In 2002, the British government "launched a little-known television propaganda service that seems to mimic the U.S. government's deceptive approach to fake news," writes David Miller.

In late January a comedian hosting the UK Pharmaceutical Marketing Society's Annual Advertising Awards ceremony joked that "twenty years ago it was all lap dancing and champagne for the doctors. These days you're lucky if you can give them a three-star hotel and a f***ing biro." Not so, it seems.

The Lincoln Group, which planted Pentagon-written stories in Iraqi newspapers, won U.S.