Deliverable 3.2.4. Folk theories of info-democratic disorders: an in-depth qualitative audience study in Belgium and Luxembourg

This research report is a continuation of D3.2.2 (Wiard et al., 2022 ) and presents the final results of the qualitative audience study on folk-theories of info-democratic disorders in Belgium and Luxembourg. The study delves into the important issue of the reception of dis-/misinformation in democratic societies, particularly in the context of major crises like the Russo-Ukrainian war and the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike previous research that focused on the production and spread of "fake news," this study shifts attention to its reception, exploring how audiences in Belgium and Luxembourg make... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Wiard, Victor
Patriarche, Geoffroy
Jacobs, Thomas
Chapellier, Daphné
Dokumenttyp: report
Erscheinungsdatum: 2023
Verlag/Hrsg.: EDMO BELUX
Schlagwörter: Disinformation / Folk theories / Audience study / Luxembourg / Belgium / fake news
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-27132073
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/280176

This research report is a continuation of D3.2.2 (Wiard et al., 2022 ) and presents the final results of the qualitative audience study on folk-theories of info-democratic disorders in Belgium and Luxembourg. The study delves into the important issue of the reception of dis-/misinformation in democratic societies, particularly in the context of major crises like the Russo-Ukrainian war and the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike previous research that focused on the production and spread of "fake news," this study shifts attention to its reception, exploring how audiences in Belgium and Luxembourg make sense of the relationship between dis-/misinformation and democratic troubles, an issue we term "info-democratic disorders." The study employs the concept of "folk theory" to understand public understandings of dis-/misinformation. It builds on a qualitative analysis of 28 semi-directive interviews with social media users, identifying nine folk theories (and over 20 branches) related to this phenomenon. The findings contribute to academic discussions on dis-/misinformation, media literacy, journalism, and fact-checking, as well as to ongoing reflections among practitioners about how to effectively mitigate dis-/misinformation.