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- Gehle, Luisa, et al.
(author)
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Misinformation Detection in the Context of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Evidence From Original Survey Data Collected in 19 Democracies
- 2024
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In: International Journal of Public Opinion Research. - 0954-2892 .- 1471-6909. ; 36:3, s. 1-12
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- It can be difficult for citizens to discern factually accurate information from mis- and disinformation. Particularly in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the omnipresence of counterfactual narratives, propaganda, and partisan content may increase the likelihood that citizensselect and accept mis -or disinformation. To assess citizens’ performance in discerning false statements from factually accurate information on the war, we utilized original survey data across 19 countries (N = 19,037) with soft quotas for age, education, and gender to approximate population characteristics. Our main findings indicate that people perform relatively well in discerning factually accurate information from false statements and that self-perceived media literacy and the need for cognition corresponds with better performance. Stronger pro-Russia views on the war correspond with a lower performance in misinformation detection, whereas anti-Russia attitudes are associated with better evaluations of the statements’ truthfulness. We find little cross-country variation in these patterns. As a key implication, we show that discernment between factually accurate information and mis- or disinformation is driven by both accuracy and partisan motivation and that these effects are similar across most different national contexts.
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- Hameleers, Michael, et al.
(author)
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Mistakenly misinformed or intentionally deceived? Mis- and Disinformation perceptions on the Russian War in Ukraine among citizens in 19 countries
- 2023
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In: European Journal of Political Research. - 0304-4130.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In information environments characterized by institutional distrust, fragmentation and the widespread dissemination of conspiracies and disinformation, citizens perceive misinformation as a salient and threatening issue. Especially amidst disruptive events and crises, news users are likely to believe that information is inaccurate or deceptive. Using an original 19-country comparative survey study across diverse regions in the world (N = 19,037), we find that news users are likely to regard information on the Russian war in Ukraine as false. They are more likely to attribute false information to deliberative deception than to a lack of access to the war area or inaccurate expert knowledge. Russian sources are substantially more likely to be blamed for falsehoods than Ukrainian or Western sources – but these attribution biases depend on a country’s position on the war. Our findings reveal that people mostly believe that falsehoods are intended to deceive them, and selectively associate misinformation with the opposed camp.
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- Shehata, Adam, 1981-, et al.
(author)
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Members of Parliament, Equal Competitors for Media Attention? : An Analysis of Personal Contacts Between MPs and Political Journalists in Five Countries.
- 2010
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In: Political Communication. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1058-4609 .- 1091-7675. ; 27:3, s. 310-325
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Power relations between politicians and journalists are often depicted as an ongoing tango with one actor leading the other. This study analyzes interactions between politicians and journalists not by posing the question of who leads whom, but rather by investigating which politicians are invited to dance in the first place, and which are better positioned to take the lead. Building upon theories and past research into press-government relations, comparative politics, and an economic perspective on journalist-source relations, three groups of hypotheses on a personal, party, and political system level are derived and tested using a unique survey with members of parliament (MPs) in five democratic corporatist countries (Belgium, The Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark). The results display a similar pattern in all five countries where parliamentary experience and institutional position increase the frequency of contacts that MPs have with journalists. While these party variables have a more modest influence on the frequency of contacts, it is also shown that there are clear differences between countries attributed to parliament size in general and higher inter-MP competition in particular.
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- Van Aelst, Peter, et al.
(author)
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Do people ever learn from social media? A cross-national and cross-temporal analysis of social media use on political knowledge
- 2022
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In: Paper presented at the International Communication Association annual conference.
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Political knowledge is considered a vital condition for citizens to make political decisions or become politically involved. Social network sites such as Twitter and Facebook increasingly play a role in informing citizens about current affairs, replacing or complementing traditional news channels. However, the question arises to what extent citizens' use of social media actually results in them being more or less knowledgeable about politics and current affairs. Recent studies on knowledge effects from using social media suggests people learn little about political events and societal issues from social media. However, it remains unclear whether such findings hold across time and space, as comparative research on this topic is largely absent. Furthermore, there is virtually no research on whether the knowledge effects differ between normal times and periods with abrupt exogenous shocks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. To fill this lacunas in the literature, we will draw upon a two-wave survey tapping into people’s online information habits and political knowledge. The data were collected in December 2019 (wave 1) and May-June 2020 (wave 2) in 17 Western democracies, mainly European countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK). To test for the potential impact of the health crisis, we make use of measures tapping into general surveillance knowledge as well as knowledge about the COVID-19 pandemic. Results show that the use of social media is negatively associated to levels of political knowledge virtually across the board. Although the negative effect is not equally strong in all countries under investigation, it was never positive. More surprisingly, the negative learning effect is also present in the months after the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. So also in times of crisis, those using social media for news did not increased their individual knowledge, even not when we only focus on questions related to the pandemic. Overall, our design proved to be very efficient in rejecting the assumption that social media use can be expected to make a meaningful contribution to political knowledge gain.
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- Castro, Laia, et al.
(author)
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Navigating High-Choice European Political Information Environments: A Comparative Analysis of News User Profiles and Political Knowledge
- 2022
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In: The International Journal of Press/Politics. - : SAGE Publications. - 1940-1612 .- 1940-1620. ; 27:4, s. 827-859
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The transition from low- to high-choice media environments has had far-reaching implications for citizens’ media use and its relationship with political knowledge. However, there is still a lack of comparative research on how citizens combine the usage of different media and how that is related to political knowledge. To fill this void, we use a unique cross-national survey about the online and offline media use habits of more than 28,000 individuals in 17 European countries. Our aim is to (i) pro- file different types of news consumers and (ii) understand how each user profile is linked to political knowledge acquisition. Our results show that five user profiles – news minimalists, social media news users, traditionalists, online news seekers, and hyper news consumers – can be identified, although the prevalence of these profiles varies across countries. Findings further show that both traditional and online-based news diets are correlated with higher political knowledge. However, online-based news use is more widespread in Southern Europe, where it is associated with lower levels of political knowledge than in Northern Europe. By focusing on news audiences, this study provides a comprehensive and fine-grained analysis of how contemporary European political information environments perform and contribute to an informed citizenry.
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