HomeManaging a media businessConvergence: workflows, roles and responsibilities
Managing a media business

Convergence: workflows, roles and responsibilities

David Brewer
By David Brewer
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This presentation outline is based on the article Accuracy in journalism. It's free to download, adapt, and use under the terms of Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0

Accuracy in journalism

The foundation of journalistic trust and ethics

Media Helping Media


The prime directive

  • Accuracy is the most important factor in journalism.
  • Rule one is simple: get it right.
  • Precision is at the heart of all journalism.
  • If you cannot respect the absolute need for accuracy, journalism is not the career for you.

Consequences of inaccuracy

Mistakes, whether trivial or serious, have devastating effects:

  • Loss of trust: Damaging the essential relationship with your audience.
  • Legal risks: Potential for being sued or facing legal action.
  • Societal impact: Risk of destroying reputations, triggering social unrest, or even crashing economies.

Quality over speed

  • Getting it right is always more important than being first.
  • Time pressure is never an excuse for inaccuracy.
  • Being first with the news offers no consolation if the report is wrong.
  • There must be zero tolerance for mistakes in professional reporting.

The burden of proof

  • Knowing is not enough; a journalist must be able to prove their claims.
  • Every fact must be supported by verifiable evidence.
  • Journalists are responsible for the accuracy of everything in their story, regardless of the source.
  • Do not repeat information from archives or the internet without independent verification.

Effective record keeping

Maintaining a trail of evidence protects the journalist:

  • Keep scrupulously careful and legible notes.
  • Save recordings and other evidence safely.
  • Retaining records allows you to demonstrate accuracy if your reporting is ever challenged.
  • The best reporters keep their notebooks for their entire careers.

Handling unverified information

  • If you have doubts, attribute statements to the source rather than asserting them as fact.
  • Never assume someone is telling the truth just because they said it.
  • In breaking news, if information cannot yet be verified, attribute it clearly to the source.
  • Transparency about what is and isn't confirmed helps maintain credibility.

Respecting personal details

  • Journalists owe it to the people they report on to get personal details correct.
  • Names, ages, and addresses must be absolutely right.
  • Being casual with personal details is a sign of disrespect to the subject.
  • Inaccurate personal data diminishes audience trust.

The ethical connection

Accuracy is the foundation of all other journalistic ethics:

  • Impartiality: Neutrality has no value if the underlying facts are wrong.
  • Fairness: You cannot be fair to a subject if your reporting is inaccurate.
  • No agenda: The journalist's role is to unearth and display information, not to fabricate or manipulate.

Summary: The accuracy checklist

  • [ ] Have you double-checked every single fact?
  • [ ] Can you prove every claim with evidence or notes?
  • [ ] Are personal details (names, ages) 100% correct?
  • [ ] Have you attributed any unverified claims?
  • [ ] Did you resist the urge to publish quickly at the expense of accuracy?

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David Brewer
David Brewerhttps://mediahelpingmedia.org/
David Brewer is the founder and editor of Media Helping Media. He has worked as a journalist and manager in print, broadcast, and online. David was the UK editor for the launch of BBC News Online, becoming the managing editor soon after. Later he was appointed managing editor of CNN.com International EMEA where he set out the editorial proposition, hired staff, and oversaw the launch. David was the managing editor for the launch of CNN Arabic in Dubai, and a launch consultant for Al Jazeera English in Qatar. David has spent many years delivering journalism training worldwide, mainly in transition and post-conflict countries. He is currently mentoring journalists and editors of refugee and exiled media online as well as helping train journalists in countries where the media is still developing.