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Audience constructions of fake news in Australian media representations of asylum seekers: A critical discourse perspective

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journal contribution
posted on 2021-09-01, 00:00 authored by Ashleigh Haw
Abstract In recent years, the term ‘fake news’ has gained considerable traction in scholarly and public discourse. While fake news is increasingly attributed to declining audience trust, we know little about how publics are making sense of the concept. To address this, I discuss findings arising from interviews with 24 Western Australian media consumers who offered their perspectives on Australian news coverage of asylum seekers. Combining Critical Discourse methods with Rhetorical Analysis, findings highlight how participants evaluated misinformation and disinformation about asylum seekers and in particular, how some adopted a discourse of ‘fake news’ to delegitimise perspectives that oppose their own stance. Discussed alongside Egelhofer and Lecheler’s (2019) theoretical framework of the fake news ‘label’, I argue that by understanding how audiences discussed fake news before the concept rose to prominence in 2016, scholars can meaningfully examine discursive patterns within social constructions of fake news across numerous contemporary and historical contexts.

History

Journal

Journal of Language and Politics

Volume

20

Pagination

761-782

Location

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Open access

  • Yes

ISSN

1569-2159

eISSN

1569-9862

Language

English

Publication classification

C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Issue

5

Publisher

JOHN BENJAMINS PUBLISHING CO