The Long View of Targeted Fake News

Available for over a year

Jonathan Freedland compares the current wave of fake news stories, particularly those targeted at Muslims and immigrants in the UK, with the anti-Semitic story of an eight-year-old Christian boy, William of Norwich, who was murdered in woodland outside his native city in 1144. His death was later reported as a Jewish conspiracy and ritual, becoming the founding myth of the so-called 'blood libel'. Producer: Tom Alban.