ABSTRACT
The collection of papers in this special issue of Continuum draws out the many dimensions of fakery in contemporary digitally mediated cultures. The editors observe in their Introduction that ‘media fakery’ needs to be understood more broadly than simply fake news or misinformation. Rather, it sits within the broader media ecology of entertainment as well as news and occupies an ambiguous relationship to trust that invites the consumer to believe in what is being represented, whether with playful or more conspiratorial intent.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. An example of this was seen with the rise and fall of the Momentum movement, which emerged in the U.K. to support Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the British Labour Party. Momentum came over time to be more focused upon ideological critique of left-liberal media such as The Guardian, which was seen as too close to the ‘Blairite’ faction of the party. While Momentum activists established alternative media, these had little tangible reach among most U.K. voters, who continued to largely get political information from the BBC and the established newspapers and broadcast media outlets (Fletcher, Newman, and Schulz Citation2020).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Terry Flew
Terry Flew is Professor of Digital Communication and Culture at the University of Sydney. He is the author of Media Economics (Palgrave, 2015), Understanding Global Media (Palgrave, 2018), and Regulating Platforms (Polity, 2021).