Research and Insights: The Effect of News Consumption on Fake News Efficacy
The concept of “fake news” came to light during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Since that time, claims of fake news, defined as “fabricated news content that mimics news media content in form but is intentionally and verifiably false with the potential to mislead its audience,” has infiltrated the national consciousness and rhetoric. The widespread use of the term fake news as well as the fear of it have caused a distrust with American media. This distrust has lead to an all-time low of confidence in the credibility of the news media as a whole.
University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Telecommunication Professor Sylvia Chan-Olmsted and doctoral student Yufan “Sunny” Qin wanted to understand how an individual’s news sources and news consumption may affect their perceived ability to differentiate what news is real and what news is fake.
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