Book Review: Fake News Follies of 2017

LESLIE EASTMAN FEB 6, 2018 9:00 AM

I have previously reviewed two previous books by West Virginia’s prognosticating pundit, Don Surber: Trump the Press and Trump the Establishment.

Surber, a recovering journalist with over 30 years of experience, has been cataloging the #FakeNews that has been regularly offered as serious analysis of President Donald Trump’s actions, policies, and opinions. He has brought his enormous collection together in the longest, most serious book he has yet written: Fake News Follies 2017.

Surber’s detailed look at the continuing media meltdown over Trump’s victory begins with the definition of “Fake News”.

In 2017, the media and Democratic Party officials defined Fake News as websites that look like news sites but disseminate information that is false or misleading. They included satirical sites.President Trump and his supporters defined Fake News as news organizations that deliberately disseminated false stories. They did not include satirical sites. I define Fake News as the fog of war.In 2017, much of the political media chose to go to war with Donald John Trump. They did not choose wisely.

Surber’s clarity and wit make the study of the media’s blatant misrepresentations engaging and informative. He hits many #FakeNews gems that have been nearly forgotten the the avalanche of more recent, specious coverage of the memo release and immigration battle.

Some chestnuts that he dusted off include:

• The spate of hate-crime hoaxes staged to smear Trump.
• The wild speculation passed of as in-the-know analysis of Trump’s likely cabinet picks (e.g. West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin (D) as Energy Secretary.
• The wacky theories about whether Melania Trump would actually be the acting First Lady.
• The fraudulent “fact-checkers”, Snopes  and PolitiFact.
• A prescient chapter on the real “wire-tapping” of Donald Trump, true news that the media ignores of obfuscates.

One, particularly fascinating aspect of Fake News Follies 2017 is the background of Jeff Zucker, the President of CNN. Surber deftly details why Zucker has had his team focus the destruction of President Trump…when they aren’t wondering about black holes.

I suspect CNN will remain a leading source of Surber’s upcoming editions of Fake News Follies.

In conclusion: If you like a great, informative read that offers hard data blended in with crisp analysis, Surber’s book is a must-have. For those of us who follow the American press, it will be a wonderful reference to own.

I can’t believe how much #FakeNews I had already forgotten!

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