Mistake or Manipulation? Conceptualizing Perceived Mis- and Disinformation among News Consumers in 10 European Countries

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  • Michael Hameleers
  • Anna Brosius
  • Marquart, Franziska
  • Andreas C. Goldberg
  • Erika van Elsas
  • Claes H. de Vreese

In the midst of heated debates surrounding the veracity and honesty of communication, scholarly attention has turned to the conceptualization of mis- and disinformation on the supply-side of (political) communication. Yet, we lack systematic research on the conceptualization of perceived mis- and disinformation on the demand-side. Original survey data collected in ten European countries (N = 6,643) shows that news consumers distinguish general misinformation from disinformation. Yet, the high correlation between the two dimensions indicates that disinformation perceptions may be regarded as a sub-type of misinformation perceptions in which intentional deception is a core element. This paper aims to make a contribution to the misinformation and media credibility literature by proposing a first conceptualization of perceived untruthfulness corresponding to increasing levels of cynicism and skepticism toward the factual status and honesty of information.

Original languageEnglish
JournalCommunication Research
Volume49
Issue number7
Pages (from-to)919-941
ISSN0093-6502
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research is funded by a grant from the European Research Council (ERC), grant number 647316.

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2021.

    Research areas

  • disinformation, hostile media perceptions, media trust, misinformation, populism, populist attitudes

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