Jonathan Swift
The Examiner, no. 14, 9 November 1710
Swift was complaining about political propaganda in the newspapers of his day, and the idea has stayed relevant.
the myth (Mark Twain): A modern wisecrack about a lie getting halfway around the world before the truth pulls its boots on is regularly credited to Twain or Churchill, with no source. The earliest version we can point to is Swift's, three centuries earlier.
Source: Wikiquote