The Place of Fake News in Modern Communication Practices

This article is an attempt at a scientific understanding of the fake news phenomenon and determining its place in modern models of mass communication. The author concludes that fake news, as a phenomenon, is characteristic of communication systems that have many actors simultaneously participating in the communication process. Fake news is understood as a product of the transformation of the mass media, moving away from institutionalized forms of information transmission into an undeveloped and difficult to control digital space, which is not subject to any restrictions. It is concluded that with an increase in the number of actors participating in mass communication, an inevitable decrease in the quality of news materials occurs, due to the difficulty of ensuring their quality. Reflecting on the interpretation of fake news as a political mechanism of disinformation and a means of unscrupulous opportunistic enrichment, the author suggests that the very principle of news consumption is changing and the border between entertainment and information materials is becoming less and less clear.