Isn't Fake News as old as propaganda? Is it just a name change? Is there a diffe

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   tsmogposted 7 years ago

   Isn't Fake News as old as propaganda? Is it just a name change? Is there a difference?

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   RJ Schwartzposted 7 years ago

   Great question Tim and one that I hope generates real discussion, not just partisanship and the usual lists of blaming and naming.
   
   I would say that there is only one difference I can see.  Propaganda campaigns over history were usually government sponsored attempts to steer public opinion.  Fake News has multiple sources of origination, and although it's aimed at steering public option, there's no "master controller."  Also fake news campaigns are run concurrently in multiple channels, so there could be many different falsehoods out there at once.

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      Ericdierkerposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Interesting. for some reason back to my publishing an "underground" newspaper about at the end of Vietnam issues. I just assumed press was a fourth estate. But Perhaps religion because it was banned was it. Duty and honor may be the tipping point.

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   fpherj48posted 7 years ago

   Hi Tim,  Very good question.  I'm glad you've asked.  It should be interesting to receive all the various responses/opinions.   As for mine.............
   IMO, the term "Fake News," while obviously the current buzz words (a la President Trump) that has spread like wild fire with everyone everywhere using this term now, I see it as merely a "new" way to express any, some or all of the following:  Blatant lies, exaggerations, parsing words, innuendos, fiction, deceit, fabricated tales, inflammatory & "twisted" comments, intentional insults, passive aggressive/sarcasm & carefully-crafted verbiage..  Whatever a listener, reader, audience, student or fan gleans from what has been publicized. 
   It doesn't take long for terms like "Fake News" to catch on.  Humans, like apes, will mimic, follow and repeat verbiage and/or behavior.  It's possible no 2 people could agree on what qualifies as fake news.  I'd bet some people use the term "Fake News," just to hear themselves say it.....or in an attempt to sound highly informed.
   How "old" is Fake News?  As old as all time...even within the Ancient History Book, The Holy Bible," there are countless references to, "bearing false witness,"  "heresy," "blasphemy," "liars and deceivers"......As long as man has had the ability to communicate in any form, I dare say, Tim......there has been.....um, well, I wonder, do you think many thousands of years ago, they used the term.....BULL$HIT?????   I'll bet they did!   
   Have a great evening.  Paula

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      Ericdierkerposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Paula, that is quite well said. Yes I do think many years AD.

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      PeterStipposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      I think that there is a difference in bad language and aggressive opinions, inflammatory comments vs fake news. An opinion is personal but fake news is told by a newspaper or tele as if it were true.

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   Readmikenowposted 7 years ago

   This made me think of William Randolph Hearst and his newspaper who said "You furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war." when it came to the Spanish American war in 1898.  I would say that fake news is the modern equivalent news propaganda.  I believe it has been happening for as long as people have been able to communicate with one another.

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      promisemposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Comparing the comment of a 19th century newspaper baron to today's newspapers is like comparing a horse-drawn buggy to a computer. Sean Hannity is not a good source of how most newspapers actually work.

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   Larry Fishposted 7 years ago

   That is a good question, Tim and one that I have thought about myself. Personally I think that propaganda is a statement that is made over and over again to brain wash people into thinking about a certain way. I think of fake news as a story that comes out that is not true, but it tries to influence people. However, fake news is not repeated over and over again like with propaganda. That is just my opinion and I see there are many opinions.

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      Vitaliy Yakubovicposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      I recently worked on the topic:
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_unconscious

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   The0NatureBoyposted 7 years ago

   I fully concur with you, "fake News" and "propaganda" are the same thing. But I include schooling as "fake news" to get man-en-mass to follow leaders blindly even to their death. There is no difference in those two.
   
   Education - objectively observing, participating to see various outcomes, reasoning with the outcomes and being able too convey it to others - and telling the events objectively are the only way to determine what isn't faking for controlling man-en-mass.

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   Hiro Protagonistposted 7 years ago

   The proliferation of the term fake news marks a very important turning point in the evolution of information warfare. 
   
   Propaganda refers to a time when nation-state actors had centralized control over the propagation of misleading information and there was a clear purpose to be achieved.
   
   Today everyone with a computer and social media account has the capacity to spread misinformation.  The big difference is the lack of centralized control over what is trying to be achieved by the individual actors.  You have many actors spreading misinformation to achieve their own narrow goals.  The really damaging result of this is not necessarily the individual bits of false information out there but the overall erosion of trust people have for information in general.

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   PeterStipposted 7 years ago

   Fake news is a clever way of saying "this news is not in line with the views of the government".
   In this respect Fake News is connected with propaganda. Propaganda is used in almost all countries. But in some it's more hidden.
   Fake News is used to promote the views of the Trump government, who more or less invented the term to point at other news that was bad for the government.
   The same with the stupid term "alternative facts". Alternative facts don't exists. you have a fact or you don't. 1+1=2 and an alternative fact like 1+1=3 does not exist. It is a silly but at the same time clever word construction as it shows disdain and an hostile attitude towards science and intellectualism.

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