Though the words “fake news” have come to be linked to Donald Trump and his presidency, Trump did not, in fact, invent the term. In reality, the idea of spreading fake news and medias is a trend that is almost as old as humanity itself. It was even used in Ancient Rome when Octavian began a campaign of spreading malicious and false rumors about Marc Anthony during the final war. In other words, the idea of false news has been around for over two millennials.
Want a more modern example? During the 20th century, propaganda was effectively used and spread by both sides during World War I and II. The United States famously had a government-run department with the sole purpose of producing and spreading this media. In the end, regardless of what the truth was, propaganda was meant to rile the support of the masses, encouraging solidarity. Historically, it has worked wonders.
The difference between World War II propaganda and Donald Trump, however, is an important one.
While propaganda and similar medias were used officially in the “interest of the people” (or their governments), Donald Trump uses the term “fake news” to defend himself against others that disagree with his actions and positions. He uses it as a defense mechanism, attempting to discredit those who wish to discredit him.
Now, this has proven to be a difficult thing to achieve as he often goes up against large and well-respected news agencies such as CNN and the New York Times.
Even during his campaign, Donald Trump was notorious for spreading false and often incriminating rumors about his fellow candidates. He has said everything from claiming Ted Cruz’s father was involved in the assassination of JFK to saying Obama was not actually born in the United States. He has gone even further, stating that climate change was a “hoax”, despite overwhelming scientific evidence claiming otherwise. With an outbreak of “fake news” being released on platforms like Facebook, supporting Trump with headlines such as “Pope Backs Trump” and “Hillary sold weapons to ISIS”, Trump’s candidacy and eventual presidency have seemingly brought on an entirely new age of “fake news”.
In the era of the “fake news” epidemic, it has never been more important to be critical when reading the news or listening to different important figures’ statements. It seems that everything today must be taken with a grain of salt and that nothing can be proven to be wholly true without further research into the topic. So, next time you’re scrolling through your Facebook feed and see an article about Ted Cruz being the zodiac killer, remember that not everything published on the internet is true.
