Fourth International Conference on Communication & Media Studies

Abstract

Fake news is a threat to democracy. This informs the call in March 2019 by Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, of the need for government regulation of content on the Internet for “integrity of elections.” Research findings also affirm the possible effect of fake news and disinformation on democratic governance as democracy can only thrive in an environment of transparent, reliable, and verifiable information. This study is undertaken to explore how fake news and disinformation can compromise good governance and democratic accountability with a focus on the reporting of public affairs in Benue State, Nigeria between May 2015 and May 2019, a period that corresponds with the administration of Governor Samuel Ortom who underperformed in all aspects of good governance. The research examines how the performance of Ortom’s administration was framed by news reports, evaluate the major sources of news about his administration, and look for the presence or non-presence of fake news in the reports.