Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Not Exactly Lying: Fake News and Fake Journalism in American History

Not Exactly Lying: Fake News and Fake Journalism in American History

Tucher, Andie

Paperback

Writing InstructionGeneral Sociology

ISBN10: 0231186355
ISBN13: 9780231186353
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: Feb 1 2022
Pages: 256
Weight: 1.15
Height: 0.90 Width: 5.90 Depth: 8.90
Language: English

Long before the current preoccupation with fake news, American newspapers routinely ran stories that were not quite, strictly speaking, true. Today, a firm boundary between fact and fakery is a hallmark of journalistic practice, yet for many readers and publishers across more than three centuries, this distinction has seemed slippery or even irrelevant. From fibs in America's first newspaper about royal incest to social media-driven conspiracy theories about Barack Obama's birthplace, Andie Tucher explores how American audiences have argued over what's real and what's not and why that matters for democracy.

Early American journalism was characterized by a hodgepodge of straightforward reporting, partisan broadsides, humbug, tall tales, and embellishment. Around the start of the twentieth century, journalists who were determined to improve the reputation of their craft established professional norms and the goal of objectivity. However, Tucher argues, the creation of outward forms of factuality unleashed new opportunities for falsehood: News doesn't have to be true as long as it looks true. Propaganda, disinformation, and advocacy--whether in print, on the radio, on television, or online--could be crafted to resemble the real thing. Dressed up in legitimate journalistic conventions, this fake journalism became inextricably bound up with right-wing politics, to the point where it has become an essential driver of political polarization. Shedding light on the long history of today's disputes over disinformation, this book is a timely consideration of what happens to public life when news is not exactly true.

1 different editions

Also available

Also in

Writing Instruction

View All