Fake news from Africa: Panics,politics and paradigms

Abstract

The moral panic about ‘fake news’ internationally has formed the backdrop for debates about the impact of the spread of similar fabrications on politics in South Africa. News – whether ‘fake’ or ‘real’ – should not be understood outside of its particular contexts of production and consumption, and therefore an investigation into the phenomenon of ‘fake news’ in South Africa needs to take account of local specificities. The phenomenon of ‘fake news’, the discourses that surround it and responses by audiences and the journalistic community have to be understood within the particular social, cultural and political context. This article seeks to locate the manifestation of ‘fake news’ within the South African media landscape, in order to illustrate how it produces particular responses that relate directly to specific social and political forces at a given historical juncture. In other words, the phenomenon of ‘fake news’ will be used to understand how journalistic discourses operate within particular environments. Of particular interest is the response of the journalistic community to the emergence of ‘fake news’, and how this phenomenon is used as leverage to assert a professional identity in the light of pressures on journalism in the context of a young democracy.

Keywords

Africa ethics fake news journalism moral panic paradigm repair social media Twitter

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