Rubén Rivas de Roca

Rubén Rivas de Roca

Rubén Rivas de Roca
Position

Journalism professor in the Communication Sciences department of the University of Santiago de Compostela

A study analyses how competition between media outlets can lead them to spread misinformation

Competition to attract audiences encourages media outlets to spread misinformation, according to a study published in Science Advances. The research applies a mathematical framework - called a zero-sum game - to analyse the dynamics between immediate media benefits and long-term damage. The model showed how an ‘arms race’ can emerge between news sources: when one player resorts to misinformation, the other has to do the same in order to compete.

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