Disinformation in Central Europe  Actors, structure, impact

This book presents different approaches to disinformation based on original data from quantitative and qualitative studies conducted within CEDMO (Central European Digital Media Observatory). The linguistic and visual features of this type of communication are analyzed in the context of the discursive and genre framing of fake news. The authors discuss the psychological mechanisms of the reception of manipulated content, as well as the legal and political contexts of disinformation in Central Europe (Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia). The book presents the results of comparative research on attitudes to Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine, linking the two. The volume contains not only empirical studies, but also an elaborate proposal for a theoretical approach to manipulated content and a coherent methodological model that can be used to deepen scientific knowledge of this complex area of study.

1. Introduction: Michal Wenzel, Karina Stasiuk-Krajewska.- 2. Theoretical approaches to disinformation: Karina Stasiuk-Krajewska, Jakub Kus.- 3. Strategies of disinformation: Veronika Mackova, Katerina Turkova.- 4. Structure of disinformation related to Covid-19: Michal Wenzel.- 5. Penetration of Russian disinformation on the war in Ukraine: Michal Wenzel.- 6. Linguistic  structures of disinformation messages: Karina Stasiuk-Krajewska, Luboš Greguš.- 7. Visual structures of disinformation messages: Karina Stasiuk-Krajewska.- 8. Conclusion: changing infosphere in times of crisis: all authors.

Michal Wenzel is associate professor at SWPS University. He specializes in research methods and sociological aspects of the media. He previously worked at CBOS Public Opinion Research Centre and the University of Oxford and has completed research stays at the University of Michigan and the Max Planck Institute in Cologne.

Karina Stasiuk-Krajewska is associate professor at SWPS University in Wroclaw and the research coordinator of CEDMO. In her scientific work, she deals with issues of ethics and professionalization, as well as discourse analysis. She is a member of EDMO's Group of Experts on Structural Indicators for the Code of Practice on Disinformation.