We all make mistakes but as journalists, we must do everything we can to make sure we report the facts and find the truth.
A notepad has three checks on it under the word Information. (Illustration by News Decoder)
In News Decoder’s Top Tips, we share advice for young people from experts in journalism, media literacy and education. In this week’s Top Tip, News Decoder correspondent Jeremy Solomons explains how journalists can make mistakes and why it pays to slow down and check the accuracy and sourcing of information. You can find more of our learning resources here. And learn how you can incorporate our resources and services into your classroom or educational program or by forming a News Decoder Club in your school.
There it was. A seemingly well-sourced, carefully crafted and copy-edited article about a new brand of young, vibrant, national leader, with astonishing levels of commitment, courage, creativity and compassion. All ready to be self-published online.
The only trouble was that my draft article was based on wrong information and it needed to be spiked. That’s a journalism term for sending it to the trash.
Now, I could moan and blame social media and disinformation for this near mistake. Or I could reflect on how close I came to disseminating gross misinformation and share the concrete learnings that I am taking from this quasi-failure.
Be open to new story ideas.
I recently read a WhatsApp post from a trusted Southeast Asian colleague of mine in the United States. He shared an opinion piece from his home country about a relatively new leader in another country in the Global South.
The opinion writer said that this leader recently told public officials: “I don’t want my photographs in your offices because I am not a god or an icon, but a servant of the nation.” He urged them to hang pictures of their children instead.
The writer added that this leader then delivered a ‘devastating moral punch’. “Whenever the spirit of theft visits you,” he said, “take a good look at your family’s picture and ask yourself if they deserve to be the family of a thief who has destroyed the nation.”
It seemed like a great story and when I researched this new leader online, I found posts and articles that corroborated this particularly striking example of a new leader’s bold move against corruption.
And I found other praiseworthy stories about his economic pragmatism and post-colonial idealism.
Trust your gut and triple-check the facts.
As a conscientious former reporter for the Reuters international news service, something troubled me. I thought about something my dearly departed father would say: “If something seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
So right before publication, I decided to verify some of the facts one last time with two in-country sources I knew in Kigali, Rwanda.
In no uncertain terms, one of them challenged most of the core aspects of my article and firmly declared that the particularly praiseworthy, anti-corruption initiative that was the centerpiece of my article was actually not true at all.
She was right. On further investigation, the other stories of this leader’s supposed initiative and success all turned out to be skewed or exaggerated.
And so the article was sadly consigned to the dustbin of fake news.
Find the original sources and quote them directly.
But I was not done. On further investigation, I managed to find a slightly different quotation that the opinion piece was probably based on:
“We will build the country of other opportunities — the one where all are equal before the law and where all the rules are honest and transparent, the same for everyone. And for that, we need people in power who will serve the people. This is why I really do not want my pictures in your offices, for the president is not an icon, an idol or a portrait. Hang your kids’ photos instead and look at them each time you are making a decision.”
And I discovered that the person who said this was none other than Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his inaugural address on 20 May 2019.
His statement does not talk about a “thief who has destroyed the nation” but it is still deeply impactful, particularly in light of his country’s devastating challenges over the last three years.
Be willing to do things differently in future.
I have been a journalist for a long time but here are some key reminders for me of what I need to do going forward:
→ Balance enthusiasm and engagement with integrity and plain hard work;
→ Recognize that in these difficult times, we all yearn for an inspirational story but even with the best of intentions, emotions can get in the way of good judgment;
→ Always take the extra time necessary to track down original and reliable sources;
→ Do this extra work whether you are sharing something with thousands of people on News Decoder or with only one other person in private;
→ If in doubt, cut it out or don’t share it and start again;
→ Have the courage to admit when you are wrong, apologize and make amends as appropriate and learn from that humbling experience.
And just in case you are wondering, my father never claimed that his beloved saying was his.
The original source is unknown but Dictionary.com points out that the term was part of the title of Thomas Lupton’s Sivquila; Too Good to be True, which dates back to the 1580s.
The search for the original source continues as I recall the cynical words of a former official with the title “Minister for the Quality of Life” who counseled journalists to always write “lively and interesting” stories that correspond “where possible” with the truth.
In future, I promise to always try to write truthful stories that are, where possible, lively and interesting.
Questions to consider:
1. Have you ever written or said something that you thought that was true but turned out to be false? If so, what did you do?
2. If not, what would you do if this happens in future?
3. And what will you do from now on to make sure this doesn’t happen?
Jeremy Solomons is a global leadership coach and facilitator, based in Kigali, Rwanda, where he writes regular “Leading Rwanda” and "Letter from Kigali" columns for the New Times newspaper. In the past, he was a Reuters financial reporter in Hong Kong and New York City and then a foreign correspondent in Frankfurt. He was also a farmer in Israel, factory worker and teacher in France, banker in England and Switzerland and entrepreneur in Italy.