Reviewing Lesson 8
Lesson 8.8
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Here's the summary of what we covered in Lesson 8:
Facts as well as falsehoods are consequential, and can lead to far-reaching consequences if spread incorrectly.
In the context of this course, Truth is defined as the best version of the truth as it is known right now proportional to the evidence.
The collection of this evidence is known as the Process of Verification.
Journalistic Truth is built on the idea that the truth is Provisional, and will change over time as the evidence changes.
The Journalist's Process of Verification should follow these rules:
Gather, assess, and weigh evidence & information
Place facts in the big picture to give context by which to form an accurate impression of what has happened.
Explain how they know what they know – and what they don’t know: which translates as transparency.
There are two main types of evidence collected by the journalist: Direct Evidence , which is captured from the source & Indirect Evidence, which comes second hand.
There is a heirarchy of direct evidence which lists videos and photographs as stronger evidence than documentary evidence, and an eyewitness account from a journalist is stronger than the eyewitness account from a citizen.
The process of verification can fail when:
Journalists rush to get the story first, jump the gun.
Facing deadline, some journalists get sloppy or provide incomplete reports
People (sources) give reporters incorrect information…or outright lie.
When considering the process of verification, the news consumer should always ask: "Did the Reporter Open the Freezer?"
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