Data Perception and Information Disorder in the Italian Context During the Pandemic

This paper aims to investigate how Italian audiences received and perceived data-driven television news during the Covid-19 pandemic. During this time, the logic and practices of creating and consuming television journalism were disrupted by the pandemic emergency. The paper presents the results of...

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Main Authors: Giovanni Ciofalo, Lorenzo Ugolini, Fabio Ciammella
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision 2024-09-01
Series:VIEW Journal of European Television History and Culture
Subjects:
Online Access:https://account.viewjournal.eu/index.php/up-j-viewjethc/article/view/328
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author Giovanni Ciofalo
Lorenzo Ugolini
Fabio Ciammella
author_facet Giovanni Ciofalo
Lorenzo Ugolini
Fabio Ciammella
author_sort Giovanni Ciofalo
collection DOAJ
description This paper aims to investigate how Italian audiences received and perceived data-driven television news during the Covid-19 pandemic. During this time, the logic and practices of creating and consuming television journalism were disrupted by the pandemic emergency. The paper presents the results of research carried out as part of a wider project titled “The Social Effects of Fake News” which was conducted from 2018 to 2022 within the CoRiS department of Sapienza University of Rome. The research project was reshaped in 2020, to understand the effects of what has been called “information disorder” in the areas of health, medicine, and science at a time when, together with the pandemic, an “infodemic” also emerged.1 We use Wardle and Derakhshan’s notion of “information disorder” as presented in their Council of Europe report.2 The results of the survey research we conducted show a surprising paradox. We found an interesting pattern of receiving and using information content based on data, in which users trust those who produce and validate certain data and at the same time do not believe that same data. This pattern of use indicates a particular approach to dealing with news among the Italian public. We have labelled it “know-it-all.” This article aims to deepen the understanding of this paradox of trust in experts but not in the data they deliver and how journalistic practice should deal with this conundrum.
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spelling doaj-art-4b89c6d002e74504912e23e874f833842025-01-07T13:24:06ZengNetherlands Institute for Sound and VisionVIEW Journal of European Television History and Culture2213-09692024-09-01132510.18146/view.328Data Perception and Information Disorder in the Italian Context During the PandemicGiovanni Ciofalo0Lorenzo Ugolini1Fabio Ciammella2Sapienza University of RomeSapienza University of RomeSapienza University of Rome This paper aims to investigate how Italian audiences received and perceived data-driven television news during the Covid-19 pandemic. During this time, the logic and practices of creating and consuming television journalism were disrupted by the pandemic emergency. The paper presents the results of research carried out as part of a wider project titled “The Social Effects of Fake News” which was conducted from 2018 to 2022 within the CoRiS department of Sapienza University of Rome. The research project was reshaped in 2020, to understand the effects of what has been called “information disorder” in the areas of health, medicine, and science at a time when, together with the pandemic, an “infodemic” also emerged.1 We use Wardle and Derakhshan’s notion of “information disorder” as presented in their Council of Europe report.2 The results of the survey research we conducted show a surprising paradox. We found an interesting pattern of receiving and using information content based on data, in which users trust those who produce and validate certain data and at the same time do not believe that same data. This pattern of use indicates a particular approach to dealing with news among the Italian public. We have labelled it “know-it-all.” This article aims to deepen the understanding of this paradox of trust in experts but not in the data they deliver and how journalistic practice should deal with this conundrum. https://account.viewjournal.eu/index.php/up-j-viewjethc/article/view/328ItalyFake newsInformation disorderCovid-19pandemicData news
spellingShingle Giovanni Ciofalo
Lorenzo Ugolini
Fabio Ciammella
Data Perception and Information Disorder in the Italian Context During the Pandemic
VIEW Journal of European Television History and Culture
Italy
Fake news
Information disorder
Covid-19
pandemic
Data news
title Data Perception and Information Disorder in the Italian Context During the Pandemic
title_full Data Perception and Information Disorder in the Italian Context During the Pandemic
title_fullStr Data Perception and Information Disorder in the Italian Context During the Pandemic
title_full_unstemmed Data Perception and Information Disorder in the Italian Context During the Pandemic
title_short Data Perception and Information Disorder in the Italian Context During the Pandemic
title_sort data perception and information disorder in the italian context during the pandemic
topic Italy
Fake news
Information disorder
Covid-19
pandemic
Data news
url https://account.viewjournal.eu/index.php/up-j-viewjethc/article/view/328
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AT lorenzougolini dataperceptionandinformationdisorderintheitaliancontextduringthepandemic
AT fabiociammella dataperceptionandinformationdisorderintheitaliancontextduringthepandemic