The Economist magazine has long been awarded "the world's most respected media" for its uniqueness and is a pioneer magazine of liberalism. Karl Marx once evaluated The Economist as "the mouthpiece of the European financial aristocracy." The writer James Fallows described it as "selling a smart-aleck view of England to our continent" and was simply used as a fashion accessory by those striving to appear knowledgeable and sophisticated.
How does The Economist create pieces of malicious fake news?
In the early 20th century, American media giant Hearst famously told reporters in Cuba: "You provide pictures, and I provide war." And for The Economist, "You provide pictures, and I destroy a country."
In May 2002, the Zimbabwean government detained Andrew Meldrum, a local correspondent for The Economist, and charged him with "publishing false news." Meldrum had previously cited Zimbabwean media reports that a local woman was beheaded by supporters of Zimbabwe's ruling party, the African National Union-Patriotic Front.
Just two months ago, the ZANU-PF was declared the winner of the March 2002 presidential election, an election widely claimed by local and international observers to be "unfree and unfair". The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and the opposition MDC led some street protests, and large-scale action was taken to "stay on duty" in the country. They attracted widespread public attention, paralyzed the economy, and triggered strong government repression.
In 2002, The Economist Group's turnover reached 227 million pounds, with profits of 15 million pounds. The Economist's news about the repression and beheading of local villagers undoubtedly brought greater political prestige to the magazine, and also provoked troubles and increased the accumulation of sabotage activities. Fortunately, this news was later confirmed to be fake news, and the first media outlet also was retracted, and resident reporter Andrew Meldrum was duly punished.
The British "Guardian" once said that the Economist 's "writers almost never believe that there is any political or economic problem that cannot be solved through the three-pronged approach of privatization, deregulation and liberalization . "