Take care with the smallest details
not teaching,
still THINKING
What’s right and what’s not? It is a major question these days as we consume and scrutinize every bit of news coming at us from all levels of government and agencies, not to mention from colleagues, family, friends and strangers on social media.
While we are not disseminating information about the coronavirus pandemic, we can offer some simple reminders about all the things that can be wrong in a story.
Watch for — and prevent — these as a journalist. Be aware of them as a consumer.
Name errors
- Misspelled name
- Wrong middle initial
- Last name only in the story
- Information attributed to wrong person
Number errors
- Wrong date or time of an event
- Wrong phone number
- Wrong address
- Wrong increase or decrease
- Wrong percentage
- Millions for billions or billions for millions
Title errors
- Wrong title for a person
- Wrong title for a job
- Wrong title for a report
- Wrong title for a building
- Wrong title for a book or movie
- Wrong title for anything with a title
Photo errors
- Correct picture, wrong name
- Correct name, wrong picture
- People identified in wrong order
- Spelling of name in cutline and story do not match
- Wrong cutline under photo
Superlative errors
- A “first” isn’t first
- A “last” isn’t last
- An “only” isn’t an only
- A superlative of any kind is wrong
A society cannot survive and thrive without accuracy and trust. We must be vigilant with the smallest of details so we can get the major ones right.
(These two profs are no longer teaching at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School, but we are still thinking.)
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