Infoganda or Info-ganda (1993)

[Geoffrey Nunberg]

Frank Rich had this in his Times column yesterday and credited it to
the "Daily Show," but Barry showed that it goes back to 1993 in
Google Groups, and in a Nexis search, it shows up in an article in
the Sydney Morning Herald from July 26, 1991:

Like Keating, Australia at large felt a thrill of excitement and a
chill of dread when the war broke out. Our TV screens beamed urgent
US infoganda into our heads...

A July 6, 1995 article in Marketing used it as both a mass and count noun:

NatWest starts 'infoganda' ads
NatWest is planning to run news releases as ads in the national press
to head off what it sees as 'exaggerated criticism' of issues such as
executive pay and service standards. The 'infoganda'-type ads, which
will target NatWest's staff and core customer base, will also be used
to provide more detailed information about new product launches...
Running infogandas would, he said, give NatWest the chance to present
its side of the case and to communicate more positive news about the
bank.

This is the sort of item that's likely to have been independently
coined several times, particularly given the recent pattern of using
portmanteaux for the names of mixed genres, like  "infotainment" and
"docudrama"  (would these be called "genre benders"?). I wonder how
far back it really goes.

Geoff Nunberg


>Date:         Thu, 18 Mar 2004 01:57:00 EST
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>From:         Bapopik at AOL.COM
>Subject:      Infoganda or Info-ganda (1993)
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>
>
>INFO-GANDA--50 Google hits, 10 Google Groups hits
>INFOGANDA--14 Google hits, 50 Google Groups hits
>
>
>    "Infoganda" (INFOrmation + propaGANDA) was mentioned on THE DAILY SHOW
>last night at 11 p.m.  Catch the repeat tonight at 7 p.m. if you missed it, on
>Comedy Central.
>    THE DAILY SHOW reported that the government produced its own fake news
>report about Medicare, and the "infoganda" made in on real tv news.
>"Fake news?"
>Jon Stewart asked his audience.  His "senior ethical correspondent" (everyone
>on the show is a senior correspondent) joked that their jobs were being
>threatened.
>    "Infoganda" is not on the Wordspy.  But one of these days it probably will
>be, and...I'll still get no credit.
>
>
>
>
>(GOOGLE GROUPS)
>Re: just for a laugh
>... The "symptoms" page is pretty weak, suggesting that one of the "warning
>signs"
>indicates a problem, but I've seen similar alcohol infoganda. -- -Mike List
>alt.drugs.pot - Dec 3, 1998 by Mike List - View Thread (9 articles)
>
>
>Re: Choosing snow tires
>... technical). They also carry other brands -- and their web page includes
>prices, FAQs, tips, and manufacturers' specs/infoganda. ...
>rec.autos.driving - Nov 13, 1996 by Wilderness Werkes! - View Thread (8
>articles)
>
>
>Re: Chilly Future for Boys (Take Your *CHILD* To Work Day)
>... that rationalized focusing on girls, and relegated boys to stay at school
>where
>they might feed on Ms.-Foundation nationally-sponsored infoganda: "What about
>...
>soc.men - Apr 19, 1995 by Tom Revay - View Thread (112 articles)
>
>
>Re: MS Access - alleged Btrieve importing ability (was: Is MS ...
>... It does have this ability... for Paradox 3.X Of course, I just upgraded
>to 4.0
>a few weeks ago, and none of the Access Infoganda mentioned this limitation.
>...
>comp.os.ms-windows.apps - Feb 2, 1993 by Philip Bohannon - View Thread (4
>articles)