Die Verschwörung der Massenmedien: Eine Kulturgeschichte vom Buchhändler-Komplott bis zur Lügenpresse

The history of conspiracy theories is also a history of the media. The focus of this study by John David Seidler is not the question of the role of technological media of distribution, but rather the reflection on the media as the subject of conspiracy theories themselves. He shows that it is not only with the repopularization of the slogan of the Lügenpresse (lying press) that the mass media have become the central object of suspicion for conspiracy theory narratives. Making use of media philosopher Boris Groys' theory of suspicion, this study looks at historical conjunctures of modern conspiracy theories to provide the German-speaking world's first systematic analysis of the history and function of the language of conspiracy theories from the 18th century on.