Where It All Began: The Dawn of 'Fake News'

http://www.counterpunch.org/2018/05/01/where-it-all-began-the-dawn-of-fake-news
Date Written:  2018-05-01
Publisher:  Counter Punch
Year Published:  2018
Resource Type:  Article
Cx Number:  CX22650

While today's political smear campaigns and propaganda have gotten more sophisticated and subtle, the underlying ethics remain as maggoty as ever.

Abstract: 
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Excerpt:

It has long been suggested that the first full-blown example of "fake news"--where patently false information is intentionally presented in a phony but utterly believable "news media" format in order to sway public opinion--occurred during the watershed 1934 California gubernatorial election.

The two principals were Republican incumbent, Frank Merriman, and his Democratic challenger, Upton Sinclair. Merriman, a nondescript political lightweight with no national profile, was viewed more or less by the RNC as the Party's West Coast performing flea. As Lieutenant Governor he was jettisoned into the incumbency when Governor James "Sunny Jim" Rolph died of a heart attack in June of 1934, just months before the election.