last 50 (or 20, or 10) years.

In this four-part series, our guests dig into applying critical thinking skills in today’s political and scientific climate. Nick Anstead, Associate Professor in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics, and returning guest Dan Chibnall, STEM Librarian & Associate Professor of Librarianship at Drake University, walk through the dilution of the information landscape, underscoring the impact of social media and the Internet on mainstream media’s authority in the news cycle. Touching on the role of scholarly communication in educating the public, key areas of information literacy and critical thinking instruction, and the threat of AI-generated misinformation, Nick and Dan provide a fascinating look at the current information landscape as the 2024 US presidential election fast approaches.

In the first episode of this series, our guests chat about fake news. They offer definitions and popular uses of the term, highlighting the importance of positioning fake news within current contexts. Speaking with a political and scientific lens, Nick and Dan chat about the spectrum of fake news—everything from satire to propaganda—and how opposing applications of fake news can inform one another.

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