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Does old media really factcheck?

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    #62
    expectationlost
    Registered Users Posts: 11,753 ✭✭✭✭expectationlost


    IRE60 wrote: »
    You'd have to wonder where the buck stops. The primary source of data in an article would be from the journalist. So, what then is the role of those on the backbench - primarily the sub who is tasked to shoehorn the story into a given space - assigned by the chief-sub/page designer - and craft a headline in a given space.

    So, if the article has some 'fact' - 'Joe Bloggs, a Labour Councillor' - does the sub down tools and hit the Labour website to verify this? or 'Joe Bloggs, 45' - does he do a wiki search to verify the birthday? Where does the line of trust exist between the reporter and the sub?

    If a sub saw 'Joe Bloggs, a convicted fraudster' - I think he'd flag that for verification from the reporter as that would if incorrect fall into the realms of the Golden Arches.

    Again another anecdote: I was in a production environment ensuring that pages made their way to pre-press in an orderly and timely fashion. I noticed that a solicitor had recalled a page already past pre-press, so i had to take issue with this. Solicitor wanted a line rewritten in a story about an accident on the Quays.

    The line we had read (roughly) that a car collided with a Bus. The line change requested (and changed) was that 'the car and the bus were in a collision'. Its up to the courts, not the paper, to apportion blame- which we had done in the first instance. Should the sub have caught that? Is that a 'fact check'


    well how do they prevent mistakes? how do they fact check? having the writer factcheck something is never going to be enough to prevent mistakes, newspapers have the benefit of multiple people working for them, thats what makes them different to anything else, thats what we're told.

    do modern print/digital CMS allow copy-marks along with the copy, like CQ or links to sources even if they are not published

    was that the in-house solicitor? its not a fact check its a 'legal' or at least an editorial issue.


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    #63
    Harry Palmr
    Closed Accounts Posts: 40,061 ✭✭✭✭Harry Palmr


    Der Spiegel certainly doesn't

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/19/top-der-spiegel-journalist-resigns-over-fake-interviews
    The German news magazine Spiegel has been plunged into chaos after revealing that one of its top reporters had falsified stories over several years.

    The media world was stunned by the revelations that the multi award-winning journalist Claas Relotius had, according to the weekly, “made up stories and invented protagonists” in at least 14 out of 60 articles that appeared in its print and online editions, warning that other outlets could also be affected.

    Relotius, 33, resigned after admitting to the scam. He had written for the magazine for seven years and won numerous awards for his investigative journalism, including CNN Journalist of the Year in 2014.


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    #64
    IRE60
    Registered Users Posts: 1,880 ✭✭✭IRE60


    Harry Palmr wrote: »
    Der Spiegel certainly doesn't

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/19/top-der-spiegel-journalist-resigns-over-fake-interviews

    Harry, How timely! I just read the article and I watched a film about 6 months ago about a (possibly) New York times reporter who was caught - but then his life was taken over buy a guy writing under his name - I'll be back.. (with the name)


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    #65
    IRE60
    Registered Users Posts: 1,880 ✭✭✭IRE60


    IRE60 wrote: »
    Harry, How timely! I just read the article and I watched a film about 6 months ago about a (possibly) New York times reporter who was caught - but then his life was taken over buy a guy writing under his name - I'll be back.. (with the name)

    https://m.imdb.com/title/tt2273657/

    True Story - great watch


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    #66
    expectationlost
    Registered Users Posts: 11,753 ✭✭✭✭expectationlost


    Harry Palmr wrote: »
    Der Spiegel certainly doesn't

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/19/top-der-spiegel-journalist-resigns-over-fake-interviews


    in 2010 Der Spiegel was said to have the worlds largest fact checking team 80 people https://archives.cjr.org/behind_the_news/inside_the_worlds_largest_fact.php and still had 70 people on in 2017 https://digiday.com/media/inside-spiegels-70-person-fact-checking-team/

    heres an interview with the editor of the new republic at the time Stephen Glass was caught https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1509330 he says fact checking is meant to catch honest mistakes not deliberate fraud, but it really seems that he just let juicy stories that fit his world view be published and didin't check them


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    #67
    expectationlost
    Registered Users Posts: 11,753 ✭✭✭✭expectationlost


    apparently what these Glass's, Blairs and this new guy etc do what is known as "narrative journalism" its something I generally ignore.


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    #68
    Elmo
    Registered Users Posts: 23,641 ✭✭✭✭Elmo


    One question on all of this:-

    If a journalist/columnist states that something happened them does/should the editor look for evidence?

    e.g. lets say a journalist is attacked should their editor look for CCTV footage of the act or get a second person to verify that they saw the attack? Or is it okay for a journalist to recount something that could be proven to be wrong in the future?


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