Abstract
The chaos surrounding the 2020 U.S. presidential election was exacerbated by the unsuspecting worldwide COVID-19 crisis. Sociopolitical divides in America took on a more dramatic cultural focus, one that evoked deep emotional elements not seen since the turbulent 1960s/70s during the anti-Vietnam/civil rights conflicts. These issues are still being explored and are hardly settled. Central to this dilemma is the use of the “Big Lie” as a major means of mass media communication and its ramifications for future elections and, as some, suspect, American democracy itself. Our paper discusses the socio-political and ethical ramifications of this phenomenon.
Presenters
Laurence FrenchAffiliate Professor, College of Liberal Arts, University of New Hampshire, New Hampshire, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2022 Special Focus—Democratic Disorder: Disinformation, the Media and Crisis in a Time of Change
KEYWORDS
BIG LIE, COVID, ELECTIONS, MASS MEDIA, PROPAGANDA, CULTURAL WARS
