Categories
Business Life

Human, All Too Human

<![CDATA[First Draft by Tim Porter: Reading the Vanishing Newspaper, 5: Accuracy in Reporting: The sad news contained in the fourth chapter of Philip Meyer’s new book, of “The Vanishing Newspaper, Saving Journalism in the Information Age,” is not that newspapers are error prone – that’s been acknowledged for some time – but that sources of […]

<![CDATA[First Draft by Tim Porter: Reading the Vanishing Newspaper, 5: Accuracy in Reporting:

The sad news contained in the fourth chapter of Philip Meyer’s new book, of “The Vanishing Newspaper, Saving Journalism in the Information Age,” is not that newspapers are error prone – that’s been acknowledged for some time – but that sources of news stories believe the most common reason for mistakes is that reporters don’t understand the subject they are reporting on.

Meyer surveyed people quotes as sources in news stories in 20 communities to determine the accuracy of the newspapers in those cities, the affect of errors on the newspapers’ credibility and which type of mistakes sources considered the most serious. Meyers also asked the sources why they thought errors happen.

I don’t think anyone is surprised by the fact errors get into print, the amazing thing is that bloggers condemn journalists for printing errors. If we’re entering an era that will be informed through more human forms of expression, we’d better get used to more mistakes, not less.]]>