AESTHETICS OF DISINFORMATION IN DIGITAL NEWS CIRCULATION: Multimodal Analysis of False Visual Tests

Gomez H.E.L. · VISUAL Review. International Visual Culture Review / Revista Internacional de Cultura (2026) · DOI: 10.62161/revvisual.v18.6396

Resumen

This study examines the aesthetics of disinformation in news by analyzing 60 fake visual pieces (recontextualized screenshots, composite montages, and synthetic/manipulated content) collected from the Spanish-language digital news ecosystem (2024-2025). Through multimodal analysis, it identifies five recurrent clusters of evidential cues (provenance/authority, news urgency, interface/screenshot, probative pointing, documentality) and text-image anchoring patterns that construct the appearance of evidence. The “aesthetic of proof” operates as an assembly of provenance markers, news design, and reading guides, providing criteria for verification and visual literacy.

Instituciones: Universidad Tecnológica del Perú