Truth qualities of journalism are under intense scrutiny in today's world. Journalistic scandals have eroded public confidence in mainstream media while pioneering news media compete to satisfy the public's appetite for news. Still worse is the specter of "fake news" that looms over media and political systems that underpin everything from social stability to global governance.This volume aims to illuminate the contentious media landscape to help journalism students, scholars, and professionals understand contemporary conditions and arm them to deal with a spectrum of new developments ranging from technology and politics to best practices.Fake news is among the greatest of these concerns, and can encompass everything from sarcastic or ironic humor to bot-generated, made-up stories. It can also include the pernicious transmission of selected, biased facts, the use of incomplete or misleadingly selective framing of stories, and photographs that editorially convey certain characteristics. This edited volume contextualizes the current "fake news problem." Yet it also offers a larger perspective on what seems to be uniquely modern, computer-driven problems. We must remember that we have lived with the problem of people having to identify, characterize, and communicate the truth about the world around them for millennia.Rather than identify a single culprit for disseminating misinformation, this volume examines how news is perceived and identified, how news is presented to the public, and how the public responds to news. It considers social media's effect on the craft of journalism, as well as the growing role of algorithms, big data, and automatic content-production regimes. As an edited collection, this volume gathers leading scholars in the fields of journalism and communication studies, philosophy, and the social sciences to address critical questions of how we should understand journalism's changing landscape as it relates to fundamental questions about the role of truth and information in society.

List of ContributorsAcknowledgementsPrefaceChapter 1. IntroductionJames E. Katz and Kate K. MaysDemocracy, News, & SocietyChapter 2. Belgium Invades Germany: Can Facts Survive Politics?Michael SchudsonSpotlight: Pierre Bourdieu and the Journalistic FieldDavid L. SwartzChapter 3. From information availability to factual accountability: Reconsidering how truth matters for politicians, publics, and the news mediaLucas Graves and Chris WellsChapter 4. Fake News: A New Obsession with an Old Phenomenon?Nicole Krause, Christopher D. Wirz, Dietram A. Scheufele, Michael XenosPillars of Truth in JournalismSpotlight: Sophisticated Modernism & TruthEdward SchiappaChapter 5. "The True" in JournalismJuliet FloydChapter 6. Truth in JournalismZeynep SoysalCraft of Journalism and TruthChapter 7. Canards, fausses nouvelles, paranoid style. Classic authors for an emerging phenomenonPeppino OrtolevaChapter 8. Scoop: The Challenge of Foreign CorrespondenceJohn Maxwell Hamilton and Heidi TworekChapter 9. Searching for Truth in Fragmented Spaces: Chat Apps and Verification in News ProductionColin Agur and Valerie Belair-GagnonChapter 10. The use and verification of online sources in the news production process.Sophie Lecheler, Sanne Kruikemeier, Yael de HaanChapter 11. Technological Affordances can Promote Misinformation: What Journalists Should Watch Out for When Relying on Online Tools and Social MediaMaria D. Molina and S. Shyam SundarReception & PerceptionChapter 12. Fake News Finds an AudienceErik P. Bucy and John E. NewhagenChapter 13. Truth at large: When social media investigations get it wrongEdson C. Tandoc Jr.Chapter 14. Emotional Characteristics of Social Media and Political MisperceptionsBrian E. Weeks and R. Kelly GarrettChapter 15. ConclusionKate K. Mays and James E. Katz