Disinformation in Mass Media

"The founding in 1777 of the Journal de Paris, France's first daily and distinctly commercial paper, represents an early use of disinformation as a tool for political gain, profit, and societal division. To attract a large readership and bar competition for C. W. Gluck's works at the Paris Ope ra, it launched a prolonged campaign of anonymous lies, mockery and defamation against two prominent members of the Acade mie Franc ʹaise who wished the Ope ra to be open to all deserving composers, but lacked a comparable daily forum with which to defend themselves. In this unique episode, music served as a smokescreen for nefarious activity. No musical knowledge is necessary to follow this purely political drama, in which the tactics employed bear a remarkable resemblance to current events"--