Fake news – an interview with Patrycja Szostok-Nowacka, PhD, DSc, Associate Professor | Faculty of Social Sciences

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Fake news – an interview with Patrycja Szostok-Nowacka, PhD, DSc, Associate Professor

31.03.2022 - 10:59 update 15.04.2022 - 09:55

Editors: violettakulik

How many times have you been fooled today? Not even once? Probably this is your answer, because most often we do not know that we have been manipulated or believed in false information. Everyone knows that on April Fool’s Day you have to put on filtering glasses and carefully observe all information that reaches us. Why don’t we put them on every day, naively believing that the news we receive is true? We talk about fake news with an expert – Patrycja Szostok-Nowacka, PhD, DSc, Associate Professor

Violetta Kulik: Professor, what is fake news?

Patrycja Szostok-Nowacka, PhD, DSc, Associate Professor: I don’t think we need to explain to anyone what fake news is. It is known that this is a phenomenon currently widespread on the Internet, consisting in publishing false information intended to mislead recipients, sometimes as a joke, and sometimes for much more serious reasons – to make them change their attitudes or take quite real actions. But did you know that fake news is not a new phenomenon? As a rumor, it is “as old as the hills”, while traces of media reports of this kind can be found in the 18th-century press in London or Paris. For the purposes of propaganda, fake news was successfully used by totalitarian regimes, and one could even recall Joseph Goebbels’ “successes” in this field. Journalism students are still learning about the effects of the 1938 radio program “War of the Worlds” on the Martian invasion, which the listeners found credible enough (because it was broadcast on the radio) that some believed in the alien attack on Earth.

V.K.: Although fake news has always been spread, the era of the Internet has led to its heyday. Why?

P.S.-N.: If only due to the fact that access to the Internet is much easier than to traditional media, in which there is (but not always) verification and selection of information. The second reason is that false information on the web is rapidly duplicated and passed on, which means that it reaches a wide audience, sometimes shared by a source that is trustworthy for them. In addition, Internet communication is accompanied by an excess of information – so much of it reaches us that we cannot verify all of them, and our attention is often focused not on what is really important, but on what is not obvious, interesting and surprising. And that’s what fake news is!

V.K.: What kind of phenomenon fake news really is?

P.S.-N.: As a phenomenon, fake news is heterogeneous. We can list several types of fake news mentioned by scientists dealing with this phenomenon and the mechanisms of manipulation behind them. These are messages that no one should take seriously because they are prepared to ridicule or criticise some social phenomenon or human behaviour. An example of a medium disseminating such information is ASZdziennik. Header and content mismatches are known to all of us clickbaits, the purpose of which is to get us interested in the content based on the sensational headline. When we open the content of the material, it turns out that it has little to do with the title itself. Unfortunately, it is also practiced by responsible media, not only ordinary internet users. Another example is the change of context – here real information is presented in such a context to put a person in a bad light. Do you remember the story about Bill Gates and vaccines? It is deceiving the recipient – true information again, but imposing the interpretation on someone else’s disadvantage (or benefit). An example may be reports of irregularities in the counting of votes during elections (true) and presenting them as an argument for declaring the election invalid (unfounded). We also distinguish impersonating of known, trusted people in order to spread information or opinions (these do not have to be false, but their association with authority is not true) – fictitious profiles of famous people on social media or websites visually confusingly similar to large news media websites are created.

V.K.: Why is it so easy to deceive us by this kind of news? What is the mechanism of their action?

P.S.-N.: Indeed, it turns out that fake news is surprisingly effective, often even more “credible” than real news. This is for a number of reasons. Fake news often does not differ from real news, they are structured in similar way. They are also very intense and saturated with “facts”, which increases their informative value and credibility. It is also easy to overlook them in the flood of information and the abundance of content on the Internet. Also, real content is often both informative and entertaining. Even large media sometimes skip the information verification and linguistic proofreading procedures, which is why it is easy for us to accept lower-quality material as real. The media create stories (narratives) in line with the expectations of the audience. Fake news also perfectly meets these expectations. The recipients are gullible and often poorly prepared to receive content (the main blame for this can be the lack of media education). Many people believe that publications on the Internet are even more credible than those from editorial media, because they are created by people who are not related to large editorial offices, so they are apparently less involved in various types of dependencies and interests. Journalists themselves often use fiction to better present the phenomena they describe (we do not approve of it, but Ryszard Kapuściński himself did it!).

V.K.: So are we doomed to disinformation?

P.S.-N.: Not necessarily. There are at least several ways to avoid manipulation. First of all, you need to check the source the message comes from. If it’s a page with just a few posts or a social media profile that looks “new”, you should be careful. The second way is to verify the author – if there are no other publications in the account or its data cannot be determined at all, it may be a fake. We should read or watch all the material, not just the headline. Especially if we are going to comment on the content. Make sure this is not a joke, satire, irony – sometimes the “blink of an eye” can be felt from the tone of the publication, and sometimes it is obvious due to where the news is posted. Although it is difficult and time-consuming, we should check the information in other sources. If it is not reported in the “big” media, it may not be true. Authors of fake news often protect themselves against this, suggesting in the headline “They are trying to hide from us …”. Don’t believe it. If possible, consult experts or check with the source. It is worth checking whether the material and the photos or videos illustrating it are new – sometimes the information itself may be true, but the lack of up-to-date information may mislead us. Always try to reflect on whether the emotional presentation of information is not affecting our perception of the message. Example? Check how various media report the same data on the number of victims of the war in Ukraine. The figures may be the same, but their interpretation may not be the same.

V.K.: Thank you very much for the interview.

P.S.-N.: I thank you too. Be warned, don’t take my word for it, check if I have the competence to speak on this topic. Also refer to the scientific sources below.

Adam Michel: „Fałszywe wiadomości – występowanie, znaczenie oraz następstwa ich rozpowszechniania”; Wrocław 2017, net/publication/318215475_Fake_news_falszywe_wiadomosci_-_wystepowanie_znaczenie_oraz_nastepstwa_ich_rozpowszechniania, dostęp 24.03.2021,
Marek Palczewski: „Dyskurs fake newsa”, „Annales Universitatis Pedagogicae Cracoviensis. Studia de Cultura” nr 11(1)/2019,
Jaceg: „Fake news. Co to jest i jak go rozpoznać?”, pl/gospodarka/fake-news-co-to-jest-i-jak-go-rozpoznac-6527113968650369a.html, dostęp 24.03.2021.

We encourage you to read the publications on fake news:

Patrycja Szostok-Nowacka, PhD, DSc, Associate Professor