Deliberative Communication in the Context of Authoritarian Sentimentalism and Disinformation Chaos

Authors

  • Tomáš Škarba University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava Author
  • Ján Višňovský University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.0000/qj0pd435

Keywords:

deliberation, healthcare, implementation, disinformation, public debate, public opinion, reform

Abstract

TIn an era of multiplatform journalism and the extraordinary ease of presenting views online, democracies face a key challenge, namely convincing citizens of the rightness of the solutions put forward. The concepts of “deliberative communication” offer a seemingly simple solution to the search for social consensus. However, citizens are much more exposed than in the past to disinformation, misdirection and purposeful manipulation. This study examines the quality of public debate in the adoption of major health legislation in the Slovak Republic. The aim is to highlight the different attitudes of the participants to the debate and the different motivations of the participants in the broad public debate. The study presents an analysis of the outputs of professional organisations and political representatives at national and regional level. It highlights the biased coverage of local media and the level of debate involving an exceptionally large range of speakers.

Author Biographies

  • Tomáš Škarba, University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava

    Tomáš Škarba is an external PhD. candidate at the Faculty of Mass Media Communication at UCM in Trnava. He focuses on disinformation, propaganda, hybrid war techniques and propagandistic and manipulative activities. He is a professional radio journalist and news editor at Bauer Media Audio Slovakia, which includes news production on the nationwide stations Rádio Expres and Rádio Jemné. Tomáš Škarba works with students in the newsroom of the faculty Rádio Aetter.

  • Ján Višňovský, University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava

    Ján Višňovský is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Mass Media Communication at UCM in Trnava, Head of the Department of Mass Media Communication and Head of the Academic Senate of UCM. He is particularly interested in problems and questions of journalism in the context of the development of information and communication technologies and the history of television in United Kingdom and the United States of America. He has published over eighty scholarly articles and conference papers. Of them, twenty-seven are indexed in Web of Science or Scopus.

Downloads

Published

2022-04-24

Issue

Vol. 13 No. 1 (2022): Communication Today 1/2022

Section

Theoretical studies

License

Copyright (c) 2022 Communication Today

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Škarba, T., & Višňovský, J. (2022). Deliberative Communication in the Context of Authoritarian Sentimentalism and Disinformation Chaos. Communication Today, 13(1), 4-17. https://doi.org/10.0000/qj0pd435