A new special issue edited by Jeong-Nam Kim and Homero Gil de Zúñiga has been published in the journal American Behavioral Scientist.

Abstract (introduction)
The explosive usage in recent years of the terms “fake news” and “posttruth” reflects worldwide frustration and concern about rampant social problems created by pseudo-information. Our digital networked society and newly emerging media platforms foster public misunderstanding of social affairs, which affects almost all aspects of individual life. The cost of lay citizens’ misunderstandings or crippled lay informatics can be high. Pseudo-information is responsible for deficient social systems and institutional malfunction. We thus ask questions and collect knowledge about the life of pseudo-information and the cognitive and communicative modus operandi of lay publics, as well as how to solve the problem of pseudo-information through understanding the changing media environment in this “truth-be-damned” era of information crisis.

Read the introduction by Jeong-Nam Kim and Homero Gil de Zúñiga: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0002764220950606

Read the special issue here: https://journals.sagepub.com/toc/abs/65/2

Also, this special issue includes an article written by Brian E. Weeks (UM) and Homero Gil de Zúñiga on misinformation: ‘What’s Next? Six Observations for the Future of Political Misinformation Research‘

Abstract
Research on political misinformation is booming. The field is continually gaining more key insights about this important and complex social problem. Academic interest on misinformation has consistently been a multidisciplinary effort. But perhaps political communication researchers are particularly well situated to be the leading voices on the public’s understanding of misinformation and many are heeding the call. With that responsibility in mind, in this brief article we offer six observations for the future of political misinformation research that we believe can help focus this line of inquiry to better ensure we address some of the most pressing problems. Our list is not exhaustive, nor do we suggest that areas we do not cover are not important. Rather, we make these observations with the goal of spurring a conversation about the future of political misinformation research.

Read it here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0002764219878236