Fake News: Disinformation, Deception, and Magical Thinking Over TimeMain MenuConnecticut's Own Bigfoot: The Winsted Wild Man"I Have Convinced Myself": The Cottingley Fairies and the Desire to BelieveCF0Going Viral: Disinformation and the Smallpox VaccineCigarettes: Advertising, Fake News and Fighting ScienceThe tobacco industry in the United States saw huge increases in sales in the 20th century. Industry leaders were early adopters of both advertising, public relations and more subtle forms of product promotion. As research mounted linking cancer to smoking, the industry started a campaign to fight the scientific evidence.Explore Themes in this ExhibitCovid - 19: Real Debates and Fake NewsAbout the AuthorsWe did this thing
12019-12-18T18:41:11+00:00Joelle Thomas0feb3b2b7a8befeee2c7d2d710d303ed96772141Cottingley Fairies: GalleryJoelle Thomas11very realism, much convincinggallery2020-02-27T18:39:51+00:00Joelle Thomas0feb3b2b7a8befeee2c7d2d710d303ed96772141
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12020-02-20T15:55:22+00:00Playing with the Fairies6CF1.1plain2020-02-21T19:55:55+00:00 In 1917, Frances Griffiths and Elsie Wright, ten and sixteen years old respectively, were staying together in the Wrights' home in Cottingley Village, Yorkshire, after Frances and her mother had returned from South Africa. The girls were cousins and liked to play together in the narrow stream, referred to as a "beck," near their home. When Frances was scolded by her mother for getting her clothes wet and dirty in the beck, she claimed that she had fallen in the water while "playing with the fairies." The excuse did not go over well.
The girls decided to provide evidence for Frances's claim, and a few days later Elsie asked her father, Arthur Wright, to lend them his camera for the day. After leaving school at the age of thirteen, Elsie had briefly attended a college of art, then taken a job with a local photography business, so Arthur had no qualms about entrusting her with his camera. Elsie and Francis returned with two photographic plates that they asked him to develop.
While Elsie's father dismissed the two resulting photos as a prank, Elsie's mother, who developed an interest in Theosophy, brought the photos to the attention of her local Theosophical Society in 1919.
12020-02-28T20:03:25+00:00Create Doubt6plain2020-05-05T13:59:10+00:00In all of these exhibits, there are central questions around what is actually true. When the media, experts, and the public debate these questions, the information becomes distorted, and doubt fills people's minds. Stakeholders deliberately sow misinformation, and sometimes declare a question unresolvable.
I. The Cottingley Fairy photographs drew doubt from all sides, including experts, which led the Manchester City News to essentially give up and write, "It seems at this point that we must either believe in the almost incredible mystery of the fairy or in the almost incredible wonders of faked photographs" (29 January 1921).
II. The Winsted Wild Man was described as a number of different creatures, each one more curious or alarming than the last. This constant redefinition of the Wild Man by townspeople and the media not only cast doubt as to its true existence, but helped keep the story alive, and selling newspapers.
III. Efforts to prevent, treat, or cure smallpox were characterized by frequent attempts to disinform the public and create doubt around various protocols. Anxiety around the disease itself inspired a range of reactions and misinformation that led to confusion and doubt.