Troll Logic as Challenge to Future Journalism

Abstract

The era of disinformation and “fake news” follows a new logic that defies traditional journalistic methods: a troll logic. Although journalism has had to deal with propaganda, misinformation, and untrue statements before, the hybrid media ecosystem has elevated this problem to new heights. Troll logic takes advantage of the weaknesses of journalistic practice and abuses it as far as possible. Today’s public discourse is characterised by many discordant voices, some of which are clearly not interested in advancing the common interests of people. Viral memes, conspiracy theories, and other examples of the power of social media users are often based on unsubstantiated or made up information as if it was of equal value to well-researched facts. This chapter explores the close connections between journalism logic and troll logic by analysing examples of news stories, journalistic work, and the new kinds of journalism–audience relationships made possible by evolving digital technologies.