WAYS OF INFORMING AND RECOGNIZING FAKE NEWS BY CROATIAN STUDENTS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

The problem area of this paper is informing and information manipulation. The paper studies the issues on information disorder and identifying fake news, as it is becoming a growing problem, especially in digital media that allow their viral dissemination. The paper describes the types of information disorders, with an emphasis on disinformation and fake news that are most often published with the aim of manipulating the audience. In addition, the terms misinformation, malinformation and infodemic are terminologically determined. The work analyses the ways of fake news spreading, from those spread by people – most often through social networks, to the use of computer programs (bots). In order to properly identify and respond to information disorders, guidelines and tools providing credibility verification of information content (online fact-checkers) are presented. Available researches suggest that the presence of fake news throughout the media is a growing global problem, especially at the time of the coronavirus pandemic, but it is not equally present in the countries worldwide. Croatia is mentioned as a country where people are able to recognize fake news. This original research provides the insight into the frequency and the most common ways the students get information, as well as their ability to identify fake news. Students prefer to be informed through digital media, while the use of traditional media is significantly less common. They consider television and radio to be the most reliable sources of informing, while the Internet (excluding social networks) comes second. Although most students consider themselves successful at recognizing fake news, the research findings indicate that their real ability to do so is significantly lower.