Fake news attributions as a source of nonspecific structure
Although “fake news” often refers to forms of political disinformation, the term is also used as a means of discrediting stories from more credible sources. Specifically, “fake news” depicts the media as being intentionally deceptive, as opposed to merely incompetent. In this sense, a worldview that sees the news media as being deceptive provides more structure and predictability than one that views the news media as being sloppy or error prone. As a result, the belief that the news media is intentionally deceiving others may be especially appealing to individuals with a greater need for personal structure, and we review initial studies investigating this question. Such work may clarify an important contributor to rising distrust in the news media, and may in turn provide insight into why claims of fake news are effective and how belief in fake news can be reduced.
