Based on an extensive literature review, we suggest that 'fake news' alludes to two dimensions of political communication: the fake news genre (i.e. the deliberate creation of pseudojournalistic disinformation) and the fake news label (i.e. the instrumentalization of the term to delegitimize news media). While public worries about the use of the label by politicians are increasing, scholarly interest is heavily focused on the genre aspect of fake news. We connect the existing literature on fake news to related concepts from political communication and journalism research, present a theoretical framework to study fake news, and formulate a research agenda. Thus, we bring clarity to the discourse about fake news and suggest shifting scholarly attention to the neglected fake news label.

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A growing number of studies test the effects of news framing on citizens' understanding of politics. By employing experimental designs, these studies report significant effects for a multitude of issues and frames. However, what happens to the framing effect after initial exposure? Based on a ''classic'' framing experiment (n = 625), this article traces framing effects across a number of delayed time points: after 1 day, 1 week, and 2 weeks. Our results show that framing effects are surprisingly persistent. The duration of framing effects depended on a person's level of political knowledge, with moderately knowledgeable individuals displaying most persistent framing effects. Effects on individuals with high or low levels of political knowledge dissipated much quicker.

A growing amount of research is devoted to the question of which individual and contextual variables enhance, limit, or obliterate news framing effects. However, the fundamental question whether framing effects vary depending on the issue at stake has not been addressed. Based on two experimental studies (total N = 1,821), this article investigates the extent to which framing effects differ in magnitude as well as process, depending on how important an issue is. The studies show that a high-importance issue yields no effects and a low-importance issue large effects. This moderating function of issue importance operates both at the contextual and at the individual levels. The implications for future framing effects research are discussed.

This review article provides a critical discussion of empirical studies that deal with the use of online news sources in journalism. We evaluate how online sources have changed the journalist–source relationship regarding selection of sources as well as verification strategies. We also discuss how the use of online sources changes audience perceptions of news. The available research indicates that journalists have accepted online news sourcing techniques into their daily news production process, but that they hesitate to use information retrieved from social media as direct and quoted sources in news reporting. Studies show that there are differences in the use of online sources between media sectors, type of reporting, and country context. The literature also suggests that verification of online sources requires a new set of skills that journalists still struggle with. We propose a research agenda for future studies.