Misinformation

Talbott, Siobhan

Abstract

While honesty was a desirable quality in business, sometimes information was shared which was—or later became—false. Occasionally this resulted from a deliberate intent to deceive, but false information more commonly arose from genuine misunderstanding or an unexpected change in circumstance. An increase in the availability of information presented as many challenges as benefits for commercial agents, as it led to conflicting data, issues of trust, and the need to deal with what we might now term ‘fake news’. This chapter explores the cause of ‘false’ information and shows how merchants navigated and sought to verify the information available to them. I consider the difference between ‘misinformation’ and ‘disinformation’, and the benefits of secrecy to merchant operations. In some circumstances more was to be gained by controlling and manipulating, rather than sharing, privileged business information.

Citation

Talbott, S. (2025). Misinformation. In Knowledge, Information, and Business Education in the British Atlantic World, 1620–1760 (203-234). Oxford University Press (OUP). https://doi.org/10.1093/9780198926825.003.0007

• Acceptance Date: Feb 10, 2025
• Online Publication Date: Feb 10, 2025
• Publication Date: Mar 13, 2025
• Deposit Date: Feb 27, 2025
• Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
• Pages: 203-234
• Book Title: Knowledge, Information, and Business Education in the British Atlantic World, 1620–1760
• Chapter Number: 6
• ISBN: 9780198926795
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/9780198926825.003.0007
• Keywords: education, information, knowledge, news, Atlantic world, print, manuscript, orality, commerce, business
• Public URL: https://keele-repository.worktribe.com/output/1078497