[reggieband]

I consider that the earliest strain of this thought that I am aware of is from Noam Chomsky, who wrote in 1988 the book Manufacturing Consent [1]. There is also the 1985 book Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman [2].

I think it is fair to say the clarion call of "Fake News" has been around longer than some people think and spans across the political spectrum. In fact, when I hear people insist that CNN or some other mass-media outlets are the cure for alt-right and/or Donald Trump, I wonder if they remember the time not so long ago where they were considered the prime enemies of the left.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing_Consent [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amusing_Ourselves_to_Death