This paper explores the characteristics of misinformation content compared to factual news, analyzing 92,112 news articles across seven categories: clickbait, conspiracy theories, fake news, hate speech, junk science, rumors, and factual news. Misinformation was found to be, on average, easier to process cognitively (simpler grammar and less lexically diverse) and more emotionally evocative (more negative sentiment and stronger appeal to morality) than factual news. The study highlights the need for more nuanced research into misinformation, as its characteristics vary significantly across categories.
