Fake News

Can you guess when the first truly "viral" fake news story happened? It's probably a lot earlier than you would expect. In 1835, Richard Adams Locke, the editor of the New York Sun newspaper knew that John Herschel, a British astronomer, was investigating the moon with a telescope in South Africa. This would be one of the first great "explorations" of the moon through advanced telescope techology, meaning Herschel would report back with the first ever description the surface of the moon. Such a large undertaking would take time - at least three months. But Locke didn't want to wait that long to tell his paying public about the discovery. So, instead, he published what is now known as the Great Moon Hoax of 1835 on the front page of his paper. Along with the illustration you see above, he declared that the moon was home to "giant man-bats that spent their days collecting fruit and holding animated conversation" as well as "goat-like creatures with blue skin" and "a temple made of polished sapphire." He continued this story for weeks as he published updates to the fantastical fake news.

Why would Richard Adams Locke publish a knowingly false story? He would be found out in a matter of months. Additionally, as with any fake news story today (think about those copy/paste facebook & instagram "privacy declarations" that go around every few months), the majority of people knew it was fake at the time. However, those who fell for it quite literally bought it. In order to keep up with the story, they had to keep buying The Sun and, for every copy sold, Locke got money in his own pocket. In fact, for the few weeks he published the Great Moon Hoax, Locke made a truly astronomical amount of money - more than enough to be worth discrediting his publication.

Here's your challenge. Navigate to Central Search (if you don't know what this is, check out the video on the Library Resources page of this website), and use the keyword "Great Moon Hoax." The first entry in your search result shoudl be a juveline fiction book. The year it was published is the key to deciphering the hidden message.