Bell Pottinger: Pre-Digital Fake News During the Rise of Neoliberalism

Abstract

This article will follow the rise of Bell Pottinger, a PR company whose emergence coincided with the rise of Thatcherism in the 80s and was instrumental in promoting neoliberal ideology to the public in the U.K. and globally in the late 20th century. Discourse on the “fake news” phenomenon is often centered around the prevalence of disinformation proliferated on social media and the internet by actors willing to push political agendas. Less attention has been placed on the activity of similar actors engaging in the spreading of political propaganda before the widespread adoption of the internet by the masses. An analysis of Bell Pottinger’s operations in the pre-digital era show a pattern of support for neoliberal politicians and regimes, going so far as to carry out political propaganda campaigns for autocratic actors.