Abstract:
Fake news is a
major threat to
credibility, trust, and speed of real news
owing to its
ability to spread fast, camouflage real news, spur ethnic conflicts, sabotage businesses
and mislead voters.
While there is empirical evidence that dissemination of fake news
on social
media and enactments of anti-fake news laws are on the rise globally, most of
the empirical studies on fake news continue to focus on its political impacts and
presence on social media. News
television stations work under the premise of trust,
credibility
and speed now
threatened by fake news hence the need to explore how they
spot it
. The specific research question was: How do news television stations in Kenya
spot fake news?. The Gate keeping theory aided conceptualization of this study. The
study adapted a relativist-constructivist/interpretivist philosophical paradigm hence
qualitative approach and multiple case study method. The target population comprised
of reporters and editors. A sample size of 16 participants from two television stations
was selected using purposive sampling technique. Data was generated through in
depth interviews and observations. Data was analysed thematically and presented in
narrative form based on themes. The findings show that television stations spot fake
news through counterchecking and verification, instinct, delays, online reverse search,
calling the source, evaluating source’s credibility, chains of gate keepers, and editorial
social media groups. Despite the numerous spotting practices fake news had
permeated and aired on television resulting in court charges, fines, apologies and
sacking of journalists. This study concludes that practices of spotting fake news by
television stations in Kenya are incoherent, informal and weakly anchored on policy
documents thus insufficient.
Therefore, recommends that editorial boards establish
standard and well documented practices for spotting fake news to arrest its growing
threat to trust in news and journalism.
