“Fake News” in the Contemporary Legend Dynamic

Reacting to the recent political importance given to “fake news,” folklorists should make use of concepts and methods generated in the past generation to discuss contemporary legends. Instead of using “legend” (or “fake news”) as a tag indicating skepticism, we should see legendry as a communal fact-finding process found among all classes, including this nation’s presidents. And we should frankly and objectively examine how high political officials engage in legendry, knowing that both promoting and casting doubt on constructions of the news have a political agenda.