Unfogged notes some bullshit in a newspaper story (about a library). But here’s the big question, in comments:
Has anyone here ever read a newspaper article about something they had firsthand knowledge of, and not noticed substantial inaccuracies in the article?
Well? Anyone?
3 comments on “A question”
Nope. Never. Always something substantive wrong, misrepresented, or misinterpreted. I have seen everything spelled right, though.
Once. My only experience was almost ten years ago and there was some interest in a project being undertaken by the library where I worked. The columnist (one I respected) wrote about something that was not recognizable as the project being undertaken.
More recently, my spouse has been getting interviewed the last six months for some research she did. Only one out of the 12-20 interviews she’s done has resulted in an article that fairly characterized her work.
I have, yes.
Mostly in local venues where the issues and personalities are pretty well known, or the reporter is reasonably responsible about checking with people. Also, some organizations I know have gotten pretty good at getting accurate information out to journalists.
What bugs me more than bad initial reporting is lousy follow-up reporting: when the “first draft” junk gets recycled instead of corrected.