Verification

As a reporter and director for Channel Eleven News, I hear errors all the time in information that is told to our viewers. Just the other day, our station claimed an incident happened in France involving a billion people. There aren't even a billion people in France! The mistake was small and silly and seemingly trivial, but small or not, such mistakes demonstrate a lack of verification and therefore a lack of truth.

Verification is critical to journalism.

Even minor mistakes can cause a plethora of confusion and misinformation. Assertion is not enough--simply saying that something is fact doesn't make it fact. Even if the information sounds credible, it should always be supported by bona fide sources.

The "Elements of Journalism" says that seeking multiple witnesses, disclosing as much as possible about sources, and asking many sides for comment, are tools in the discipline of verification. A major element of verification is objectivity meaning that the journalist is not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts. I liked the included list of concepts that form the foundation of the discipline of verification:

1. Never add anything that was not there
-It is never OK to add things that didn't happen! Sometimes it's easy to assume additional details to the story, but until they are verified, the "fact" remains fiction. When in doubt, leave it out!
2. Never deceive the audience
-A journalist's job is to inform the public in the public's best interest. Sometimes including assertions that make the story more interesting is tempting, but still...not OK.
3. Be as transparent as possible about your methods and motives
- Reveal the directness of your knowledge, you sources, your bias. Even if a journalist doesn't know the answer, they should admit it. The more honest and open a journalist is with their audience, the more trust they will gain--viewers appreciate when a journalist admits they're human :).
4. Rely on your own original reporting
-It's the same thing we've all heard over and over again since elementary school--Do your own work!!! Michael Oresekes said, "...the people who worried about getting beaten, rather than just trying to do it as well as they could as quickly as they could, messed up."
5. Exercise humility
-I think humility is a HUGE part of being an authentic journalist. Journalists should accept that they don't know everything, and should always be open to constructive and even deconstructive criticism. They should have confidence but still carry a hint of skepticism about their work.

I wasn't in class the day my class presented on this topic, but I personally feel I can really relate to the topic of verification right now. As a reporter for KBYU, sometimes I find myself feeling lazy and asserting more than verifying just to get a story done. But even as a student journalist, I remind myself that I'm still a voice to the community. And if I don't start verifying now, at what point will I actually make a priority? Verification is an important habit to develop from the beginning. I also think it's something that makes journalists better people outside of their profession in creating patterns of honesty and integrity.

This article mentions some interesting things about the Principles of Journalism and verification: http://www.journalism.org/resources/principles "This discipline of verification is what separates journalism from other modes of communication, such as propaganda, fiction or entertainment."