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Abstract:
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With globalization and the technological revolution, new digital platforms have been
established which have unleashed innovative journalistic practices that enable new forms of
communication. Thus, the news media landscape has changed dramatically over the past
decades. Through digital sources, there has been a remarkable increase in the spread of
journalism, social media, and public engagement. As of 2020, more than two-thirds of
individuals in Spain were either reading or downloading online news, newspapers, or
magazines. Compared to the previous year this constituted an increase of three percent.
In general, young people are most likely to get their news through online sources, relying on
mobile devices for their communications. According to the Pew Research center, in advanced
and emerging economies, younger people are much more digitally connected than older
generations. Individuals under 35 are more likely to own smartphones, use the internet, and use social media than those ages 50 and older. Younger age groups are also much more likely to use social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Spotify than older ones. Nonetheless, the digital world is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it has shaped our
reality, allowing people to gain knowledge, communicate, and save time in unprecedented
ways. But, on the other hand, it has deteriorated the quality of information, media news, and
education. The evolution of disinformation goes hand-by-hand with the digitalization of information. New
digital forms have created room for new forms of communication with a global reach. Driven
by foreign actors, citizen journalism, and the proliferation of talk radio and cable news, many
information systems have become more polarized and controversial, and there has been a
significant decline in public trust in traditional journalism.
There is a global question about the quality of the information available to the general public and the impact of media. By the same token, misinformation has become a global phenomenon, triggered by individuals that take advantage of social and digital platforms to disseminate fake news. In Freedom House’s most recent report on global press freedoms, researchers found that ‘media freedom has been deteriorating around the world over the past decade. Even in some of the most influential democracies in the world, populist leaders have overseen concerted attempts to throttle the independence of the media sector. By the same token, disinformation has always been used as a weapon in conflicts to polarize
society and increase ‘fear of the other’ in an already divided society. Consequently, it has
several impacts on conflicts. It enhances tribalism, generates ambiguity and uncertainty in
society, and can contribute to appeal for violence against a minority group. |
