ePluribus Media Tips from the Fact Checking Maven (with more to come)

by Cho

Wed Mar 14, 2007 at 11:05:39 AM EST

A Reminder of Why Fact-Checking is Important

...check out the DVD Shattered Glass, which as the Amazon review notes: "tells the true story of fraudulent Washington, D.C. journalist Stephen Glass (Christensen), who rose to meteoric heights as a young writer in his 20s, becoming a staff writer at The New Republic for three years (1995-1998), where 27 of his 41 published stories were either partially or completely made up."

Background on our List

Back in June of 2005, our fact-checking maven put together a checklist for ePluribus Media folk when they are going over articles and pieces intended for the ePluribus Media Journal (this list is distinct, of course, from any editorial or copy-editing that is also done).

Some folks think that "fact checking" is merely a matter of making sure that a hyperlink goes to the right web site, but in fact (ouch, bad pun), it is much more.

Yes, the process involves making sure that facts and details are correct and accurate, but it also ensures that the article is free of speculation presented as fact.

To take a look at the list our maven generated a year and half ago to guide our fact checking process, make the jump below the fold by clicking the Full Story link.

citizen journalism :: :: :: buzz-it!

Fact Checking Tips

Documenting your review

Read through the document and mark every fact that requires verifying.
Use the footnote or endnote function to track all notes and/or confirmations. If you use multiple websites to confirm a fact, include the URLs for the confirming sites.
If there is a fact that requires verification, but is beyond your resources, make a note of this as well.
Make sure any corrections/recommendations stand out in the text.

During your review

Ask questions such as "Says who?" and "How does the writer know this?"
Pay attention to descriptives (those pesky adjectives and adverbs) - "most", "all" - verify when possible.
If an individual, title, organization or brand is mentioned, check the relevant website to verify spelling.
If a number, statistic or figure is mentioned, check the relevant website/primary source to verify. Do the math (e.g. did event X occur 9 days later?).
Avoid using secondary sources to verify facts, as you may be perpetuating an error.

If you have to use secondary sources, find at least three and make sure they agree.

Verify all dates.
Verify phone/fax numbers and email addresses.

Ring all phone numbers.

Verify all web links.

Copy the URL from the document and paste it into a browser. Keep track of date/time web link was accessed.
If there is a quote associated with the web link, verify that the text of the quote matches.

Make sure your "millions" and "billions" don't get mixed up. Don't mix-up dollars, pounds and euros.
When possible, verify geographic details.

Addition resources for fact checkers

Web
"44 Tips for Greater Accuracy: How to avoid mechanical/objective errors in your newspaper" (http://www.ibiblio.org/copyediting/tips.html)

Fact Checking by MyResearchNeeds.com (http://www.together.net/~ktob/pages/fact_checking.htm)

Smart, Safe and Efficient Fact Checking by Barbara P. Semonche, Park Library Director, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (http://parklibrary.jomc.unc.edu/factcheckers2004.html)

Book
The Fact Checker's Bible by Sarah Harrison Smith, 2004 Random House.

ePluribus Media Tips from the Fact Checking Maven (with more to come) | 2 comments (2 topical, 0 hidden)

Adding this from News Corpse's great find (none / 0) (#1)

What the Mainstream Media Can Learn from Jon Stewart

Does this [The Daily Show] qualify as fact-checking? Not exactly, Jackson replies, but "one thing he [Stewart] does do that is fact-checking: If somebody says, 'I never said that,' and next thing you know, there's a clip of the same guy three months ago saying exactly that, that's great fact-checking," and a great lesson for journalists. Jackson thinks NBC's Tim Russert is the master of that art in the mainstream media, confronting his subjects as he puts their quotes on-screen and reading them verbatim. "Stewart does it for laughs, and Russert does it for good journalistic reasons, and we all can learn from the two of them."

by Cho on Thu May 24, 2007 at 10:12:24 AM EST

Thanks! (none / 0) (#2)

Very important information. Credibility and persuasion count.

by mariesamuels on Fri Jun 22, 2007 at 08:30:51 AM EST

ePluribus Media Tips from the Fact Checking Maven (with more to come) | 2 comments (2 topical, 0 hidden)

Support ePluribus Media -- Support Citizen Powered Journalism!