Fake News, Media Approach and Disinformation about CONICET during the Conflict of December 2016

Authors

  • Antonio Chiavassa Ferreyra Universidad Nacional de Córdoba
  • Lucía Céspedes Universidad Nacional de Córdoba

Keywords:

fake news, post-truth, CONICET, scientific legitimacy, discourse, press

Abstract

“Fake news” seems to be an ubiquitous term in the current debate regarding the state of journalism and the flow of information. However, its conceptual formulation is recent and there is still a broad spectrum to delve into more precise definitions. Our interest lies in fake news aimed at discrediting scientific institutions, which has clear political implications that condition the actions of the scientific field above and beyond its alleged autonomy. In Argentina, a phenomenon of this kind took place in December 2016, when, in response to researchers’ protests against budget cuts and austerity policies implemented by the national government, alternative information websites attacked CONICET staff by questioning some of their research topics in the social sciences. The debate spread throughout social media and was picked up by some of the most relevant newspapers in the country. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to suggest a typology of fake news, focusing on those related to science and its institutions, and analyze the deployment of fake news against CONICET in the press.

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Author Biographies

Antonio Chiavassa Ferreyra, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba

Licenciado en comunicación social, Facultad de Ciencias de la Comunicación (FCC), Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (UNC), Argentina. Maestrando en tecnología, política y culturas, Centro de Estudios Avanzados, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, UNC.

Lucía Céspedes, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba

Licenciada en comunicación social, especialista en comunicación pública de la ciencia y periodismo científico, FCC y Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía, Física y Computación, UNC. Doctoranda en estudios sociales de América Latina (CEA, FCS, UNC) y becaria doctoral de CONICET en el Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios en Cultura y Sociedad (CONICET-UNC).

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Published

2021-02-22

How to Cite

Chiavassa Ferreyra, A., & Céspedes, L. (2021). Fake News, Media Approach and Disinformation about CONICET during the Conflict of December 2016. Revista Iberoamericana De Ciencia, Tecnología Y Sociedad - CTS (Ibero-American Science, Technology and Society Journal), 16. Retrieved from https://ojs.revistacts.net/index.php/CTS/article/view/206

Issue

Journalism and Scientific Dissemination in the Age of Disinformation

Section

Articles

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