What exactly is fake news and why do they create it?

First off, fake news has been around for a very long time. This is nothing new. Back in the day, newspapers made most of their money from advertising, the more popular the paper was the more they could charge for ads and they sold more ads. Fake news, usually sensational, sold newspapers. Feel good stories about puppy rescues and barn raising don't sell as well as sexual innuendo and lurid murders. Most fake news takes just the smallest shred of truth and twists it into something completely unrecognizable, then peddles it as gospel fact. It's an old an dishonorable tradition!