Included ...
Here is a very basic strategy I think would help: when finished writing but before sending, print out your story. Then, on the printed copy circle every noun (person, place or thing), number, title, address and quote. Then, go through each circled item and check them against the book. As you check and certify that they are correct, put an X-mark over each circle. I promise you that you will catch 95 percent of fatals this way, if you do it carefully and thoroughly.
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PROBLEM: We said the collapse happened at 4:10 p.m., when in fact it happened at 4:40 p.m.
SOLUTION: Same as above, as times are numbers that need to be double-checked for accuracy.
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PROBLEM: We said the collapse took place overlooking a pound, when in fact it was a pond. A spelling error that creates a new word and a change of meaning is a fatal.
SOLUTION: This is an example of a spelling error that spell check won't catch, because the error creates a correctly-spelled but unintended word. After all, pound is spelled correctly, if we were trying to spell pound (which means, among other things, an enclosure where animals or lawbreakers are kept). Problem was, we were trying to spell pond, as in, a small body of water.
One more time: spell check is a supplement to -- but not a substitute for -- checking your story fact-by-fact, line-by-line, and quote-by-quote to ensure accuracy.
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PROBLEM: We spelled the last name of Chenn name as Chen, with one too few N's.
SOLUTION: Same as earlier noted. No such thing as a small error, either we're right or wrong in the same way you can't be a little bit dead.
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Learning to write isn't journalism. Learning to organize information isn't all of journalism. Putting in a system of checking facts before, during and after writing and organizing information is what makes this kind of writing and organizing known as journalism.
The good news is, many of my previous classes had fatals binges, especially early in the semester when we're still reconciling balancing speed and accuracy. The fact is, most people in previous classes get two or three or four fatals in practice stories over the course of the semester, and still end up with a solid grade.
The bad news is, some of us have already used up our three or so fatals. We have to buckle up and start avoiding 'em here and there.
Still, while this is discouraging, let's not get discouraged. The whole point of these exercises -- and getting fatals, too -- is to learn by doing, reviewing what was done, learning what could be done better, and then applying those lessons the next time.
And that's what we're going to do here, by redoubling our efforts to carefully fact-check everything we write.
In a previous blog post, I offered a number of cut-and-pasted handouts on good fact-checking habits. I'm not in the business of handing things out just to be busy; those handouts included many tips we should be integrating into our routines, so we can become relatively fatal-free. You can link directly to those handouts right here.
Let's not let these bad times go to waste. Rather, let's use these mistakes as an opportunity to identify where we tend to trip up and how we can do better the next time, and as motivation to follow through with rigorous fact-checking from here on out.
PROBLEM: We spelled the middle name of the boy as both Roger and Rogers. It was the former.
SOLUTION: We really need to make sure we are giving just as much time to fact-checking after we finish writing as we are actually writing. Avoiding fatals has nothing to do with talent, just vigilance. Please review the fact-checking strategy posts from earlier this semester (that you can find here) and make changes to your proofreading habits as needed.
****
PROBLEM: We said the collapse happened at 4:10 p.m., when in fact it happened at 4:40 p.m.
SOLUTION: Same as above, as times are numbers that need to be double-checked for accuracy.
****
PROBLEM: We said the collapse took place overlooking a pound, when in fact it was a pond. A spelling error that creates a new word and a change of meaning is a fatal.
SOLUTION: This is an example of a spelling error that spell check won't catch, because the error creates a correctly-spelled but unintended word. After all, pound is spelled correctly, if we were trying to spell pound (which means, among other things, an enclosure where animals or lawbreakers are kept). Problem was, we were trying to spell pond, as in, a small body of water.
One more time: spell check is a supplement to -- but not a substitute for -- checking your story fact-by-fact, line-by-line, and quote-by-quote to ensure accuracy.
****
PROBLEM: We spelled the last name of Chenn name as Chen, with one too few N's.
SOLUTION: Same as earlier noted. No such thing as a small error, either we're right or wrong in the same way you can't be a little bit dead.
****
Learning to write isn't journalism. Learning to organize information isn't all of journalism. Putting in a system of checking facts before, during and after writing and organizing information is what makes this kind of writing and organizing known as journalism.
The good news is, many of my previous classes had fatals binges, especially early in the semester when we're still reconciling balancing speed and accuracy. The fact is, most people in previous classes get two or three or four fatals in practice stories over the course of the semester, and still end up with a solid grade.
The bad news is, some of us have already used up our three or so fatals. We have to buckle up and start avoiding 'em here and there.
Still, while this is discouraging, let's not get discouraged. The whole point of these exercises -- and getting fatals, too -- is to learn by doing, reviewing what was done, learning what could be done better, and then applying those lessons the next time.
And that's what we're going to do here, by redoubling our efforts to carefully fact-check everything we write.
In a previous blog post, I offered a number of cut-and-pasted handouts on good fact-checking habits. I'm not in the business of handing things out just to be busy; those handouts included many tips we should be integrating into our routines, so we can become relatively fatal-free. You can link directly to those handouts right here.
Let's not let these bad times go to waste. Rather, let's use these mistakes as an opportunity to identify where we tend to trip up and how we can do better the next time, and as motivation to follow through with rigorous fact-checking from here on out.
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