Suspicious stories: taking narrative seriously in disinformation research.

The concept of narrative has been widely employed in the disinformation literature. Nonetheless, its use has been dominated by loose intuitions of what narratives are and do alongside vague accounts of specific stories. Theorized more carefully, thinking in terms of narrative has much to offer disin...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Communication Theory (1050-3293) Vol. 36; no. 2; pp. 106 - 117
Autor principal: Sadler, Neil
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Oxford University Press / USA May2026
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=193756871&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: ssf
    uiTerm: 193756871
    longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson)
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        10503293
        CIY
      jtl: Communication Theory (1050-3293)
      issn: 10503293
      maglogo: N
    pubinfo:
      dt: May2026
      vid: 36
      iid: 2
      pid: 622
      pub: Oxford University Press / USA
    artinfo:
      ui:
        193756871
        10.1093/ct/qtaf013
      ppf: 106
      ppct: 11
      formats:
      tig:
        atl: Suspicious stories: taking narrative seriously in disinformation research.
      aug:
        au: Sadler, Neil
        affil: School of Languages, Cultures and Societies, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, United Kingdom
      su:
        Ukraine
        Russia
        Twitter (Web resource)
        Hermeneutics
        Ethics
        Narratives
        Disinformation
        Russia-Ukraine Conflict, 2014-
      sug:
        subj:
          Hermeneutics
          Ethics
          Ukraine
          Russia
          Narratives
          Disinformation
          Russia-Ukraine Conflict, 2014-
          Twitter (Web resource)
      keyword:
        copyrightHolder:International Communication Association
        copyrightYear:2026
        disinformation
        ethics
        inLanguage:en
        narrative
        publisher:Oxford University Press
        sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ct/qtaf013
        truth
        copyrightHolder:International Communication Association
        copyrightYear:2026
        disinformation
        ethics
        inLanguage:en
        narrative
        publisher:Oxford University Press
        sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ct/qtaf013
        truth
      ab: The concept of narrative has been widely employed in the disinformation literature. Nonetheless, its use has been dominated by loose intuitions of what narratives are and do alongside vague accounts of specific stories. Theorized more carefully, thinking in terms of narrative has much to offer disinformation studies by helping to better define what constitutes disinformation and providing sophisticated frameworks for assessing specific content. To enable a nuanced view of narrative truth, I propose a "hermeneutic realist" approach in which stories "disclose" wider realities rather than constructing or simply reflecting them, supplemented with Phelan's "narrative ethics" to facilitate inquiry into how far stories are morally legitimate. I apply these ideas in a case study of Twitter content posted by a Venezuelan political influencer blaming Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine on NATO enlargement. In so doing, I show that content may be referentially and ethically problematic without necessarily being false.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
    refInfo:
    copyright:
      @attributes:
        flag: N
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N