# Thank you, Jim Peebles, for teaching me about Fake News **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 15, 2018, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-jim-peebles-for-teaching-me-about-fake-news/822994 "2018-10-15T18:09:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-jim-peebles-for-teaching-me-about-fake-news/822994/21 "2018-10-16T13:00:12Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Yeah, but the specific phrase “fake news” is very much a Trump term - I had never before heard it in my life before he started spouting it, and I’ve never hear it used unironically by anyone but him and his horde. It’s true that he didn’t originate the term and he wasn’t the first politician to use the term, but he latched onto it within a month or two of its first use and hasn’t let go. By the time I had first heard the term it had been fully co-opted, to such a degree that I consider using it to refer to news that is actually false to be in poor taste just because it dilutes the fact that in all official discourse it actually refers to _accurate_ news that the speaker wants to divert people away from. Actually, I had heard the specific term “Fake News” before Trump came on the scene. It was a common talking point among some hardcore conspiracy theorists that I know. It was usually used to refer to the mainstream news coverage of events like 9/11, the Boston Marathon bombing and The Sandy Hook school shooting. And these guys loved it when Trump took the phrase mainstream, they felt like they (and their whacked out theories) been validated in a big way. ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-jim-peebles-for-teaching-me-about-fake-news/822994/22 "2018-10-17T14:31:18Z")
Actually, the first time I heard the term “Fake News” it referred to the comedic parody of news. Didn’t Norm Macdonald start every edition of “Weekend Update” with “And now, the fake news?” ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-jim-peebles-for-teaching-me-about-fake-news/822994/23 "2018-10-17T16:27:44Z")
> [@cuauhtemoc](#): > > Actually, the first time I heard the term “Fake News” it referred to the comedic parody of news. Didn’t Norm Macdonald start every edition of “Weekend Update” with “And now, the fake news?” Yes, he did. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-jim-peebles-for-teaching-me-about-fake-news/822994/24 "2018-10-17T17:19:37Z")
Kudos! That’s some great work! It might not move Jim out of the lunatic column, but it might help show others how unreliable his interpretation of the world around him is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thank-you-jim-peebles-for-teaching-me-about-fake-news/822994.md?page=1)