Ideology and disinformation: how false news stories contributed to Brexit

This chapter investigates why the Euromyths persisted despite their repeated and consistent refutation. The durability of the Euromyths despite their continuous disproval seems to indicate that they appealed to existing ideological beliefs. The chapter utilizes Roland Barthes's concept of “myth” to analyze how the Euromyth news stories construct a nationalist ideology. The Euromyths spread an ideological “truth” while ignoring protestations about their inaccuracy. The assumed agreement sits within the historico-political situation of rising Euroskepticism in Britain around the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty. The impact of the Euromyths developed because, as just shown, they link into a long intertextual chain of disparaging media reports about EU regulations and Euroskeptic speeches. The genre of Euromyth news stories is formed by employing the same discursive strategies that could be observed in the bananas story. The disinformation supported and was supported by a Euroskeptic myth through which its impact unfolded.