The Indo Daily: Carlow gun attack- How a wave of disinformation spread like wildfire
The shooter, later identified as 22-year-old Evan Fitzgerald, took his own life.
While gardaí and journalists worked to establish the facts, social media was already ablaze with rumour, speculation and innuendo.
The shooting offered an opportunity to spread disinformation, as false claims about the suspect's ethnicity and the number and nature of casualties spread like wildfire.
Later, gardaí took the near-unprecedented approach of informing the public that the suspect was a 'white Irish adult'.
Why did the authorities take this step? And who gains from causing online confusion?
On this episode on The Indo Daily, host Kevin Doyle is joined by Maeve McTaggart, multimedia reporter with the Irish Independent, and by Conor Feehan, senior journalist with the Irish Independent, to look at the challenges in reporting breaking news when dangerous mistruths have already grown legs.
Note: This episode contains references to suicide and may not be suitable for all listeners.
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