Is propaganda the same as fake news? Are both forms of manipulation equally corrosive to democratic norms?
Recently, a close friend and an ardent supporter of President Trump, called a controversial Time Magazine cover a “classic example of fake news.”
Many will recall the cover, from June, 2018, at the height of the parent-child separation crisis. A crying immigrant toddler looks up pathetically at Uncle Donald, who towers over her, blocking her path, with a caption off to the side that reads “Welcome to America.” Except that the child has not been separated from her mother, as the cover wants us to assume; this mother was trying to enter the U.S. to find better work. Time’s choice of that child’s context was misleading. Admittedly, trying to photo shop out of context may be at worst an example of irresponsible journalism, but is it fake news?
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