The Strategy of Fake News: A Polemic on Lies, the Attack on the Truth and the Mainstream Media’s Response

Fake news has found success in campaigns designed to attack the truth and reframe it to fit a specific agenda. As a result, combating fake news and standing up for the truth has become a staple of most mainstream television news outlets over the past three years (from 2016-2019). Fake news is not a new problem. It is modern-day propaganda made up of 21st-century media - tweets, headlines, and viral videos-created and distributed with the sole intent of causing disruption and confusion by selecting the points of interest deemed most favorable to the person or outlet making the claims. However, fake news and its offshoots, misinformation, and disinformation are symptoms of a bigger problem - the overall attack on science-backed truth. The mainstream media's responsibility is to stand up for factual truth, and they must take a more active role in defending the truth despite any notions of bias, politics or public outcry. This thesis will look at the media's role in defending the truth as the public is bombarded with too much information combined with the science of propaganda, which both manipulates the version of the truth the public sees as well as weakens their ability to be critical thinkers.M.S., Television Management -- Drexel University, 201