Novel weapons: the invasion of fake news and the evolution of political news ecosystems

In this dissertation, I work to answer the question: how are recent attempts to insert fake news into political news ecosystems similar to and different from previous attempts? To this end, I present a historical timeline of major technological shifts that have altered political news ecosystems, create a new framework for analyzing how fake news producers use social media as a novel weapon to help fake news invade and thrive within political news ecosystems, and develop new terminology to discuss large-scale trolling tactics used to disrupt political news ecosystems. To develop the novel weapons framework for this study, I first identify and then examine three aspects of social media that are reappropriated to transform it into a novel weapon: hashtags, bots, and trolling. Then, I unpack how fake news producers and disseminators leveraged hashtags, bots, and trolling in tandem to create more complex systems that were able to introduce and disseminate fake news that went relatively unnoticed by the general public. From here, I enact this framework, applying it to the fake news surrounding the school shooting in Parkland, Florida. In doing so, I demonstrate that the novel weapons framework is easily applicable and able to provide an analytical depiction not only of the initial infiltration of fake news into a political news ecosystem but also the tactics that are used to help it thrive. My recalibration of the novel weapons framework aims to expand ecology theory in the field of Rhetoric and Composition by adapting invasive species theory and the novel weapons hypothesis to create a lens through which we can analyze how new actors or agents enter and manipulate digital ecologies. However, rather than focus on individual actors circulating fake news, this framework allows us to identify and focus on the systemic and ecological invasion of fake news.. Additionally, this framework provides a historical lens with which one can observe or analyze how the invasive species’ role or relationship with the ecosystem fluctuates over time. Lastly, through the development of the novel weapons framework, I developed new terminology in order to differentiate between the umbrella term of troll and the large entities that use trolling tactics for much higher stakes. In this dissertation, such bad actors and tactics are referred to as organized, agenda-driven, strategic trolls or OASTs. By separating entities like foreign governments and politically affiliated organizations that use trolling tactics from the colloquial term troll, I also separates them from the stereotypes and cultural frameworks that view trolls as minimal threats, annoyances, singular people, or subversive tactics to oppressive and bigoted language and ideologies. Creating this distinction allows us to focus on the more complex levels and higher stakes that are involved when dealing with OASTs. This new terminology now fits the impact that these entities can create. Overall, then, this dissertation develops a new framework for studying and analyzing fake news, the expansion of terminology when discussing trolls, and the practical application of the novel weapons framework.Thesis (Ph. D.

Discourse Analysis of Public Debate over U.S. Government Faith-Based Initiative of 2001

This thesis uses the discourse analysis methods developed by T. Van Dijk and J. P. Gee to examine public debate over the Faith-Based and Community Initiatives in 2001 as it arose in testimony before the U. S. House of Representatives and related news articles published in the New York Times and Washington Post. In analyzing the language used in the congressional hearings and news articles printed between January 2001 and December 2004, Van Dijk‘s categories and related questions were methodologically combined with Gee‘s approach to provide a framework and method for analyzing the underlying discourse. While debate participants expressed strong beliefs in complex social ideals, many see America‘s social problems as intractable in nature, where key decisions about distributions of funds are based on political considerations, as opposed to merit or need

Why Information Matters: A Foundation for Resilience

Embracing Change: The Critical Role of Information, a research project by the Internews' Center for Innovation & Learning, supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, combines Internews' longstanding effort to highlight the important role ofinformation with Rockefeller's groundbreaking work on resilience. The project focuses on three major aspects:- Building knowledge around the role of information in empowering communities to understand and adapt to different types of change: slow onset, long-term, and rapid onset / disruptive;- Identifying strategies and techniques for strengthening information ecosystems to support behavioral adaptation to disruptive change; and- Disseminating knowledge and principles to individuals, communities, the private sector, policymakers, and other partners so that they can incorporate healthy information ecosystems as a core element of their social resilience strategies

Decoding the Sphinx-Like Silence : State Residency, Petition Circulation, and the First Amendment

State governments are the primary regulators of elections and ballot access in the United States. State statutes determine who is eligible to be on the ballot in each particular state, as well as who may assist these individuals by gathering petition signatures. Candidates for political office, initiative proponents, and their supporters have challenged some of these restrictions as unconstitutional burdens on political speech. The U.S. Supreme Court has had great difficulty in articulating a coherent standard of review in this area of the law, which shows that the line between a state’s reasonable regulation of the election process and an unconstitutional burden on First Amendment rights is not easy to define. One particular area where this issue has come into focus is state laws requiring petition circulators to be state residents or, alternatively, eligible to vote in the state. The majority of circuits have declared these restrictions unconstitutional burdens on political speech, while one circuit has found them a reasonable regulation of a state’s electoral process. This Note explores the history and context of the Supreme Court’s struggle to establish a consistent standard of review in ballot-access cases before examining the nuances of the constitutionality of both residency and voter eligibility requirements. This Note ultimately argues that the minority view is the more correct reading of Supreme Court precedent and that residency requirements are generally reasonable state regulations of elections, while voter eligibility requirements are unconstitutional violations of the First Amendment

Analyzing the Intersection of Transparency, Issues Management and Ethics: The Case of Big Soda

This article critically analyzes the ethics of Coca-Cola’s public relations strategies through the lens of corporate social responsibility, issue management, and moral legitimacy. Corporate legitimacy is essential for corporate survival and, in today’s complex environment, expectations for legitimacy have shifted. Corporations are called on to consider their roles in the context of the greater good. These changes call for an examination of what constitutes ethical communication for public relations practitioners. While theoretical advancements in the area of ethics sketch the landscape for providing for greater transparency in what the aims of organizations should be in providing for ethical communication, more needs to be done to examine the specific content of this communication. Toward this end, the authors seek to extend conversations and draw from Habermas’s theories of communicative action and Principle U to propose a new direction for evaluating public relations ethics

Austerity and Human Rights Law: Towards a Rights-Based Approach to Austerity Policy, a Case Study of Greece

This Note analyzes the legal framework for the protection of the right to work under national and international laws, and the limitations for Greece regarding the implementation of austerity measures that result in causing retrogression in the enjoyment of this right. Part I discusses the background of the Greek financial crisis, the financial assistance mechanisms and the adopted austerity measures. Part II examines the legal framework for the protection of the right to work, as well as the principles of equality, non-discrimination and progressive realization of human rights under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (“ICESCR”). Finally, Part III demonstrates how the adopted Greek austerity measures violate international and national laws and advocates for the adoption of a stricter rights-based approach for states willing to implement austerity programs. Part III further argues for a rightsbased approach during times of financial crisis, with a minimum core of human rights obligations to always be respected

Austerity and Human Rights Law: Towards a Rights-Based Approach to Austerity Policy, a Case Study of Greece

This Note analyzes the legal framework for the protection of the right to work under national and international laws, and the limitations for Greece regarding the implementation of austerity measures that result in causing retrogression in the enjoyment of this right. Part I discusses the background of the Greek financial crisis, the financial assistance mechanisms and the adopted austerity measures. Part II examines the legal framework for the protection of the right to work, as well as the principles of equality, non-discrimination and progressive realization of human rights under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (“ICESCR”). Finally, Part III demonstrates how the adopted Greek austerity measures violate international and national laws and advocates for the adoption of a stricter rights-based approach for states willing to implement austerity programs. Part III further argues for a rightsbased approach during times of financial crisis, with a minimum core of human rights obligations to always be respected