Although lying in the media isn’t necessarily a new concept, the American people have recently seen a rebirth of what we call “fake news.”  As President Donald Trump’s new favorite term, it has gained notoriety through his many tweets and has left many people puzzled about the future of politics.  More often than not, we see the term “fake news” used by both politicians and civilians alike to describe real news that is unfavorable to a political party. When Trump sees something that doesn’t conform to his political ideology, he immediately takes to Twitter.

“Fake news” today can be seen as articles posted online with counterfeit information designed to damage the career of a politician or persuade the American people of a concept.  The President has consistently claimed to be fighting fake news, while time and time again we have seen him promoting false statements claiming to be true, and many of his supporters blindly believe him without a second thought.  For example, in one of his many tweets, he stated that insurance companies “made a fortune with Obamacare,” while the reality is that they are losing billions on the exchanges, and the money gathered through Obamacare goes back to the doctors, hospitals, and other healthcare providers.  And even before that, when replying to comments on his new tax proposal in an interview, he specifically stated, “No, I don’t benefit. I don’t benefit. In fact, very very strongly, as you see, I think there’s little benefit for people of wealth,” when the reality is that his new tax plan is entirely organized to benefit the upper class, a group that he is very much a part of.  Trump has also repeatedly called out reliable news sources like NYTimes, CNN, and MSNBC as fake, simply because they promote ideas unfavorable to his. It’s through his words and actions that we can see that “fake news” is nothing new- it has always been within our society.

New forms of mass communication in the 20th century ultimately allowed propaganda to grow and spread its persuasive messages worldwide.  During wartime and fascist regimes, “fake news” was controlled by governments whose sole purpose was to justify their rule. Yellow journalism, used by newspapers to gain readership in the early 1900’s, included false stories mixed with truth in order to make them seen more believable. Today, the internet fuels this and the claims of Trump.  The President has consistently used a system of misinformation and blatant lying to gain the support of masses.  He calls his lies “alternative facts” and uses them to convince his supporters of his greatness, but when you have to lie about your accomplishments, you will never be great.  This series of misinformation regarding Trump’s accomplishments is only fueled by the gullibility of internet users.

In a world where social media allows anyone to create content, it can be difficult to distinguish what the real truth is, especially when it’s so easy to just believe the post with the most likes.  During the election, 80,000 Russian-backed ads reached the Americans via Facebook, all of which were aimed to support Trump’s campaign. As much as politicians like to deny the influence of Russia during the election, there is undeniable evidence that their “fake news” has played an important role in politics today.  Users of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook have undoubtedly seen some form of “fake news” circulating around the web, whether it be from the source itself or the constant reposting. Without any definitive ways to separate fake news from real news on social media, people will continue to believe exactly what they see, and I think that the question we have to ask ourselves in politics, is whether or not the blind supporters of Trump are worse than the man himself.  One person screaming into a crowd is unlikely to do anything; he gets his true power from his supporters. From the man on the street who yells at innocent bystanders to go back to their countries to the student who feels the need to insult the work of others by calling it “fake news,” they are all shameful effects of our political climate. President Trump has created a world in which it is acceptable to call strangers racial slurs and draw swastikas on subway trains. Now, I don’t know about you, but that’s a world I don’t want to live in.

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