The following article by Richard Gunther, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the Ohio State University; Erik C. Nisbet, Associate Professor of Communication, Political Science, and Environmental Policy and Faculty Associate with the Mershon Center for International Security Studies, the Ohio State University and Paul Beck Professor Emeritus of Political Science, the Ohio State University, was posted on the Conversation website February 15, 2018:
Could “fake news” have helped determine the outcome of the 2016 presidential election?
Social media users and intensely partisan news broadcasts disseminated a massive number of messages during the campaign. Many of these messages demonized candidates and seriously distorted the facts presented to voters. One recent study of nearly 25,000 election social media messages shared by Michigan voters identified nearly half as “unverified WikiLeaks content and Russian-origin news stories” that fall “under the definition of propaganda based on its use of language and emotional appeals.” Continue reading “Trump may owe his 2016 victory to ‘fake news,’ new study suggests F”