I think it's simply because the election cycle was excellent fodder for the already-increasing fake news trend. Incidentally, here's an interesting podcast epi

I think it's simply because the election cycle was excellent fodder for the already-increasing fake news trend. Incidentally, here's an interesting podcast episode where they track down and interview a fake news producer. I don't recall them getting into specific timelines or an in-depth analysis of the trend, unfortunately: http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2016/12/02/504155809/episode-739-finding-the-fake-news-king http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2016/12/02/504155809/episo...