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I don’t recall ever hearing the term “fake news” until the 45th President of the United States, the (Dis)Honorable Donald J Trump, began using it—a lot. And I was willing to admit to myself that perhaps the former President had at least introduced one thing into the world that was actually original.
So rather than just shoot from the hip, as I typically do, and ascribe ownership of the term to that nasty man, I actually did some research. And, boy, was I glad I did. Had I asserted that Trump had originated the term, it would have been (to coin a term) fake news.
A quick historical look at the news in the US shows us, first of all, that sensationalism and intentional misrepresentation, exaggeration, and distortion on the part of those purported to be reporting fact is hardly new. Classic instances, such as the New York Sun’s Great Moon Hoax, go back to at least 1835. Moreover, the practice of reporting sensational stories and rumors as facts was not unusual in the late 19th century as American newspaper publishers Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst competed for readers. The fake news of that time was called yellow journalism.
Still, concerning the specific term fake news, there’s not much about it till one Donald Trump began using it—a lot—beginning in Jan 2017, when he accused Jim Acosta of CNN of “fake news,” followed by Trump’s increasing usage of the term on Twitter, often accompanied by another that was an oldie-but-goodie, Witch Hunt.
Following up a little further, however, I found that it was ridiculous to believe that Trump had ever had an original thought in his head, or was capable of pulling a term like fake news out of the air. Can it be a mere coincidence that just a month earlier, none other than Hillary Clinton had made a speech in which she expressed concern over “the epidemic of malicious fake news and false propaganda” that had been propagated on social media.
But why this sudden obsession with fake news?
I guess it comes from a question I ask myself about people whom I dislike and don’t agree with, people like Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity. I ask myself how can they believe the garbage that they “report” on TV? How could anyone with even a modicum of intelligence actually believe people like Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell as they spread their outrageous allegations about election fraud?
But then the answer comes with a sad lesson for people (like me) who like to believe in silly old-fashioned values like honesty and integrity. Written communications from these “trusted” Fox “reporters” and others of their ilk, released as part of the 1.6 billion defamation suit that Dominion Voting Systems has filed against Fox, show that they didn’t believe it at all.
They knew that Sidney Powell was a nut-job, that she was spreading pure falsehoods, but they went on the air and did everything they could to reinforce the belief of their watchers that this had been a dishonest, stolen election.
They’re not stupid, just cunning. They knowingly spread fake news. They practiced—no, let’s say it in the present tense—they practice, daily, the art of deception, distortion, and misrepresentation, and they are paid exorbitant sums for doing so.
Am I just a naïve, foolish old fart who isn’t up to recognizing the way that the world works?
Guilty as charged, your honor.
But from now on, the only paper I’ll trust is the Enquirer. At least they actually believe that those weren’t weather balloons but really aliens from outer space.
