Not Exactly Lying - by Andie Tucher

About the Book

"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 in America's first newspaper about royal incest to social media-driven conspiracy theories about 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, this book is a timely consideration of what happens to public life when news is not exactly true"--

Book Synopsis

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 in America's first newspaper about royal incest to social media-driven conspiracy theories about 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, this book is a timely consideration of what happens to public life when news is not exactly true.

Review Quotes

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

About the Author

Andie Tucher is the H. Gordon Garbedian Professor and the director of the Communications PhD Program at the Columbia Journalism School. She is the author of Froth and Scum: Truth, Beauty, Goodness, and the Ax Murder in America's First Mass Medium (1994) and Happily Sometimes After: Discovering Stories from Twelve Generations of an American Family (2014). Tucher previously worked in documentary production at ABC News and Public Affairs Television.