This qualitative, longitudinal study traces the development of preservice social studies teachers' awareness of and reaction to the current climate of truth decay over the course of their initial certification program. By drawing a parallel between Bakhtin's concept of the carnivalesque and the current online media landscape, this study found that teaching media literacy in a post-truth society can be complex and may indeed be asking teachers to reconsider how they conceptualize, truth, authority, and trust. Ultimately, even with targeted intervention from teacher educators, this phenomenon may lead preservice teachers to feel less confident in their own ability to identify truth and occupy an authoritative space.