The two-dimensional phenomenon of public communication: the fake news genre vs fake news label
Pre-requisites
There is no prior knowledge needed for students to do this exercise.
Explanation of activity
This lecture explores fake news as a two-dimensional phenomenon of public communication: there is the (1) fake news genre, describing the deliberate creation of pseudojournalistic disinformation, and there is the (2) fake news label, describing the political instrumentalization of the term to delegitimize news media.
Relevant reading to understand the materials:
- Egelhofer, J.L. and Lecheler, S. (2019) ‘Fake news as a two-dimensional phenomenon: a framework and research agenda’, Annals of the International Communication Association, 43(2), pp. 97–116. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/ 23808985.2019.1602782.
- Kiely, E. (2018) ‘Trump’s Phony “Fake News” Claims’, FactCheck.org, 16 January. Available at: https://www.factcheck.org/2018/01/ trumps-phony-fake-news-claims/
Further reading to further develop the activity/understanding of the topic:
- Wardle, C. (2019) ‘Understanding Information Disorder’. FIRSTDRAFT. Available at: https://firstdraftnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/ Information_Disorder_Digital_AW.pdf
- Wardle, C. and Derakhshan, H. (2017) Information Disorder: Toward an interdisciplinary framework for research and policy making. DGI(2017)09. Council of Europe.
Student materials
- Egelhofer, J.L. and Lecheler, S. (2019) ‘Fake news as a two-dimensional phenomenon: a framework and research agenda’, Annals of the International Communication Association, 43(2), pp. 97–116. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/ 23808985.2019.1602782.
- Kiely, E. (2018) ‘Trump’s Phony “Fake News” Claims’, FactCheck.org, 16 January. Available at: https://www.factcheck.org/2018/01/ trumps-phony-fake-news-claims/
Analysis of student understanding
Fake news genre
Students find it difficult to define fake news genre, because there are specific characteristics that they have to remember which are all new concepts that need to be contextualised. For example, low in facticity could be false connection or fabricated content, which as concepts mentioned for the first time. However, they have a better grasp of this concept after they read the Wardle (2019) article. In essence, they start contextualising the fake news genre as disinformation. Ideally, this lecture is directly followed by a lecture on Wardle (2019) on different types of disinformation.
Fake news label
Students find it easy to understand the fake news label when contextualised with real life examples that they have recently read in the news. For example, Kiely (2018) reading on Donald Trump. They are often also able to identify other fake news label articles.
Assessing and evaluation
This lecture aims to contextualise different concepts related to fake news.
In assessing if students have understood the materials, educators should reflect on the following:
- Students are able to define and provide examples of the fake news genre and the fake news label and their respective characteristics
- Students are able to contextualise other concepts to the fake news genre
- Students are able to express the impact of the fake news label on society
To evaluate student understanding of the materials, educators can engage in the following examinations:
- Written exams which asks for definitions and examples
- Filling in the concepts into a template of Figure 3
- An exercise in which they collect and present headlines which belongs to the fake news genre or the fake news label
Modulations
- Wardle (2019) explains the concept of malinformation, which is not included in the visualisation of how the fake news genre relates to other concepts (Figure 3, Egelhofer and Lecheler (2019)). You can do an in-class exercise where you ask students where they would add malinformation in the figure. You can also ask students to add other concepts they know and place them in this visualisation.
- Educators can use popular media headlines to do an exercise whether the headline is fake news genre or fake news label?
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June 23, 2025
