Presenting a Media Governance Model with Emphasis on Fake News Management in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Abstract

Fake news management is regarded as an important dimension of sound media governance and, according to many media scholars, this dimension is considered the most important pillar of sound media governance. The aim of this study was to present a media governance model with emphasis on fake news management in the age of artificial intelligence. This study employed a mixed-methods design (qualitative–quantitative) and was basic in terms of purpose. In terms of data collection method, it was also considered a field study. The participants in the qualitative section included experts consisting of former managers of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), experts in the field of IRIB journalism, IRIB presenters, IRIB news editors and desk editors, experts in media and cyberspace in the Parliament, information technology managers, managers and experts working in the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, and directors general of public relations departments in various organizations. The number of participants was 16, who were selected through non-probability purposive sampling. The data collection instrument in the qualitative section was a semi-structured interview, and open, axial, and selective coding were used to analyze the data. Grounded theory was also used to design and test the model. All coding procedures were conducted using MAXQDA 2020 software. The results of axial and selective coding showed that public access to content production tools, the economic logic and platform algorithms, public trust and cognitive warfare, and geopolitical rivalries played roles as causal conditions in the model. The concepts related to the central phenomenon included technology and algorithms, flexibility and dynamism, legal and regulatory dimensions, education and media literacy, the behavior and interaction of members of society, and institutional and policymaking dimensions. Technological strategy, editorial and professional strategy, platform strategy, educational and social strategy, continuous review of models and policies, the creation of a culture of collective response, and legal and political strategy were identified as the strategies of the model. The concepts related to intervening conditions included governmental institutions, the behavior of members of society, social networks, and the knowledge and awareness of members of society. The concepts related to contextual conditions included social transformations, society’s immersion in technology, and the penetration of information technology. Finally, the individual level, social level, institutional and democratic level, and media level were identified as the outcomes of the model. The statistical population in the quantitative section consisted of media experts, and the sample size was considered to be 223 individuals, selected using Cohen’s method. The sampling method in this section was simple random sampling, and the data collection instrument was a questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data, and the obtained results indicated significant relationships among the components of the research paradigm model.