The War of Images in the Age of Trump

Abstract

This chapter aims to contribute to pressing debates surrounding the issue of ‘fake news’ by focusing on the politicisation of visual imagery. The Trump administration’s use of ‘fake news’ as a term of critique directed at journalists and their news organisations represents a cynical strategy of deflection and deception, one that risks destabilising confidence in the free flow of information underpinning political deliberation in a democratic system. We aim to promote discussion by highlighting ways in which the public circulation of photographs prove consistent with purposeful, albeit inchoate strategies of distraction and diversion mobilised by the Trump administration and its supporters, as well as how publicly circulating photographic images can also occasionally disrupt or frustrate such strategies.