Politics, lies and video tapes: Non verbal cues and signals in the age of 'fake news'

Abstract

With our current preoccupation with ‘fake news’ it is perhaps time to consider how such (mis) information spreads and whether “fake news” is false, misleading, or merely uncomfortable. Ironically, these political narratives are often disseminated by the political figures themselves – who then complain about the veracity of media coverage when it does not match their message. This situation is captured by the, perhaps unduly, pessimistic old joke “How can you tell a politician is lying? His lips are moving” which underscores a fundamental concern for scholars who study the political world: how does one judge when a political figure is being truthful ?