It is a fact that "fake news" is not new in America. See this Hidden Brain podcast episode, Fake News: An Origin Story. I think you will find it enlightening. The question is, are we living in a post-truth era? The history books when written 50 years from now will have to decide that for us. Current generations of people living are not good about writing history books. 

Ethics in the media is a fairly recent development, starting around the turn of the "century before" meaning 1900. for a great book on Theodore Roosevelt and the emergence of the "modern media" that researched stories and tried to tell the truth, read The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism. One book I read from that era when taking U.S. History was The Jungle about the Chicago meat-packing business. For those libertarians out there that don't like government regulation, we can go back to that time if you like. :)

Today there are verbal barbs accusing this or that media of being "fake news." The term has been used extensively by President Trump and has now been picked up by any number of dictators in other countries as a term. Here is President Trump's own definition of fake news from his Twitter feed:

Donald J. Trump 
@realDonaldTrump

"The Fake News is working overtime. Just reported that, despite the tremendous success we are having with the economy & all things else, 91% of the Network News about me is negative (Fake) [my emphasis]. Why do we work so hard in working with the media when it is corrupt? Take away credentials?
4:38 AM - May 9, 2018"

After the terrible shooting in Annapolis, Md., the president did offer condolences to those killed and their loved ones. Yet, remember, this is the same person who points to the media at political rallies and calls them "scum" and "an enemy of the public." Do not forget that words matter ... especially in the highly divided tribal camps that we have become as a nation. 

The 91 percent number came from a Fox & Friends item that aired the same day in the morning. It is clear from the tweet, President Trump believes, which is his right, that anything that is negative about him means it is "fake." However, it is not my definition!

Growing up, I always thought about the National Enquirer as being an example of fake news. For example, something like aliens living among us, etc. Maybe they are, because even a blind squirrel sometimes finds a nut.