I am always intrigued as to how a new word or term can become part of daily use so quickly. It is not so long ago that whilst the two words ‘fake’ and ‘news’ were obviously frequently used on their own there were not used together. It seems the combining of the two words started in America but I may be wrong on that point. Either way the term is clearly in fairly frequent use now. But what does it mean? As far as I can we should call a spade a spade fake news is simply lies. It is where someone states things have happened or ascribes views to others which are simply untrue.
It seems to me the reason for this explosion of so called fake news is the internet. This is the vehicle through which fake news seems to get off the ground. Anyone can start a website and start posting their own ‘news’ there is no one to check how accurate it is. On a bigger scale it can often be in the interest of an organisation to have people believe the facts are not what they actually are. I do know that I have to spend a lot of my time explaining that what someone had read and then complained to me about is simply not true.
David Nuttall 
Interesting what John Major says today –
“The people who urged the UK to vote Leave on the basis that ‘we will be able to give an extra £350m a week to the NHS’; that ‘nobody is talking about threatening our place in the single market’; and that ‘there is no prospect of a second Scottish referendum. We already know that all three of the above – and much else – were fake facts and bogus promises’.
Does anyone know yet when the NHS will get the Brexit bonus ?
Or, sorry to remind you Mr Nuttall, will it be like your pledge about Maternity Services at Fairfield?
I’ve always understood the difference between Gross and Nett. I understand we pay the E.U so that they can tell the U.K where to spend our tax money. The NHS (last time I looked at O.N.S) had 1.2 million employees and it was stated by remainers that 50,000 are much valued/needed immigrants. Which must be a wrong figure (ergo too small) — now that WAS old news. But Elvis is alive and well, reportedly living in various parts of the U.S of A.
Fake news – such as this country’s economy will collapse if we leave the EU. Add to that the many other scare stories from the experts about what was going to happen. Interesting that so many of these “experts” have admitted that they were wrong; who were the foolish voters believing them, eh? (Oh, yes – and it is quite easy to confirm that the UK’s nett contribution to the EU IS about £350 million per week… but we don’t want to believe that, do we?)
Fake news – as the BBC’s Jonny Dymond assures us that nothing EVER happens in Sweden. Riiiight… let’s blame the bloggers, eh?
Fake news: such as that the money we would supposedly save by exiting the EU (a ridiculous £350 million per week) would go straight to the NHS. The lies of the leave campaigners, believed by so many foolish voters, disseminated by so many politicians who knew full well how far from the truth they were. The country was conned.
Hi Susan,
Think the power of the missed by Mr Nuttall.
Ask him about controlling immigration.
I suspect deep down he knows that having ‘control’ will change very little – but he will not admit it,