Abstract

Fake news has become a source of serious concern to human society as a whole. It is eroding media credibility and redefining factual news. Moreover, it seems that the word –fake news – has become a syndrome. As a result, fake news has several parts and meanings, some of which have negative implications for freedom of expression. It is against this backdrop that this paper explores the views of various stakeholders with the aim of articulating the facets of fake news and giving some shape to the syndrome. From the views elicited, the paper attempts to clarify/define as well as to proffer solutions that would not undermine freedom of expression, for instance. The study was a survey of 331 respondents drawn from the population of journalists (2, 394) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Nigeria through the simple random sampling technique. The questionnaire was administered on purposively selected beats in Abuja. This was supported by personal interviews. In terms of findings, the study elicited the views of journalists to develop a four item-typology of fake news, namely, fact related, profit-oriented, source/subject attributed fake news, and medium/technology related fake news. Based on the typology, there were definitions and directions for using artificial intelligence, ethics and training to address fake news.

Key Words: Typology, Fake News, Syndrome, Internet.

*Michael O. Ukonu is of the Department of Mass Communication, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria.

**Joel Chinedu Ugwuoke is of the Department of Mass Communication, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria.

***Sylvester Ugochukwu Ugwuanyi is a Senior Reporter with the Daily Post newspaper, Nigeria.

© ^AMCRON Journal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 11, No. 1, April 2019, pp. 181 – 193