375 Misinformation Nation: Fake News in Early America

Ben Franklin's World

Over the past decade, we’ve heard a lot about “fake news” and “misinformation.” And as 2024 is an election year, it’s likely we’re going to hear even more about these terms.

So what is the origin of misinformation in the American press? When did Americans decide that they needed to be concerned with figuring out whether the information they heard or read was truthful or fake?

Jordan E. Taylor joins us to find answers to these questions. Jordan is a historian who studies the history of media and the ways early Americans created, spread, and circulated news. He is also the author of the book Misinformation Nation: Foreign News and the Politics of Truth in Revolutionary America.

Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/375 Sponsor Links

• Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
• 26th Annual Wood in the Eighteenth Century Conference

Complementary Episodes

• Episode 144: The Common Cause of the American Revolution
• Episode 156: The Power of the Press in the American Revolution
• Episode 207: Young Benjamin Franklin
• Episode 227: Copyright & Fair Use in Early America
• Episode 243: Revolutionary Print Networks

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