In the 19th Century Disinformation Started Wars. Today, It Sways Elections | Opinion

Kristina Foltz

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In 1896, Adolph Ochs purchased The New York Times and transformed it into the country's first serious newspaper. His slogan, "All the News That's Fit to Print," emphasized the Times' focus on serious journalism, differentiating the paper from the likes of William Randolph Hearst's San Francisco Examiner, whose yellow journalism, or more sensationalist ethos, dominated the press. The pinnacle of Hearst's yellow journalism was the headline, "Destruction of the War Ship Maine Was the Work of an Enemy!" referring to a sunk warship off the coast of Cuba. The unsubstantiated claim that Spain had buried a bomb in the U.S.S. Maine became the pretext for the Spanish-American War.

The Times' emphasis on facts and evidence became the gold standard for 20th century American journalism and a cornerstone of American democracy. It wasn't until the emergence of social media, little more than a decade ago, that fake news came back with a vengeance.

But today's disinformation ecosystem is different from the early days of yellow journalism. With more powerful and virulent tools, fake news can travel at near two thirds the speed of light, often without human regulation. Victims of disinformation can be sucked unwittingly into propaganda vortexes based on demographics and browsing histories. Trained artificial intelligence (AI) bots can invent infinite variations on lies. Fake news started wars in the late 19th century. Today, it sways elections.