Faking Facts: The Case of FactCheckArmenia.com

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dc.contributor.advisorRudd, Annie
dc.contributor.authorSamwel, Sarah
dc.contributor.committeememberTaylor, Gregory
dc.contributor.committeememberGlasberg, Ronald
dc.date2020-06
dc.date.accessioned2020-05-14T16:55:34Z
dc.date.available2020-05-14T16:55:34Z
dc.date.issued2020-05-05
dc.description.abstractPost-truth is a contention that feelings are more important than facts in political discourse, which some scholars, such as McIntyre (2018), have contended has led to the rise of misinformation online. (McIntyre, 2018). In 2017, Poynter noted the rise of fake fact-checkers as one of the latest trends in misinformation online (Sözeri, 2017). One of these sites was factcheckarmenia.com (FCA), a genocide denial website claiming to be a fact-checker. In its efforts to present misinformation as fact, FCA exposes and exploits the problems with mainstream journalistic fact-checking by co-opting conventions of the genre. FCA showcases how standards in mainstream fact-checking can be manipulated to perpetuate misinformation and that the veneer of credibility need only be present to mislead readers. This negates the argument from those concerned with that good information will eventually prevail. If anything, FCA points to an ever-closing circle of misinformation systems. This thesis argues that FCA’s efforts to present misinformation as unwelcome truth exploit the tension between communicative action and strategic speech within speech communities. FCA uses the guise of communicative action, a form of respectful and open communication aimed at finding truth, to attract participants and to bolster their credibility. However, it becomes quickly apparent that FCA is really a place to promote strategic speech, namely the narrative that the Armenian Genocide did not it happen as it is presented in the mainstream narrative. FCA then becomes a safe haven for participants who want to avoid, rather than grapple with, the uncomfortable truth of the Armenian Genocide.en_US
dc.identifier.citationSamwel, S. (2020). Faking Facts: The Case of FactCheckArmenia.com (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/37826
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1880/112039
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisher.facultyArtsen_US
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.en_US
dc.subjectjournalismen_US
dc.subjectfact checkingen_US
dc.subjectfake newsen_US
dc.subjectgenocide denialen_US
dc.subjectmemoricideen_US
dc.subjectdiscourse analysisen_US
dc.subjectpublic sphereen_US
dc.subjectfake fact checkingen_US
dc.subjectpost truthen_US
dc.subjectarmenian genocideen_US
dc.subjectmisinformationen_US
dc.subjectspeech communitiesen_US
dc.subject.classificationJournalismen_US
dc.subject.classificationMass Communicationsen_US
dc.titleFaking Facts: The Case of FactCheckArmenia.comen_US
dc.typemaster thesisen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineCommunication and Media Studiesen_US
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgaryen_US
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Arts (MA)en_US
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrueen_US
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