KONDRASHOV ANDREI O.

In connection with the numerous scandals surrounding the election of the US President in 2016, the phrase ‘fake news' has gradually become common. Since the Western media repeatedly stated that the fake news was spread by Russian citizens to influence the outcome of the election of the American president, the very concept became an instrument discrediting Russia in the eyes of the world community. This article presents the history of this concept, describes the gradual process of how the phrase ‘fake news' was fixed in the mass consciousness. The authors make a comparative analysis of the content of this term, pointing to its difference from traditional methods of propaganda, and define the boundaries of the concept, separating fake news from low-quality journalistic materials. Fake news can have multiple goals. The trend of commercialization of periodical magazines and a tough competitive environment that has arisen with the growing popularity of new media, forcing to publish unverified materials, sometimes even knowingly false, but with the prospect of becoming popular. Therefore, for the media publication of fake news is, first of all, economic value. False news, thanks to modern technology, has affected the majority of the population; therefore, they have great potential to be an effective tool of information warfare. Modern researchers of mass communications are increasingly coming to the conclusion that, although fake news is widespread, its impact on public opinion is small, while measures to combat such news can have a negative effect.