A New Challenge to Reporting on Tragedy: Tackle Bogus Stories Quickly

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As for how the media responded to the flood of false stories, Susan McGregor, the assistant director at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University, said that reporters have caught up to how and where false rumors are started. Several years ago, in the wake of the bombing at the Boston Marathon, an incorrect suspect’s name first surfaced on Reddit, and made its way into the mainstream press. Now, McGregor said, one of the first jobs of the press isn’t just to report on new developments. “They jump straight to debunking now, which is almost just as important,” she said.