Maybe it's the editor in me, but inaccurate information bothers me. I think it should alarm all of us, and we should be cautious to accept any information we hear without cross-checking it and validating its truthfulness. We conduct our lives in cyclones of information, and through twitter, facebook, blogging, constant updating of news Web sites and word-of-mouth, we are inundated with fact and fiction. As a communications professional, I want my audience to know that what I'm saying is transparent. I want to give you the evidence so that you can make the decision. If I can clarify something to make it more accurate or more precise, I want to make that transparent, as well. I am thankful for the readers of my stories and for their great discourse. Though no one likes when we have to correct something, pointing out a botched fact or half-truth and acknowledging it as such allows me to take my perceptions (and sometimes misperceptions) from what I'm writing and be a better writer with a better story to tell.
Here are a few of my favorite places to learn about the issues and whether they're being accurately reported or commented on. I urge you to check out what's being said (and who's saying it) to make sure you are actually getting the real story.
- Snopes for urban legends and e-mail chain letters
- FactCheck.org is my source for non-partisan sorting through of political claims
- and sometimes I use PolitiFact
Do you have any other places that you use to verify rumors or fact check?
No comments:
Post a Comment