Manufacturing Disinformation and Deceptive Narratives in Algerian News Coverage of the Moroccan Sahara

Abstract

This study critically analyses disinformation in journalistic discourse, investigating the Algerian government–media nexus, with a particular focus on how this relationship is strategically used to disseminate conspiracy theories, disinformation, and propaganda. This research forms part of a broader doctoral thesis project investigating disinformation discourse within Algerian media, with a primary focus on coverage related to Moroccan issues, and a particular emphasis on the national cause of the Moroccan Sahara as represented in various Algerian news outlets. Against this backdrop, and given the ongoing scholarly debate and lack of consensus over the definition of fake news, this paper adopts the terms disinformation and fake news interchangeably to refer to any news that is deliberately false or misleading—whether entirely fabricated or biased—and produced with the intent to deceive and cause harm. Detecting such falsehoods becomes significantly more challenging when disinformation is spread through official news outlets that project legitimacy and authority, thereby blurring the line between factual reporting and propaganda. Forensic linguistics expands this inquiry by exploring how language can be used as a tool to commit crimes. While most crimes involve a physical act with intent, many unlawful acts are committed solely through speech or writing. Disinformation—including threats, extortion, defamation, and perjury—can be seen as a form of language crimes, where language is the primary means of deception and harm. In the context of the Moroccan Sahara issue—where misleading signifiers are manipulated to distort facts and events—Algerian media systematically omit or distort information regarding the true motivations behind Algeria’s involvement and interference in Moroccan affairs, constructing narratives steeped in conspiracy and disinformation discourse. This study focuses not on what journalists write, but on how journalistic discourse is constructed—how texts function, how arguments are formed, and how they are persuasively supported. It examines the role of news discourse in agenda-setting, offering an in-depth analysis of how the Algerian government–media nexus operates—not only to influence domestic public opinion but also to project Algeria’s foreign policy on the international stage. In doing so, it frequently frames contentious issues through disinformation and propaganda, targeting Moroccan sovereignty and its core institutions, while promoting pro-separatist and secessionist narratives.