6 ms·

Didn't it mean satire, like the Daily Show and the Onion, before?

kuschku 9y ago
Fake news is a term invented by the Nazis during the 30s to describe media they disagreed with. In German, Lügenpresse (lying press, literally) has the same origin and use (including the same resurgence through use by the alt-right)
- Anon1096 9y ago
  A term can't be "invented" if it was in another language. Coining a term literally only has relevance in the language it's coined. The concept of an untrustworthy press is much older besides.
  - kuschku 9y ago
    It wasn't exactly in a different language — the Nazis did also produce propaganda in english (which literally used the term fake news), and during 2016, both translations of the term came into use by supporters of the Trump campaign, from which it grew.
- thomasz 9y ago
  There is no alt right in Germany. We are dealing with a surge in far right activism, but those people are just that: Right wing extremists. It’s not a new phenomenon, it never went away completely.
  - kuschku 9y ago
    The AfD is literally the alt-right. Same ideology (which is distinct from the NPD), same marketing, same reasons for resurgence, and even similar sources of funding.
    - hiram112 9y ago
      Who are these mysterious funders of the alt-right, in either Germany or the US? Unlike the left, which does seem to have a few favorite donors concentrated high up amongst the elites, it doesn't appear that the alt-right has many friends in high places these days. Unless you're trying to insinuate groups like the Koch Brothers and similar, but I've always been under the impression that most of the typical right wing donors were not in favor of things important to the alt-right, including lowered immigration, reversal of trade agreements, white nationalism, etc.
heartbreak 9y ago
> Once upon a time (like, three [thirteen] months ago), "fake news" had a precise meaning. It referred to total fabrications — made-up stories about Donald Trump suffering a heart attack or earning the pope's endorsement — and the phrase burst into the political lexicon as Facebook and Google vowed to clean up some of the garbage that had polluted the Internet during the presidential election. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/02/09/fake-news-has-now-lost-all-meaning/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/02/09/fa...
- ajmurmann 9y ago
  I'm shocked that yours is the only comment on here that actually remembers what happened. The actual "fake news" that was entirely fabricated as click bate was discussed for a few weeks even on This American Life if I recall correctly. There was even an interview with a guy from Georgia (the country) who made a mint making up stories that appealed to Trump supporters and now nobody remembers how that important concept was hijacked by the demagogue.
  - jochung 9y ago
    Fake news was an own goal by the left wing press. After selling a fable to their readers about a Clinton landslide, they tried to deflect by blaming the election outcome on fabricated stories. But there was never any evidence these stories had more reach and influence than what mainstream outlets were peddling. Same way there is no evidence Russian Facebook ads and social media postings eclipsed the millions e.g. the Clinton campaign spent to Correct The Record. Similarly, laments about r/the_donald were categorically ignoring how the default news and politics reddits had become unofficial Clinton cheering squads with moderators complicit. Most ironically, lefties lamented the ignorance of right wing voters in accepting stories that confirmed their bias and preconceptions, while they themselves eagerly accepted the fake news narrative. Fake news was not an important concept. Media manipulation however was, and the two got conflated for very obvious reasons.
    - ajmurmann 9y ago

Fake news is a term invented by the Nazis during the 30s to describe media they disagreed with. In German, Lügenpresse (lying press, literally) has the same origin and use (including the same resurgence through use by the alt-right)

Anon1096 9y ago
A term can't be "invented" if it was in another language. Coining a term literally only has relevance in the language it's coined. The concept of an untrustworthy press is much older besides.
- kuschku 9y ago
  It wasn't exactly in a different language — the Nazis did also produce propaganda in english (which literally used the term fake news), and during 2016, both translations of the term came into use by supporters of the Trump campaign, from which it grew.
thomasz 9y ago
There is no alt right in Germany. We are dealing with a surge in far right activism, but those people are just that: Right wing extremists. It’s not a new phenomenon, it never went away completely.
- kuschku 9y ago
  The AfD is literally the alt-right. Same ideology (which is distinct from the NPD), same marketing, same reasons for resurgence, and even similar sources of funding.
  - hiram112 9y ago
    Who are these mysterious funders of the alt-right, in either Germany or the US? Unlike the left, which does seem to have a few favorite donors concentrated high up amongst the elites, it doesn't appear that the alt-right has many friends in high places these days. Unless you're trying to insinuate groups like the Koch Brothers and similar, but I've always been under the impression that most of the typical right wing donors were not in favor of things important to the alt-right, including lowered immigration, reversal of trade agreements, white nationalism, etc.

heartbreak 9y ago

> Once upon a time (like, three [thirteen] months ago), "fake news" had a precise meaning. It referred to total fabrications — made-up stories about Donald Trump suffering a heart attack or earning the pope's endorsement — and the phrase burst into the political lexicon as Facebook and Google vowed to clean up some of the garbage that had polluted the Internet during the presidential election. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/02/09/fake-news-has-now-lost-all-meaning/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/02/09/fa...

ajmurmann 9y ago
I'm shocked that yours is the only comment on here that actually remembers what happened. The actual "fake news" that was entirely fabricated as click bate was discussed for a few weeks even on This American Life if I recall correctly. There was even an interview with a guy from Georgia (the country) who made a mint making up stories that appealed to Trump supporters and now nobody remembers how that important concept was hijacked by the demagogue.
- jochung 9y ago
  Fake news was an own goal by the left wing press. After selling a fable to their readers about a Clinton landslide, they tried to deflect by blaming the election outcome on fabricated stories. But there was never any evidence these stories had more reach and influence than what mainstream outlets were peddling. Same way there is no evidence Russian Facebook ads and social media postings eclipsed the millions e.g. the Clinton campaign spent to Correct The Record. Similarly, laments about r/the_donald were categorically ignoring how the default news and politics reddits had become unofficial Clinton cheering squads with moderators complicit. Most ironically, lefties lamented the ignorance of right wing voters in accepting stories that confirmed their bias and preconceptions, while they themselves eagerly accepted the fake news narrative. Fake news was not an important concept. Media manipulation however was, and the two got conflated for very obvious reasons.
  - ajmurmann 9y ago