University students engagement with fake news: the portuguese case

Authors

  • Patrícia Silveira Universidade Europeia (IADE), Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa (ESCS), Universidade do Minho (CECS) http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3837-584X
  • Sara Gancho Universidade Europeia (IADE), UNIDCOM/IADE- Unidade de Investigação em Design e Comunicação

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15847/obsOBS15120211696

Abstract

The development of technological and communication platforms generates academic, political and social debates. In the field of Media Studies, there is a special concern with the younger generations, as studies document that they express particular behaviors due to the increased diffusion of digital consumption in their lives (Silveira & Amaral, 2018). In the field of media literacy, news literacy becomes even more relevant today due to the rise of fake news, which is one of the biggest challenges for digital journalism today, because it endangers the truth and instigates misinformation, which could have serious repercussions for society in general and for the youngest more susceptible generations, in particular. Based on these assumptions, this article comprehends and analyses the dynamics of reception of news and social media by university students studying in Portugal, specifically in the Faculty of Design, Technology and Communication – European Unievrsity of Lisbon (in the academic year 2018/2019), located in Lisbon. Through the development of a qualitative methodology, we set to find the participants particular uses of social media for news access and consumption. We intend to define these audiences preference profiles, identify practices, analyse their relationship with the media and find patterns in their use of technology to access information and fake news. The results allow us to conclude that these audiences get their news almost exclusively through online platforms. Some of them distinguish fake news due to format and content, while others share them unknowingly. They seem to rely more on newspaper and TV for reliable sources of information and think that most of fake news are found online. All seem to think that the proliferation of fake news is discrediting journalism and the media in general and both media and citizens should strive to make news literacy a reality for all.

Downloads

Published

2021-02-12

How to Cite

Silveira, P., & Gancho, S. (2021). University students engagement with fake news: the portuguese case. Observatorio (OBS*), 15(1). https://doi.org/10.15847/obsOBS15120211696

Issue

Vol. 15 No. 1 (2021)

Section

Articles

License

Observatorio (OBS*) has an academic journal profile. As such, it is dedicated to the open exchange of its contents, and freely available to individuals and institutions without charge or formal permission. Copies of this journal or articles in this journal may be distributed for research or educational purposes free of charge and without permission. Authors will not be charged for publication or submission to this journal. Authors who publish in Observatorio (OBS*) will release their contributions under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-2.0 generic. This licence allows anyone to copy and distribute the article for non-commercial purposes provided that appropriate attribution is given - being the author the copyright holder. This journal utilizes the LOCKSS system to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration. The publisher perpetually authorizes participants in the LOCKSS system to archive and restore our publication through the LOCKSS System for the benefit of all LOCKSS System participants. Specifically participating libraries may: • Collect and preserve currently accessible materials; • Use material consistent with original license terms; • Provide copies to other LOCKSS appliances for purposes of audit and repair. Fair use of a copyrighted work, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include: 1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; 2. the nature of the copyrighted work; 3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; & 4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors. In accord with these provisions, the OBS journal believes in the vigorous assertion and defense of Fair Use by scholars engaged in academic research, teaching and non-commercial publishing. Thus, we view the inclusion of “quotations” from existing print, visual, audio and audio-visual texts to be appropriate examples of Fair Use, as are reproductions of visual images for the purpose of scholarly analysis. We encourage authors to obtain appropriate permissions to use materials originally produced by others, but do not require such permissions as long as the usage of such materials falls within the boundaries of Fair Use.