The truth sandwich: Repeating a lie helps it to live on, writes Craig Newmark.
“I predict that, in 2019, news organizations will start to institute new reporting methods to avoid being complicit. Tactics may include adopting the ‘truth sandwich,’ which means covering a lie by presenting the truth first and then following that lie with a fact-check, as well as increasing newsroom capacity to check claims for accuracy in real time, prior to publishing a story.”
Regaining public trust in journalism: “News organizations and journalism educators should teach members of the public (and their own journalists) how to stop being used as pawns in the meta-game of online disinformation,” writes Marie Shanahan.
“One antidote to modern information gamesmanship is more ethics and professional reporting.”
Scalp headline an ethical lapse: Native American Journalists Association criticizes a newspaper for reference to genocidal practices.
“Referring to the act of scalping Indigenous people violates the dignity of men, women and children that were victims of the practice,” says the association.
“More importantly, such language downplays crimes now defined as genocide by human rights observers and glorifies such racially-motivated acts by ignoring context at the expense of Indigenous people.”
Burned out journalists: Journalists are wilting under information overload, writes John Crowley. Hacks smooth their workload, like inbox zero.
“Management, either through wilful ignorance or a strong desire to react to the changing face of digital journalism, are simply asking journalists to stay connected far too much,” writes Crowley.
Denying coverage to Nazis: An Arkansas television station thinks about the news value in covering a Nazi rally, then decides to “give them silence,” writes Al Tompkins.
News director learns the protestors are not local, protesting an issue of no local importance.
BuzzFeed adopts rules for covering mass shootings: Don’t shy away from the story, but don’t glorify the assailant.
Sydney Smith describes guidelines for language on mass shootings. All interviews should be considered on the record until a reporter agrees to go off the record or on background.
Covering wildfires: The devastating California fires change the landscape and journalism, writes Audrey Cooper.
“There is a perception that journalists simply take from the victims,” she writes. “We do take their stories, their photos. We do these things not because we relish it but because the public must know. There is power in the truth, even if it is a truth some would rather not see.”
Hexing tax collectors: Sydney Smith offers a roundup of recent media corrections.
Historical facts, names and numbers trip journalists, including Romanian witches.
“Stories aren’t the only content that needs editing,” writes Smith. “Case in point, an NPR graphic on the midterm elections had numerous errors.”
Criticizing journalists responsibly: Don’t make it personal, writes Philip Eil.
“In all cases, stick to the work, not the person,” he writes. Journalists are perfectionists. If your goal is to cause emotional pain, pointing to flaws in their work is often more upsetting than a personal attack.
It’s “a good time for a refresher for citizens on what constitutes a healthy, constructive conversation about the work we produce,” Eil writes.
How rape is covered by news media: News reflects rape culture, or local norms toward sexual assault, writes Meg Dalton.
“Rape culture is difficult to measure,” she writes, “but there are a few common characteristics like victim blaming, implying victim consent, questioning victim credibility and empathy for the alleged perpetrator.”
