Journal article
The Wolves in Sheep's Clothing: How Russia's Internet Research Agency Tweets Appeared in US News as Vox Populi
The international journal of press/politics, Vol.25(2), pp.196-216
04/01/2020
DOI: 10.1177/1940161219895215
Abstract
The Russian-sponsored Internet Research Agency's (IRA) use of social media to influence U.S. political discourse is undoubtedly troubling. However, scholarly attention has focused on social media, overlooking the role that news media within the country played in amplifying false, foreign messages. In this article, we examine articles in the U.S. news media system that quoted IRA tweets through the lens of changing journalism practices in the hybrid media system, focusing specifically on news gatekeepers' use of tweets as vox populi. We find that a majority of the IRA tweets embedded in the news were vox populi. That is, IRA tweets were quoted (1) for their opinion, (2) as coming from everyday Twitter users, and (3) with a collection of other tweets holistically representing public sentiment. These findings raise concerns about how modern gatekeeping practices, transformed due to the hybrid media system, may also unintentionally let in unwanted disinformation from malicious actors.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- The Wolves in Sheep's Clothing: How Russia's Internet Research Agency Tweets Appeared in US News as Vox Populi
- Creators
- Josephine Lukito - University of Wisconsin–MadisonJiyoun Suk - University of Wisconsin–MadisonYini Zhang - University of Wisconsin–MadisonLarissa Doroshenko - University of Wisconsin–MadisonSang Jung Kim - Univ Wisconsin, Sch Journalism & Mass Commun, 821 Univ Ave, Madison, WI 53706 USAMin-Hsin Su - University of Wisconsin–MadisonYiping Xia - University of Wisconsin–MadisonDeen Freelon - University of North Carolina at Chapel HillChris Wells - Boston University
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- The international journal of press/politics, Vol.25(2), pp.196-216
- Publisher
- Sage
- DOI
- 10.1177/1940161219895215
- ISSN
- 1940-1612
- eISSN
- 1940-1620
- Number of pages
- 21
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 04/01/2020
- Academic Unit
- School of Journalism and Mass Communication; Center for Social Science Innovation
- Record Identifier
- 9984460329702771
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