The exhibition "Breaking news, making news, faking news - from Gutenberg to Trump" (21.05.2021-31.12.2021) of the German Newspaper Museum in Wadgassen in the Saarland has taken a close look at 600 years of media history. The accompanying catalogue illustrates the dimensions of manipulation very impressively and at the same time sharpens the eye to spot the lies.
Right at the beginning of the catalogue, author Christian Göbel (b. 1978) gives an overview of the various types of false, manipulative or generally problematic reporting by providing a differentiation of terms to illustrate the complexity of the topic. His contribution "Attention Strategies" presents in episodes a historical overview of the development of journalism and uncovers patterns on how attention has been and still is attracted in order to reach the widest possible audience and to sell a large number of press products. The French Revolution of 1789, for example, marked a turning point in the form of reporting, away from the pure recounting of events to expressions of opinion that evaluated and commented on the news. This laid the foundation for opinion-forming journalism, which at this point however, still struggled with the restrains of censorship. This paradigm shift was accompanied by both an increase in circulation and a race for news that continues to this day.
Romy Jaster (b. 1985) and David Lanius (b. 1984) examine in their contribution "Bad news - fake news in politics and the public sphere" how the functioning of modern democracies depends on a better informedness of the public and what influence questionable, false or misleading news has on the perception of reality. When fake news is being used as propaganda, it can deceive the public, reinforce a group identity, demonstrate power and destabilise political and public order. Driven by the attention economy in virtual space, negative, familiar and sensationalistic news can be spread particularly efficiently. Social media such as Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram etc. fuel group polarisation processes and promote distribution of fake news unhindered.
A generously illustrated section in the back of the exhibition catalogue illustrates 600 years of media history with selected examples. The question if a piece of news is true remains unanswered. It is left to the reader to interpret this information.
