Not Exactly Lying
Fake News and Fake Journalism in American History
Columbia University Press
Not Exactly Lying
Fake News and Fake Journalism in American History
Columbia University Press
Winner, 2023 Columbia University Press Distinguished Book Award
Winner, 2023 Frank Luther Mott / Kappa Tau Alpha Research Award
Winner, 2023 Journalism Studies Division Book Award, International Communication Association
Winner, 2023 History Book Award, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
Long before the current preoccupation with “fake news,” American newspapers routinely ran stories that were not quite, strictly speaking, true. Today, a firm boundary between fact and fakery is a hallmark of journalistic practice, yet for many readers and publishers across more than three centuries, this distinction has seemed slippery or even irrelevant. From fibs about royal incest in America’s first newspaper to social-media-driven conspiracy theories surrounding Barack Obama’s birthplace, Andie Tucher explores how American audiences have argued over what’s real and what’s not—and why that matters for democracy.
Early American journalism was characterized by a hodgepodge of straightforward reporting, partisan broadsides, humbug, tall tales, and embellishment. Around the start of the twentieth century, journalists who were determined to improve the reputation of their craft established professional norms and the goal of objectivity. However, Tucher argues, the creation of outward forms of factuality unleashed new opportunities for falsehood: News doesn’t have to be true as long as it looks true. Propaganda, disinformation, and advocacy—whether in print, on the radio, on television, or online—could be crafted to resemble the real thing. Dressed up in legitimate journalistic conventions, this “fake journalism” became inextricably bound up with right-wing politics, to the point where it has become an essential driver of political polarization. Shedding light on the long history of today’s disputes over disinformation, Not Exactly Lying is a timely consideration of what happens to public life when news is not exactly true.
Winner, 2023 Frank Luther Mott / Kappa Tau Alpha Research Award
Winner, 2023 Journalism Studies Division Book Award, International Communication Association
Winner, 2023 History Book Award, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
Long before the current preoccupation with “fake news,” American newspapers routinely ran stories that were not quite, strictly speaking, true. Today, a firm boundary between fact and fakery is a hallmark of journalistic practice, yet for many readers and publishers across more than three centuries, this distinction has seemed slippery or even irrelevant. From fibs about royal incest in America’s first newspaper to social-media-driven conspiracy theories surrounding Barack Obama’s birthplace, Andie Tucher explores how American audiences have argued over what’s real and what’s not—and why that matters for democracy.
Early American journalism was characterized by a hodgepodge of straightforward reporting, partisan broadsides, humbug, tall tales, and embellishment. Around the start of the twentieth century, journalists who were determined to improve the reputation of their craft established professional norms and the goal of objectivity. However, Tucher argues, the creation of outward forms of factuality unleashed new opportunities for falsehood: News doesn’t have to be true as long as it looks true. Propaganda, disinformation, and advocacy—whether in print, on the radio, on television, or online—could be crafted to resemble the real thing. Dressed up in legitimate journalistic conventions, this “fake journalism” became inextricably bound up with right-wing politics, to the point where it has become an essential driver of political polarization. Shedding light on the long history of today’s disputes over disinformation, Not Exactly Lying is a timely consideration of what happens to public life when news is not exactly true.
In this artfully written account, Andie Tucher offers a sweeping history of misinformation and the American press. Most strikingly, Not Exactly Lying reveals that the present panic surrounding so-called “fake news” has missed the point: It’s the modern profusion of “fake journalism”—the appropriation of journalistic standards to serve up puffery, propaganda, and hyperpartisan fare—that is more concerning for the future of media and public life. Seth C. Lewis, Shirley Papé Chair in Emerging Media at the University of Oregon
Not Exactly Lying provides a beautifully written and deeply researched history of “fake news” and “fake journalism” in the United States, offering deep context for understanding our contemporary democratic crisis and the role of journalism in that crisis. Tucher takes on one of the most urgent issues of our day. Kathy Roberts Forde, coeditor of Journalism and Jim Crow: White Supremacy and the Black Struggle for a New America
In exploring the various ways that fakes and falsehoods have made their way to the public as “journalism” and “news,” Tucher follows a number of trends: the evolving internal conventions of and boundaries around journalism, the introduction of new media technologies, the waxing and waning of partisan influence on and control over key news outlets, and changing public appetites for news. Not Exactly Lying shows that the enemy of good journalism is not slant but untruth. Michael Stamm, author of Dead Tree Media: Manufacturing the Newspaper in Twentieth-Century North America
Tucher’s expansive history of fake journalism and fake news makes a compelling read and a powerful argument for the importance of truth in news. American Journalism
An illuminating and extremely timely exposé. H-Journalism History
Professional journalists and historians would be well-served to explore Not Exactly Lying to gain a greater understanding of the origins, role, and impact of fake news on the past and present. LSE Review of Books
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. “False Reports, Maliciously Made”
2. “Important If True”
3. “Not Exactly Lying”
4. “I Believe in Faking”
5. “We Did Not Call It Propaganda”
6. “Nothing That Is Not Interesting Is News”
7. “Why Don’t You Guys Tell the Truth Once in a While?”
8. “So Goddamn Objective”
9. “The Bastards Are Making It Up!”
10. “Fake but Accurate”
Conclusion: “A Degenerate and Perverted Monstrosity”
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Introduction
1. “False Reports, Maliciously Made”
2. “Important If True”
3. “Not Exactly Lying”
4. “I Believe in Faking”
5. “We Did Not Call It Propaganda”
6. “Nothing That Is Not Interesting Is News”
7. “Why Don’t You Guys Tell the Truth Once in a While?”
8. “So Goddamn Objective”
9. “The Bastards Are Making It Up!”
10. “Fake but Accurate”
Conclusion: “A Degenerate and Perverted Monstrosity”
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Winner, 2023 Journalism Studies Division Book Award, International Communication Association
Winner, 2023 History Book Award, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
Winner, 2023 Frank Luther Mott-Kappa Tau Alpha Research Award
Winner, 2023 Columbia University Press Distinguished Book Award