Dangerous Narratives: How Fake News and Narrative Journalism Shed Light on Journalism’s Epistemological Foundations and Self-understanding in the Twenty-first Century
-
Frank Harbers
Abstract
Journalism is struggling to maintain its commercial viability as well as its authority as a trustworthy institution that offers a reliable representation of what is going on in the world. The objectivity ideal, prevalent during a large part of the twentieth century, is no longer considered the obvious professional practice. Alternatives are being formulated, by startups and new entrants to the field, in which the subjective nature of reporting as a form of storytelling is acknowledged and sometimes even embraced as the solution for the ‘crisis’ journalism is currently in. At the same time, journalism is struggling with the growing threat of fake news, and the current debates about ‘post-truth’ are seen as exemplifying the state of our information society. This chapter will discuss the current concern and discussion about fake news and post-truth, and connect it to the growing prominence of narrative forms of journalism and the embrace of the subjectivity of the reporter. The fundamental question that underlies these issues is if and how journalism can remain society’s ‘primary sense-making practice’ in the twenty-first century?
Abstract
Journalism is struggling to maintain its commercial viability as well as its authority as a trustworthy institution that offers a reliable representation of what is going on in the world. The objectivity ideal, prevalent during a large part of the twentieth century, is no longer considered the obvious professional practice. Alternatives are being formulated, by startups and new entrants to the field, in which the subjective nature of reporting as a form of storytelling is acknowledged and sometimes even embraced as the solution for the ‘crisis’ journalism is currently in. At the same time, journalism is struggling with the growing threat of fake news, and the current debates about ‘post-truth’ are seen as exemplifying the state of our information society. This chapter will discuss the current concern and discussion about fake news and post-truth, and connect it to the growing prominence of narrative forms of journalism and the embrace of the subjectivity of the reporter. The fundamental question that underlies these issues is if and how journalism can remain society’s ‘primary sense-making practice’ in the twenty-first century?
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- By Way of Introduction – Reflections on Narrative and Values, and the Value of Narratives 1
- The Ethical Potential and Risks of Narratives: Six Evaluative Continuums (and Sofi Oksanen’s Open Letter to Melania Trump) 23
- Narrative, Values, and the Place of the Human: Coordinating Anthropocentrism and Biocentrism 43
- The Circulating Professor: Narrative Configuration in Nabokov’s Pnin 61
- Multi-authored Yet Authorless Film Photonovels, an Ethical Paradox? 75
- Schrödinger’s Duck-Rabbit: Ambiguity and Meta-Framing across Media 93
- “Find me a motive!” Accusatory Rhetoric, Narrative and Values in Emile Zola’s ‘J’accuse’ 117
- The Right to Speak: The Cultural Archive and the Public Sphere in South Africa 133
- Dangerous Narratives: How Fake News and Narrative Journalism Shed Light on Journalism’s Epistemological Foundations and Self-understanding in the Twenty-first Century 155
- Beating Illness Into Shape: Applied Narratology and the Dangers of Storytelling 181
- Contributors 205
- Index 209
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- By Way of Introduction – Reflections on Narrative and Values, and the Value of Narratives 1
- The Ethical Potential and Risks of Narratives: Six Evaluative Continuums (and Sofi Oksanen’s Open Letter to Melania Trump) 23
- Narrative, Values, and the Place of the Human: Coordinating Anthropocentrism and Biocentrism 43
- The Circulating Professor: Narrative Configuration in Nabokov’s Pnin 61
- Multi-authored Yet Authorless Film Photonovels, an Ethical Paradox? 75
- Schrödinger’s Duck-Rabbit: Ambiguity and Meta-Framing across Media 93
- “Find me a motive!” Accusatory Rhetoric, Narrative and Values in Emile Zola’s ‘J’accuse’ 117
- The Right to Speak: The Cultural Archive and the Public Sphere in South Africa 133
- Dangerous Narratives: How Fake News and Narrative Journalism Shed Light on Journalism’s Epistemological Foundations and Self-understanding in the Twenty-first Century 155
- Beating Illness Into Shape: Applied Narratology and the Dangers of Storytelling 181
- Contributors 205
- Index 209
