CHAPTER 1 History Fake News Then and Now People have been communicating with each other for thousands of years What began as rock carvings has slowly changed into books newspapers magazines movies radio TV and the Internet Together they are called media Fake news is a phrase used to describe a news story that has been released through media and has information that is either greatly exaggerated or completely untrue The term was popularized during the 2016 U S presidential election but it has been in use in newspapers since the 1890s The purpose of fake news is to mislead the public The aim is generally to damage the reputation of a person group of people or organization The goal might also be to make a profit or win political favor 4 21st century skills library
Sometimes people can confuse satirical news or news meant to be ironic and humorous for real news From the Beginning Fake news stories dates back as far as ancient Rome Mark Antony was one of the leaders during the first century bce He was a general and a politician Octavian his political rival spread negative stories about him to the Roman public portraying him as a traitor While it was untrue the Roman people still turned against Antony Another rumor was spread that his beloved Cleopatra had taken her own life When he heard this a heartbroken Antony did the same never knowing that the claim of her death had been a lie Fake News 5
