At the invitation of the Public Relations Association Austria (PRVA), our public communication expert at the Department of Communication, FH-Prof. Dr. Marian Adolf, discussed the challenges posed by fake news and hate speech in the field of professional communication.
Fake news and disinformation have the potential to further weaken social cohesion, not only in the “super election year” of 2024. The crisis of discourse threatens business and politics alike and undermines democratic processes. To address this situation, the PRVA hosted a discussion with Prof. Dr. Marian Adolf, a communication scientist and media sociologist at the Department of Communication at the FHWien der WKW. At the “PRofi-Treff” meeting on 12 June, the topic of disinformation and fake news was discussed from a research perspective.
Causes, drivers and strategies of a challenging situation
A stimulating discussion on the challenges of the disinformation crisis took place among the communication and PR professionals present. They discussed the causes, drivers, counter-strategies and implications for professional communication. In a lively discussion, the experts shared what they have seen and learned. Topics included the role of AI between productive tool and manipulative machine, and the ethical dilemmas of effective communication in an increasingly fragmented media landscape. The importance of affect and emotion in public debate was also raised.
In the end, it was agreed that, due to the complexity of the situation, there can be no simple or short-term solution to dealing with disinformation and fake news. Given the global importance of the issue, educational and media measures are needed in addition to legal and social measures to promote social cohesion through trustworthy information and accurate news.
>> To the recap of the PRofi-Treff on prva.at (in German)
The uncertainty surrounding AI & fake news
A few days later, FH-Prof. Dr. Marian Adolf was also a guest at MedienManager, the media platform of the Austrian advertising and media industry. Talking to publisher Otto Koller, he addressed the following questions: How are people affected by the disinformation crisis, discourse crisis and information overload? And: What are the implications for media and media consumption?
>> To the video recording of the interview on medienmanager.at (in German)