Fake News: Credibility, Cultivation Syndrome and the New Age Media

BHARATI BHARALI & ANUPA LAHKAR GOSWAMI
Gauhati University, India

Abstract
Fake news and its repercussions are now a global concern, especially in the wake of the recent incidents that have shook the credibility of media, be it regional, national or global. Media is now a web of propagandas and there are more views then news. Three stories (Myanmar coup, Dimapur Lynching, and Grenfell Tower fire) were taken as case study to understand the morphology of fake news. These news stories have been representative of the news globally, nationally as well as regionally but nevertheless bearing a powerful impact in the news scenario. All the stories have one thing in common primarily designed to suit agenda setting and framing theory, to suit the agendas of political interest as well as cultivate ideas in the minds of the people. Deducing from the analysis, the paper suggests media filtering for restoring credibility, accountability and authenticity of journalism. The paper also framed onion layer trapping that could be a plausible source of fake news.

Keywords: Credibility, concocted news, new age media, framing, perception

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Dr. Bharati Bharali is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication and Journalism at Gauhati University, Assam, India. Her research interests include film study and media theory.
Anupa Lahkar Goswami is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication and Journalism at Gauhati University, Assam, India. Her research interests are print and online media and the emerging trends in communication.