Fact checking: ain’t nobody got time for that
Why one of the key tenets of journalism is falling out of favour, and how we plan to reverse the trend.
Fact checking, that basic process which should be the bedrock of all good journalism, is often the very thing that is first neglected in today’s busy newsrooms. In the hustle and bustle of the rolling deadline, effort is focussed on pushing content, beating deadlines and locking down advertising to keep a publication alive.
But in an age where anyone can post anything and call it news, it has become more crucial than for everyone to harm themselves with a sound fact-checking toolkit. More importantly it is the responsibility of journalists to fact check their leaders, sources and even themselves.
That’s why Hacks/Hackers Dar es Salaam (HHDAR) gathered together journalists from some of Tanzania’s leading newsrooms for discussion and knowledge sharing session around fact checking.
Omar Mohammed took guests through the process of professional fact checking, it became very clear that fact checking is time consuming — and not always fully understood.
“I think that its a difficult job for many to do because of the technical aspect, you need to know how to interpret data and to make sense of it to support your argument,” said blogger Pia Rutaiwa.
Fact checking is still relatively foreign to Tanzanian newsrooms. Internationally, publications such as the Washington Post have a special fact checking desk, but locally media houses are still maturing: effort is need to be done to normalise the practice of fact checking in our newsrooms.
Mary Mtili, an online editor says that she can see fact checking working in Tanzanian newsrooms. “We first need to deal with the issue of time or assign someone to produce fact checking stories every week, but I think this is very possible.”
In essence fact checking is very simple, Omar shows the guest the various steps:
- Pick a current/relevant topic to talk about.
- Look at a factual statement made by a public figure on this topic.
- Find supporting and/or conflicting data for or against this statement.
- Be creative, use online and real time resources to find your data.
- Never really on one source, fact check your sources against each other.
- Draw you conclusion.
Fact checking is a frame of mind, and underpins inquisitive forms of journalism which rely on fact and data rather than sweeping assumptions. So we now face the challenge of changing journalists mindsets as well as arming them with the technical skills to make fact checking standard practice in all our newsrooms.
The worlds of hackers and journalists are coming together, as reporting goes digital and Internet companies become media empires.
Journalists call themselves “hacks,” someone who can churn out words in any situation. Hackers use the digital equivalent of duct tape to whip out code.
Hacker-journalists try and bridge the two worlds. Hacks/Hackers Africa aims to bring all these people together — those who are working to help people make sense of our world. It’s for hackers exploring technologies to filter and visualize information, and for journalists who use technology to find and tell stories. In the age of information overload and collapse of traditional business models for legacy media, their work has become even more crucial.
Code for Africa, is the continent’s largest #OpenData and civic technology initiative, recognises this and is spearheading the establishment of a network of HacksHackers chapters across Africa to help bring together pioneers for collaborative projects and new ventures.
