Book contents
- Fake News in America
- Fake News in America
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 The Age of Post-Truth Politics
- 2 The Phenomenon of Fake News, Part 1
- 3 The Phenomenon of Fake News, Part 2
- 4 The Phenomenon of Fake News, Part 3
- 5 Fake News as Propaganda
- 6 Fake News and US Foreign Policy in the Trump Era
- 7 The Intensifying Fake News Crisis in the Age of Social Media
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
3 - The Phenomenon of Fake News, Part 2
The News Media Respond to Trump
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 August 2023
- Fake News in America
- Fake News in America
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 The Age of Post-Truth Politics
- 2 The Phenomenon of Fake News, Part 1
- 3 The Phenomenon of Fake News, Part 2
- 4 The Phenomenon of Fake News, Part 3
- 5 Fake News as Propaganda
- 6 Fake News and US Foreign Policy in the Trump Era
- 7 The Intensifying Fake News Crisis in the Age of Social Media
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Chapter 3 documents how the meaning of fake news changes over time. I look at how fake news was understood during the 2000s and 2010s – prior to the Trump era – in the New York Times. I discuss how fake news was primarily understood in three ways – related to fabricated stories passed off as real news events, as entertainment content pertaining to current events, and as government propaganda masquerading as journalism. Further, the US media’s understanding of fake news has shifted over the years. My analysis of the New York Times’ coverage of fake news in the 2010s finds that the paper defined the concept in many ways, compared to Trump’s various definitions, with little overlap between the paper and the former president. Editorially, the paper emphasizes conventional definitions of fake news that avoid understanding it as a form of propaganda operating in service of governmental interests. I examine various competing definitions of fake news in other media venues, providing evidence that the social construction of fake news is a contested phenomenon. I examine US partisan cable media, alternative left- and right-wing media, and social media venues – each of which puts forward its own interpretations of what fake news means.
Keywords
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- Information
- Fake News in AmericaContested Meanings in the Post-Truth Era, pp. 59 - 80Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023