How digital images become disinformation
In his new book, *Visual Disinformation*, media scholar Marcel Lemmes examines how digital images are used for manipulation in the age of populism. The book develops an integrative concept of disinformation and offers a nuanced analytical framework for visual manipulation in the digital sphere.
Digital images shape political debates, mobilize supporters and undermine trust in the media and institutions. In his book "Visuelle Disinformation. Digital Images between Populism and Manipulation", Marcel Lemmes examines the interplay between visual communication, populism and disinformation. The new publication from Herbert von Halem Verlag systematically examines the power of images in the digital age.
Manipulation instead of intent to deceive
At the center of the work is the development of an integrative, multidimensional concept of disinformation. Instead of the elusive criterion of intent to deceive, Lemmes focuses on the analytically more precise concept of manipulation. This makes it possible to grasp and critically reflect on the subtle mechanisms of influence at micro, meso and macro level.
Theory of the populist digital image
A second theoretical centerpiece is the well-founded theory of the populist digital image. Starting from an image-pragmatic perspective, Lemmes understands images as active actions that work in specific communicative contexts and influence social interpretation processes. On this dual basis, the author develops a differentiated analytical grid that combines a typology of visual disinformation with the strategies of populist image communication.
Concrete techniques of manipulation are made visible using a variety of case studies. The book thus makes an important contribution to research into visual communication in the digital space and raises awareness of how visual manipulation works.
For research and practice
"Visual Disinformation" provides an indispensable basis for researchers and students of communication and media studies as well as for practitioners in journalism, political education and public relations. The book provides theoretical and practical impulses for countering visual manipulation with reliable findings.
Marcel Lemmes, born in 1996, is a media scientist and conducts research primarily on questions of the social-formative affordances of digital media. His research focuses on social media, internet communities, digital image phenomena, generative imagery, memes, populism and populist communication. The book is published by Herbert von Halem Verlag and comprises 368 pages.
