Fake News in America
Contested Meanings in the Post-Truth Era

The first comprehensive analysis of what it means to talk about fake news in U.S. politics and contemporary mass discourse.

Anthony R. DiMaggio (Author)

9781316512456, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 10 August 2023

280 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.592 kg

The term 'fake news' became a buzzword during Donald Trump's presidency, yet it is a term that means very different things to different people. This pioneering book provides a comprehensive examination of what Americans mean when they talk about fake news in contemporary politics, mass media, and societal discourse, and explores the various factors that contribute to this, such as the power of language, political parties, ideology, media, and socialization. By analysing a range of case studies across war, political corruption, climate change, conspiracy theories, electoral politics, and the Covid-19 pandemic, it demonstrates how fake news is a fundamentally contested phenomenon, and how its meaning varies depending on the person using the term, and the political context. It provides readers with tools to identify, talk about, and resist fake news, and emphasizes a need for education reform with an eye toward promoting critical thinking and information literacy.

Introduction
1. The age of post-truth politics
2. The phenomenon of fake news, part one – Donald Trump's Twitter politics
3. The phenomenon of fake news, part two – the news media respond to Trump Brandon Buscarnera, Rachael Bucci, Claire Foley and James Carlson
4. The phenomenon of fake news, part 3 – public opinion and contested meanings
5. Fake news as propaganda – the Bush and Obama years
6. Fake news and US foreign policy in the Trump era
7. The intensifying fake news crisis in the age of social media
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Semantics, discourse analysis, etc [CFG]