By Alec Hogg
Yesterday a pal and I were chatting about the scourge of Fake News, a product of online publications chasing readers by sexing up headlines and not letting facts get in the way of sensational messages. As a victim of some spiteful reporting, he has a personal interest.
History’s closest parallel to Fake News is the famous “Yellow Press” era in New York where newspapers owned by Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst were locked in a fierce circulation war. Editors used presented fiction as fact, exaggerated headlines, created scandals and photoshopped pictures to attract more readers.
The Yellow Press age peaked between 1895 and 1898 as the public eventually tired of the nonsense. The sector duly over-corrected, creating a climate that birthed reputable newspapers like the Wall Street Journal (est 1889).
The 2018 Edelmans Trust Barometer shows solid evidence that respected news titles are gaining in popularity. This suggests news consumers are starting to put a premium onto brands they can trust. As with the Yellow Press, it will take time for Fake News to be eradicated. But at least the tide has turned.
