The Disinformation Age

Understanding the post-fact era requires going beyond foreign influence or the rise of social media. This examination of the origins and workings of the US disinformation system shows how political strategies and communication practices have undermined authoritative democratic institutions. This title is available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Preface. The origins and political importance of disinformation; Author Biographies; Part I. Disinformation in Political and Historical Context: 1. A brief history of the disinformation age: information wars and the decline of institutional authority W. Lance Bennett and Steven Livingston; Part II. The Current Situation: 2. A political economy of the origins of asymmetric propaganda in American media Yochai Benkler; 3. The flooded zone: how we became more vulnerable to disinformation in the digital era Paul Starr; Part III. Historical Roots of Disinformation: 4. How American businessmen made us believe that free enterprise was indivisible from American democracy: the National association of manufacturers' propaganda campaign 1935-1940 Naomi Oreskes, Erik M. Conway and Charlie Tyson; 5. 'Since we are greatly outnumbered': why and how the Koch network uses disinformation to thwart democracy Nancy MacLean; Part IV. The Policy Problem: 6. How digital disinformation turned dangerous Dave Karpf; 7. Policy lessons from five historical patterns in information manipulation Heidi Tworek; 8. Why it is so difficult to regulate disinformation online Ben Epstein; Part V. The Role of Public Broadcasting: 9. US public broadcasting: a bulwark against disinformation? Patricia Aufderheide; 10. The public media option: confronting policy failure in an age of misinformation Victor Pickard; Part VI. Conclusion: Defending Democracy in the Disinformation Age: 11. The coordinated attack on authoritative institutions: defending democracy in the disinformation age Steven Livingston and W. Lance Bennett.