"You’re fake news!" How Irish political journalists manage in the post-truth era.

This paper examines how a number of Irish political journalists, working for both traditional newspapers and an online news website, deal with the problem of fake news. The aim was to gain an understanding of what the journalists’ perceptions of political fake news is and the methods they employ to manage it - a sorely under-researched topic. Our findings show that the journalists we spoke with feel there are a range of forms that fake news assumes, many of them insidious and challenging to overcome with facts. The paper highlights the important role that journalists play in confronting political fake news. It is clear from the journalists’ perceptions that fake news is a chronic problem as social media platforms that serve as a major medium for its spread become ubiquitous in our daily lives.