Truth is only hearsay? Misinformation as an informational, discursive, and perceptual challenge

The status of truth and facts seems to become increasingly fragile. This challenge is often attributed to misinformation, although its actual prevalence remains disputed. Yet, the process of democratic consensus-building is not just hindered by the exposure to falsehoods. The contemporary information environment is additionally challenged by political disputes over what is factual and which sources may establish truth and facts in the first place, as well as countless other types of misleading information that lie on a spectrum between truth and falsehoods. Adding to existing research on the prevalence and effects of false information, this dissertation explores an integrated account of misinformation as inaccurate content, misinformation as discourse over the legitimacy of claims and sources, and misinformation as perceptions of a wide spectrum beyond academic definitions by audiences. It addresses how the genre, discourse, and its perceptions interact to shape the information environment. After theoretically introducing the three dimensions and their intersection, this dissertation utilizes three empirical chapters. The first chapter focuses on misinformation discourse by analyzing the variety of misinformation accusations used by political actors to criticize the media. The second chapter explores audience perceptions by analyzing the content they perceive to be inaccurate, the context in which it is encountered, and the reasoning styles behind the encounters. The third chapter assesses the effect of accusatory labels on credibility perceptions across degrees of deception. Finally, the conclusion discusses key results and implications and makes the argument for a multidimensional perspective on misinformation.