ATTITUDES TOWARDS FAKE NEWS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE EXPERIENCE OF ADULT POLES

Michał Szyszka — Sat, 12 Apr 2025 23:00:36 +0000

ABSTRACT:

Falsification and manipulation of information, using it for image, material or political gain, is a significant phenomenon of contemporary social communication, and no doubt, its scale and significance have made fake news the subject of numerous studies. The purpose of this article is to analyse the attitudes of adult Poles toward fake news, based on the results of a qualitative study conducted as part of the national Infostrateg programme. The study was designed to identify respondents’ knowledge and attitudes about fake news, their awareness of the dangers of information manipulation and how they deal with disinformation. A semi-structured individual interview method was used, which made it possible to capture subtle aspects of the respondents’ experiences. Data analysis was carried out according to a semi-inductive model, using open coding and comparative analysis. Sampling was based on the criterion of maximum variation, which made it possible to capture a variety of perspectives on fake news. The results indicate that fake news is perceived as an integral part of the modern infosphere, and its presence is widely accepted, although it evokes distrust and caution. Respondents consider them a tool of social disintegration, manipulation of worldviews and network marketing. They show negative emotions toward the phenomenon, while declaring high resistance to information manipulation. The meaning attributed to fake news is reduced to four coherent categories: FN as the creation of a falsified image of reality; as a tool of social disintegration; as a tool for changing or strengthening worldviews; and as a tool of network marketing.

KEY WORDS:

attitudes toward fake news, awareness of disinformation mechanisms, disinformation, fake news, falsification of information, information bubbles, manipulation techniques

12_Szyszka-et-al._CT-1-2025 Download

DOI: https://doi.org/10.34135/communicationtoday.2025.Vol.16.No.1.12

Public Relations as Viewed by Employees of Polish Welfare Institutions

Michał Szyszka — Sun, 06 Nov 2016 16:13:08 +0000

ABSTRACT:
The article discusses the issue of Public Relations (PR) and its use in Polish social welfare institutions. At present, we can observe that Polish social welfare industry faces serious problems related to its public image. This is due to: insufficient experience in Public Relations, lack of systemic actions towards improving the prestige of social work as well as creating the image of social welfare. The text offers a comparison of beliefs and opinions expressed by the employees of the Polish public welfare institutions; these opinions and views are related to PR and communication practices applied by their organisations. The opinions were collected through a nationwide survey. The results include very interesting findings: for instance, they confirm the thesis about the lack of regular and constructive communication and image-related activities carried out on the institutional level and low evaluation of their effectiveness. The conclusions, however, also point out that the respondents revealed that they are highly aware of the importance of PR operations as well as of the correlations between these operations and how their institutions are seen by the general public and by the media. This may be interpreted as prospects and chances for further application of communication tools in social policy institutions.

KEY WORDS:
communication in social policy, Media Relations, Public Relations of social assistance institutions, social recognition of social work, welfare institutions

07_Szyszka_CT-2-2016 Download

Michał Szyszka – Communication Today

ATTITUDES TOWARDS FAKE NEWS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE EXPERIENCE OF ADULT POLES

Public Relations as Viewed by Employees of Polish Welfare Institutions