In recent years, ‘fake news’ has become a political buzzword, as the world has turned to post-truth politics, where well-informed discourse has been replaced with quick-read articles, dodgy sources, memes, and conspiracy theories. It’s not a new phenomenon though – false information has carpet-bombed the population with the aim of swaying public opinion for over a century.
In 1921, the Tulsa Race Massacre, which lead to an estimated 175 fatalities, was fueled by the white-owned
Tulsa Tribune publishing misinformation, falsely claiming a black teenager had attacked a white girl and calling for his lynching. Obviously, the spread of fake news has always been devastating, even before it had a name or became common political rhetoric. So why has it become so commonplace in recent years?