Today’s situation poses an issue journalists have never before dealt with. Social media and youtube present news seconds after it occurs. This tempts professional reporters to publish news immediately because it could be corrected later. But, we must refrain from publishing until our sources are verified because that is what makes us credible.
As stated in the presentation, verification is the beating heart of credible journalism in the public interest. A quote I especially liked from the reading says, “Improving the discipline of verification may be the most important step journalists can take to improve the quality of news and public discussion.” Verification is what sets professional journalists apart from news on online written by anyone. Frankly, verification is the only reason there are jobs for professional reporters.
Journalists must be active finders of the truth. As the book stated it, “Journalists must be truth seekers and truth presenters.” It is important to be open with the audience, and to be as transparent as possible. From the presentation I learned that it is okay to explain how you learned something and why you believe it.
There are five key rules to the techniques of verification: edit with skepticism, keep an accuracy checklist, assume nothing, remember Tom French’s pencil, and of course be careful with anonymous sources. Using anonymous sources can be a disaster waiting to happen. The best plan of action with anonymous sources is to use them to find information that can direct you to other sources.
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