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.

It sounds easy, but we are dealing with volatile raw material.

Handled carelessly, the facts we uncover, research and present have the power to cause misunderstandings, damage and could change the course of history.

That's why it's essential that we apply robust fact checking to all our journalism.

This is the process that distinguishes facts from rumour and gossip.

The following is a checklist that all journalists might want to follow if they are to play an effective role in informing the public debate.

1: Are you preventing thorough fact checking?

The first obstacle to accurate fact checking could be yourself.

Do you have a vested interest in the topic, as opposed to a genuine journalistic interest?

Did you investigate the situation because you have a desired outcome in mind?

Are you trying to make the facts fit a headline you have already written in your head?

If so, you may have compromised your objectivity which might make it difficult to produce a piece of journalism that is strictly factual.

Of course there will always be causes dear to your heart, but this must not let this influence your work.

2: The two reliable sources rule

Most media organisations have a rule that all facts should be confirmed by two reliable sources.

Often the wires will be counted as one source.

The journalist then has to find another source that is willing to go on record to verify the information.

Ideally, you should be able to attribute the information found to that named source.

Sometimes, because of legal reasons, privacy issues or the likelihood of danger, it is not advisable to name sources.

In such cases you need to be sure that your source is trustworthy.

You will need to be able to convince your editor that the source is legitimate and the information the source is sharing is correct.

3: Don't rely on the news wires, they could be wrong

Some media organisations simply copy and paste wires stories.

That's fine; media organisations pay a lot of money for wires feeds, so they may as well make the most of them.

However, the wires will sometimes get it wrong and issue retractions.

You don't want to have to apologise to your audience for having blindly copied and pasted unverified information.

If you do, you may have let your audience down and you will have reduced the standing of your media organisation, and yourself, in the minds of those who had previously turned to you for verified and reliable information.

4: Who can a journalist trust?

Well, the truth is nobody. A journalist must never get into the position where they accept what they are told without scrutinising the information.

Journalists should take a sceptical 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 cosy relationship that results in you dropping your guard, compromising your standards and publishing or broadcasting incomplete or unreliable information.

5: Breaking news, attribution and qualification

There will be times when you break the two-sources rule.

There may be breaking news on the wires and, although you are unable to confirm the information, you have evidence that it has happened and want to get the news out quickly.

This will be a senior editorial call. In those cases you will add the words ‘according to the wires' or some similar attribution.

You also may want to qualify the information by saying ‘we have not yet been able to confirm the reports' or similar words.

There are other exceptions.

When I worked on my first newspaper we would do the daily calls to the police, fire and ambulance services.

They would read the list of incidents that had taken place since the last call. We would then seek out witnesses, neighbours etc before publishing.

When I moved to local radio we had hourly news deadlines.

We would call the emergency services from the newsroom and broadcast with attribution and qualification, such as ‘police are reporting that', or ‘according to police'.

However, for big stories we would always seek confirmation either by sending a reporter to the scene or calling victims or those affected.

6: Stakeholder influences and sources

So, to recap, a journalist is bombarded with facts and so-called facts.

These come from a wide variety of sources; stakeholders, contacts, the journalist's own research and digging.

Whatever the source, whether it is a previously reliable contact, a trusted friend, or a figure in authority, the same rigour needs to be applied to all fact checking.

Senior colleagues: Did your editor or a senior editorial figure push this story? If so, why? What was their reason? Don't presume that a story handed down to you to follow up is a legitimate story.

News releases: Did the information come from a news release? If so, what is it that the publisher wants to promote or hide? Your job is to reflect both sides of the story.

Wires: Why did the news agency pick up on that particular point? What's the reason for putting it out? Did they just regurgitate a news release?

General public: Did you get this information direct from a contact? Are they reliable? Are you sure 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 utmost integrity? Could they be expecting favours? 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, favouritisms - 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 untruths 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 realising it is the biggest danger to fact checking

Note: This piece was written in response to a request from an editor in Africa for a simple tip-sheet on fact checking for journalists, to be used in local training. Media Helping Media frequently receives requests for training modules. If you have any needs that are not already covered in our training section, please use the contact us form to let us know. We will then see if anyone can write one for you.

The image used at the top of this page is adapted from a photograph by machineproject from Flickr and reproduced under the Creative Commons.