"The recent rampant global problem of the rampant spread of disinformation in and through the digital ecosystem can perhaps be traced directly to the technological changes in the realm of media production, circulation and consumption. As media tools havebecome commonplace and user-friendly, the utopian dream of critical media scholarship that sought to democratize speech seems closer to reality than ever before. Alongside this process, the simultaneous decline of editorial authority of traditional mediaorganizations has led to the rise of practices such as citizen journalism that have provided checks and balances to fill in the gaps in coverage of dominant top-down media institutions. Additionally, as users have gradually appropriated the available tools of media production, they have done so for various subversive ends including a now thriving global culture of parody, satire and critique (Wasserman 2020; Kumar 2015) using existing genres and formats to challenge dominant media texts, institutions anddiscourses. Often adopting the format of the very texts they seek to critique, parodic texts such as news reports and analysis don't fit the category of misinformation as they openly reveal their fake nature, even if towards the end"--
In Disinformation in the Global South, media and communications scholars Herman Wasserman and Dani Madrid-Morales deliver a unique and geographically diverse collection of perspectives on the phenomenon of disinformation as it manifests in the Global South. In many parts of the Global South, coordinated political disinformation campaigns, rumor, and propaganda have long been a part of the social fabric, even before disinformation became an area of scholarship in the Global North. The way disinformation manifests in this region, and responses to it, can therefore be highly instructive for readers around the world.
Through case studies and comparative analyses, the book explores the impact of disinformation in Africa, Latin America, the Arab World and Asia. The chapters in this book discuss the similarities and differences of disinformation in different regions and provide a broad thematic overview of the phenomenon as it manifests across the Global South. After analyzing core concepts, theories and histories from Southern perspectives, contributors explore the experiences of media users and the responses to disinformation by various social actors drawing on examples from a dozen countries. Disinformation in the Global South also includes:
A thorough introduction to Southern perspectives on national histories, theories of disinformation, and research methods in disinformation studies
Global case studies of cultures of disinformation, including ethnographic insights into how audiences engage with disinformation
Comprehensive explorations of responses to online and offline disinformation, including discussions of news literacy and the management of disinformation
Herman Wasserman is Professor of Media Studies at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He holds a doctorate from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, and worked as a journalist before starting an academic career. He is a Fellow of the International Communication Association and Editor-in-Chief of the Annals of the International Communication Association and African Journalism Studies.
Dani Madrid-Morales, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Journalism at the University of Houston's Valenti School of Communication. He received his doctorate in Media and Communication from the City University of Hong Kong. His research focuses on the intersection of transnational media studies, global political communication, and disinformation studies in East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
A timely and incisive exploration of disinformation and its impact in the Global South
In Disinformation in the Global South, media and communications scholars Herman Wasserman and Dani Madrid-Morales deliver a unique and geographically diverse collection of perspectives on the phenomenon of disinformation as it manifests in the Global South. In many parts of the Global South, coordinated political disinformation campaigns, rumor, and propaganda have long been a part of the social fabric, even before disinformation has become an area of scholarship in the Global North. The way disinformation manifests in this region, and responses to it, can therefore be highly instructive for readers around the world.
Through case studies and comparative analyses, the book explores the impact of disinformation in Africa, Latin America, the Arab World and Asia. The chapters in this book discuss the similarities and differences of disinformation in different regions and provide a broad thematic overview of the phenomenon as it manifests across the Global South. After analyzing core concepts, theories and histories from Southern perspectives, contributors explore the experiences of media users and the responses to disinformation by various social actors drawing on examples from a dozen countries. Disinformation in the Global South also includes:
- A thorough introduction to Southern perspectives on national histories, theories of disinformation, and research methods in disinformation studies
- Global case studies of cultures of disinformation, including ethnographic insights into how audiences engage with disinformation
- Comprehensive explorations of responses to online and offline disinformation, including discussions of news literacy and the management of disinformation
A valuable resource for scholars of disinformation everywhere, as well as senior undergraduate and graduate students in courses covering transnational or global perspectives to communication studies,
Disinformation in the Global South is also an ideal reference for anyone studying or working in media or journalism.
