Tulelake, CA— Article: The rest of the story.
By JG of TNT
"Why it's important to check facts
Journalism is about finding facts, interpreting their importance, and then sharing that information with the audience.
That's all journalists do: find, verify, enrich and then disseminate information.
The two reliable sources rule
Most media organizations have a rule that all facts should be confirmed by two reliable sources.
Who can a journalist trust?
Well, the truth is, nobody. A journalist must never accept what they are told without scrutinizing the information.
Journalists should take a skeptical view of every piece of information shared with them.
They should not blindly trust contacts – even if those contacts have proved reliable in the past.
This could lead to a cozy relationship that results in you dropping your guard, compromising your standards and publishing or broadcasting incomplete or unreliable information.
General public:
Did you get this information directly from a contact? Are they reliable? Are you sure that you are not being used?
Could you be too close to them? Have you worked with this contact before? Did you deal with them with integrity?
Could they be expecting favors? If so, what did you do to lead them to believe that you could be manipulated?
Yourself:
Sometimes you, the journalist, can be the biggest obstacle to the delivery of reliable information. Be honest about your interests, weaknesses, favoritism's - you may think you are beyond reproach, but if you do have a vested interest it will show through to the audience.
Your job is to deliver facts to your audience so they can make informed choices. If you deliver lies or distorted facts, you are adding to the confusion rather than clarifying issues. That is not journalism. Accuracy in our fact checking is at the heart of all we do.
Being manipulated and not realizing it is the biggest danger to fact-checking"
Below is an example of what NOT to do when writing a news story.
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