--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: God, newspapers have been making up…" description: "\"God, newspapers have been making up stories forever. This kind of trifling and fooling around is not a function of the New Journalism.\" — Tom Wolfe" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a87/tom-wolfe-2191_fooling-around_god-newspapers-have-been-making-up-stori_1393434.jpg" --- # God, newspapers have been making up stories forever. This… ![“God, newspapers have been making up stories forever. This kind of trifling and fooling around is not a function of the New Journalism.” quote by Tom Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a87/tom-wolfe-2191_fooling-around_god-newspapers-have-been-making-up-stori_1393434.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a87/tom-wolfe-2191_fooling-around_god-newspapers-have-been-making-up-stori_1393434.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a87/tom-wolfe-2191_fooling-around_god-newspapers-have-been-making-up-stori_1393434.jpg) > “God, newspapers have been making up stories forever. This kind of trifling and fooling around is not a function of the New Journalism.” [Tom Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-wolfe/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote critiques sensationalist media, suggesting that fabricating stories is not unique to modern journalism but a long‑standing practice. **In simple terms:** Media often invents stories, not just new journalists. Key Takeaway Question sources critically. Themes media criticism truth journalism Mood skeptical critical Type analytical observational When to use this quote - news consumption - media literacy - public discourse Key Concepts sensationalism fabrication Questions to Reflect On - How does sensationalism affect public trust? - Can we differentiate fact from fiction? A Different Perspective New journalism also includes investigative reporting. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fooling around](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fooling-around/) [Forever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forever/) [Function](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/function/) [God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god/) [God Newspapers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-newspapers-4863872/) [Journalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journalism/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Making up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/making-up/) [New](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new/) [New Journalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-journalism-1152925/) [Newspapers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/newspapers/) [Newspapers Making](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/newspapers-making-4863870/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Trifling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trifling/) [Trifling Fooling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trifling-fooling-4863871/) ## Related quotes > [I have no idea who coined the term 'the New Journalism,' or when it was coined. I have never even liked the term. Any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-wolfe/i-have-no-idea-who-coined-the-term-the-new-journalism-or-when-it-was/) [Tom Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-wolfe/) > [“It just got ugly in the 1970s for New Journalism, hastened by the decline of general interest magazine. So what happened? Television, mostly, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-weingarten/it-just-got-ugly-in-the-1970s-for-new-journalism-hastened-by-the/) [Marc Weingarten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-weingarten/) > [I cling to the basic set of tenets laid out in Tom Wolfe's 'New Journalism' - to get out there like the great French…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-york/i-cling-to-the-basic-set-of-tenets-laid-out-in-tom-wolfe-s-new/) [Peter York](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-york/) > [There are lots of really good guitarists, but they play with the same pedals that everybody else does. Everybody buys the same pedals, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-simon/there-are-lots-of-really-good-guitarists-but-they-play-with-the-same/) [Paul Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-simon/) > [Strategic thinkers were naturally rattled to find this outsider fooling around with their work. They had been thinking strategically when Reagan was just another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-baker/strategic-thinkers-were-naturally-rattled-to-find-this-outsider/) [Russell Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-baker/) > [“And yes, I say, I do like girls. I don't pursue them, though, and there are a lot of reasons for that. It's gotten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-kuehn/and-yes-i-say-i-do-like-girls-i-don-t-pursue-them-though-and-there/) [Stephanie Kuehn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-kuehn/) > [All the difference in the world between the movies and the thrill I get out of a play at the theater. Ay, yes! Like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-ferber/all-the-difference-in-the-world-between-the-movies-and-the-thrill-i/) [Edna Ferber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-ferber/) > [Don't know why I did it, I was just fooling around. I never knew life was so precious, until I hit the ground. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kalea-mendoza/don-t-know-why-i-did-it-i-was-just-fooling-around-i-never-knew-life/) [Kalea Mendoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kalea-mendoza/) > [About a year after (my stories began being published), magazine editor George Scithers, suggested to me that since I was so new at being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-b-longyear/about-a-year-after-my-stories-began-being-published-magazine-editor/) [Barry B. Longyear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-b-longyear/) > [I'd done drag since I was 14, for special occasions, and in 2010 a friend of mine with her own burlesque group was looking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conchita-wurst/i-d-done-drag-since-i-was-14-for-special-occasions-and-in-2010-a/) [Conchita Wurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conchita-wurst/) > [“Hurry up, you Hoosier bastard, I could kill ten men while you're fooling around!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-panzram/hurry-up-you-hoosier-bastard-i-could-kill-ten-men-while-you-re/) [Carl Panzram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-panzram/) > [This ain't no party, this ain't no disco, this ain't no fooling around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-byrne/this-ain-t-no-party-this-ain-t-no-disco-this-ain-t-no-fooling-around/) [David Byrne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-byrne/) > [Maybe it's because improvisational people have the same kind of understood language when you're working together. It really only took, like, maybe an hour...feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-levy/maybe-it-s-because-improvisational-people-have-the-same-kind-of/) [Eugene Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-levy/) > [As a West Side kid fooling around with boxing gloves, I had been, for some reason of temperament, more interested in dodging a blow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-tunney/as-a-west-side-kid-fooling-around-with-boxing-gloves-i-had-been-for/) [Gene Tunney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-tunney/) > [When I go into the studio, I'm strictly for business... I don't like any fooling around in the studio.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otis-redding/when-i-go-into-the-studio-i-m-strictly-for-business-i-don-t-like-any/) [Otis Redding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otis-redding/) ## More by Tom Wolfe > [“Well … things are beginning to stack up a little,” said Gordo. It was the same old sod-hut drawl. He sounded like the airline…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-wolfe/well-things-are-beginning-to-stack-up-a-little-said-gordo-it-was-the/) [Tom Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-wolfe/) > [“Everything in everybody’s life is … significant. And everybody is alert, watching for the meanings.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-wolfe/everything-in-everybody-s-life-is-significant-and-everybody-is-alert/) [Tom Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-wolfe/) > ['Back to Blood' really took it out of me. While I was writing it, I just never went out anywhere, except to the gym.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-wolfe/back-to-blood-really-took-it-out-of-me-while-i-was-writing-it-i-just/) [Tom Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-wolfe/) > [In the U.S., the term 'general aviation' means its exact opposite, the way 'public school' does in England. An English public school is private…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-wolfe/in-the-u-s-the-term-general-aviation-means-its-exact-opposite-the-way/) [Tom Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-wolfe/) > [That's mostly what the Internet is, just passing the time. But unfortunately you are dealing with words that can have meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-wolfe/that-s-mostly-what-the-internet-is-just-passing-the-time-but/) [Tom Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-wolfe/) > [“The dark night of fascism is always descending in the United States and yet lands only in Europe.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-wolfe/the-dark-night-of-fascism-is-always-descending-in-the-united-states/) [Tom Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-wolfe/) > [“Loneliness wasn't just a state of mind, was it? It was tactile. She could feel it. It was a sixth sense, not in some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-wolfe/loneliness-wasn-t-just-a-state-of-mind-was-it-it-was-tactile-she/) [Tom Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-wolfe/) > [it is either make this thing permanent inside of you or forever just climb draggled up into the conning tower every time for one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-wolfe/it-is-either-make-this-thing-permanent-inside-of-you-or-forever-just/) [Tom Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-wolfe/) > [I found a great many pieces of punctuation and typography lying around dormant when I came along - and I must say I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-wolfe/i-found-a-great-many-pieces-of-punctuation-and-typography-lying/) [Tom Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-wolfe/) > [“They became desperate for an antidote, such as coziness & color. They tried to bury the obligatory white sofas under Thai-silk throw pillows of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-wolfe/they-became-desperate-for-an-antidote-such-as-coziness-color-they/) [Tom Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-wolfe/) > [A cult is a religion with no political power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-wolfe/a-cult-is-a-religion-with-no-political-power/) [Tom Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-wolfe/) > [I don't think journalists should talk about whom they're voting for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-wolfe/i-don-t-think-journalists-should-talk-about-whom-they-re-voting-for/) [Tom Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-wolfe/) > [Even hostile parodies admit from the start that the target has a distinct voice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-wolfe/even-hostile-parodies-admit-from-the-start-that-the-target-has-a/) [Tom Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-wolfe/) > [I had always looked down on sociology as this arriviste discipline. It didn't have the noble history of English and history as a subject.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-wolfe/i-had-always-looked-down-on-sociology-as-this-arriviste-discipline-it/) [Tom Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-wolfe/) > [I read somewhere that writers, as they get older, become more and more perfectionist. Which may be because they think more highly of themselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-wolfe/i-read-somewhere-that-writers-as-they-get-older-become-more-and-more/) [Tom Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-wolfe/) [Explore all 177 Tom Wolfe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-wolfe/) ## More Fooling around quotes > [When I go into the studio, I'm strictly for business... I don't like any fooling around in the studio.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otis-redding/when-i-go-into-the-studio-i-m-strictly-for-business-i-don-t-like-any/) [Otis Redding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otis-redding/) > [As a West Side kid fooling around with boxing gloves, I had been, for some reason of temperament, more interested in dodging a blow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-tunney/as-a-west-side-kid-fooling-around-with-boxing-gloves-i-had-been-for/) [Gene Tunney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-tunney/) > [Maybe it's because improvisational people have the same kind of understood language when you're working together. It really only took, like, maybe an hour...feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-levy/maybe-it-s-because-improvisational-people-have-the-same-kind-of/) [Eugene Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-levy/) > [This ain't no party, this ain't no disco, this ain't no fooling around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-byrne/this-ain-t-no-party-this-ain-t-no-disco-this-ain-t-no-fooling-around/) [David Byrne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-byrne/) > [“Hurry up, you Hoosier bastard, I could kill ten men while you're fooling around!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-panzram/hurry-up-you-hoosier-bastard-i-could-kill-ten-men-while-you-re/) [Carl Panzram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-panzram/) > [I'd done drag since I was 14, for special occasions, and in 2010 a friend of mine with her own burlesque group was looking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conchita-wurst/i-d-done-drag-since-i-was-14-for-special-occasions-and-in-2010-a/) [Conchita Wurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conchita-wurst/) > [About a year after (my stories began being published), magazine editor George Scithers, suggested to me that since I was so new at being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-b-longyear/about-a-year-after-my-stories-began-being-published-magazine-editor/) [Barry B. Longyear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-b-longyear/) > [Don't know why I did it, I was just fooling around. I never knew life was so precious, until I hit the ground. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kalea-mendoza/don-t-know-why-i-did-it-i-was-just-fooling-around-i-never-knew-life/) [Kalea Mendoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kalea-mendoza/) > [All the difference in the world between the movies and the thrill I get out of a play at the theater. Ay, yes! Like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-ferber/all-the-difference-in-the-world-between-the-movies-and-the-thrill-i/) [Edna Ferber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-ferber/) > [“And yes, I say, I do like girls. I don't pursue them, though, and there are a lot of reasons for that. It's gotten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-kuehn/and-yes-i-say-i-do-like-girls-i-don-t-pursue-them-though-and-there/) [Stephanie Kuehn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-kuehn/) > [Strategic thinkers were naturally rattled to find this outsider fooling around with their work. They had been thinking strategically when Reagan was just another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-baker/strategic-thinkers-were-naturally-rattled-to-find-this-outsider/) [Russell Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-baker/) > [There are lots of really good guitarists, but they play with the same pedals that everybody else does. Everybody buys the same pedals, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-simon/there-are-lots-of-really-good-guitarists-but-they-play-with-the-same/) [Paul Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-simon/) > [Sheets of sound. Well, that was when I got tired of certain modulations. Like when you want to get back to C, and you've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-coltrane/sheets-of-sound-well-that-was-when-i-got-tired-of-certain-modulations/) [John Coltrane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-coltrane/) > [When a man cheats on his woman, He's an unfaithful dog; When a woman cheats on a man, He never tried hard enough to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/when-a-man-cheats-on-his-woman-he-s-an-unfaithful-dog-when-a-woman/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [Few poets have made a more interesting rhetoric out of just fooling around: turning things upside down, looking at them from under the sofa,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-jarrell/few-poets-have-made-a-more-interesting-rhetoric-out-of-just-fooling/) [Randall Jarrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-jarrell/) [Browse all 92 Fooling around quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fooling-around/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "God, newspapers have been making up stories forever. This kind of trifling and fooling around is not a function of the New Journalism.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tom Wolfe" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-wolfe/god-newspapers-have-been-making-up-stories-forever-this-kind-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fooling around" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-wolfe/god-newspapers-have-been-making-up-stories-forever-this-kind-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a87/tom-wolfe-2191_fooling-around_god-newspapers-have-been-making-up-stori_1393434.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a87/tom-wolfe-2191_fooling-around_god-newspapers-have-been-making-up-stori_1393434.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a87/tom-wolfe-2191_fooling-around_god-newspapers-have-been-making-up-stori_1393434.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“God, newspapers have been making up stories forever. This kind of trifling and fooling around is not a…” — Tom Wolfe", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Tom Wolfe", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-wolfe/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "God, newspapers have been making up...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-wolfe/god-newspapers-have-been-making-up-stories-forever-this-kind-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-wolfe/god-newspapers-have-been-making-up-stories-forever-this-kind-of/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```