Fake news

In the US Thomas Jefferson complained in 1807 to a friend that “the man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them; inasmuch as he who knows nothing is nearer to truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods & errors” (Jefferson 1807).«Fake News in Context», by Michael Schudson, Columbia University Barbie Zelizer, University of Pennsylvania Fake news produced antebellum stories of African-Americans turning white or tales of alien populations on the moon, and it prevailed, according to Robert Darnton, in the pasquinades of 16th century Italy, the canards of 17th century Paris and the “paragraph men” and nouvellistes of London and Paris respectively who turned 18th century coffeehouse gossip into printed or handwritten papers left on public benches for passersby, not unlike the rumor mongers of today’s digital environment (Darnton 2017).
== Rhizomata ==
Conspiracy Theory; False news; Rumor; Disinfo;
== References ==