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It was at Donald Trump’s first press conference as President-elect when the term "fake new"s broke out of media discussions and into the mainstream. "You are fake news!" he pointed at CNN’s Jim Acosta while refusing to listen to his question. Since then, the now President of the USA has been calling out major media outlets several times a week for being ‘FAKE NEWS’ via his Twitter feed - particularly CNN and the New York Times. But why is Donald Trump using the term ‘fake news’ so frequently, and where did it come from?
People searching for the term 'fake news' has increased since the November 2016 US Presidential election.
After being forced to apologize for its bad and inaccurate coverage of me after winning the election, the FAKE NEWS @nytimes is still lost!
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 4, 2017
Where did fake news come from?
Bending the truth for political gain is certainly nothing new - it’s propaganda, and the record of its uses stretch back to ancient times. Octavian famously used a campaign of disinformation to aid his victory over Marc Anthony in the final war of the Roman Republic. In its aftermath, he changed his name to Augustus, and dispatched a flattering and youthful image of himself throughout the Empire, maintaining its use in his old age. Fake news also has a history in American politics:
In the 1828 election, Andrew Jackson's people started a rumour that John Quincy Adams had procured an American girl to satisfy the Tsar.
- Tim Stanley (@timothy_stanley) January 11, 2017
At Jackson's inaugural, a mob stormed the White House in celebration. There were fist fights & thousands of dollars in damage.
- Tim Stanley (@timothy_stanley) January 11, 2017
20th century propaganda
Fueled by mass communication, propaganda grew in scale and persuasive power during the turmoil of the 20th centuries in a series of major ideological struggles. In World War One, the British government used propaganda very effectively in motivating the population against Germany, which was frequently depicted as "The Hun". The Nazi party used the growing mass media to build a power base and then consolidate power in Germany during the 1930s, using racial stereotyping to encourage discrimination against Jews. In the ensuing Second...