Questioning the authenticity of records (be they second hand accounts of events, paper documents or 1s and 0s) has been the norm since it became common for people other than royals and clergy to be able to read and write. Jefferson and Adams would not find the concept of "fake news" foreign at all. The sophistication of the authentication mechanism for a document usually has to do with the use case. Official letterhead was good enough for most important routine correspondence. Birth certificates get stamped. Money has fairly sophisticated anti-counterfeiting features.<p>We'll remember the late 20th and early 21st century as the exception to the rule because during that time period if there was an audio/video recording of something you could be reasonably assured that it was legit. That won't be the case going forward. Audio and video will become a free for all like every other medium.<p>I'm not worried.