Journalism students can definitely relate to the learning process that is the foundation to accuracy. We are constantly reminded of the importance of checking our copy for errors, double checking, triple checking, printing, and then checking again. We are also reminded that behind accuracy are good habits. However, since we are students, we will inevitably make mistakes, but opposed to the working journalists, we have the privilege of allowing ourselves to make mistakes. This is the time to make them. If fact, making our mistakes now will teach us to avoid them later. Craig Silverman has composed three steps to prevent errors on his website regrettheerror.com.
Inaccuracies do exist even in the most thoroughly edited copy: An example is from an article from Leader Post about the Chilean earthquake: "The government imposed a night-time curfew in Concepcion and the Maule region in a bid to stop looting and army troops began to arrive in the city late on Sunday." The writer should have put a comma before 'and army troops' to mark the beginning of a new sentence. Although this is not a serious mistake, it could impair the reader's understanding or the paragraph. Another example is from The Edmonton Journal in a story about hockey headshots: "Asked if he thinks the league is getting closer to something all parties can live with in a fast-moving contact sport, Burke told the Toronto Sun via e-mail: 'I believe we will present a rule change that will help reduce blind-side hits resulting in injury.'" Obviously, there is a word missing from the beginning of the sentence, but it could be corrected by inserting 'when' at the beginning. The third mistake comes from The Vancouver Sun in a story about the trial of David Letterman's extortionist: "Increased numbers of viewers tuned in after Letterman, 62, used his show Oct. 1 to reveal the extortion plot following Halderman’s arrest that day." The journalist should have indicated that 'Oct. 1' is in fact not the name of the show, but the day Letterman revealed the extortion plot on his show. This could easily be indicated by writing 'on' before the date.
Although the errors made by professional are serious, they are also helpful to the learning process of journalists. As in many other professions, the consequences of making a mistake condition us to fear making it again. Painful experience will teach us in a completely different way than getting a bad mark in school for error-riddled or inaccurate stories. I think Robert Smethurst sums up the notion of the learning process excellently in his blog post on this matter: "A journalist is not born, he or she is made."
On the other hand, journalists must keep in mind that they bear an enormous responsibility on their shoulders. The misspelling of a name can bring unforeseeable consequences: the worst case scenario would be accusing someone of a crime archaically by having misspelled the offender’s name. News organizations pride themselves with providing accurate, unbiased information to the public, and the public will mostly take for granted that the information provided are facts. Therefore, journalist's errors can cause irreparable harm and must not be taken lightly. Even typos and other seemingly minor offences in grammar can make the readers question the accuracy and reliability of the journalist or the publication. Although errors are human, journalists should work hard to avoid mistakes.
Inaccuracies do exist even in the most thoroughly edited copy: An example is from an article from Leader Post about the Chilean earthquake: "The government imposed a night-time curfew in Concepcion and the Maule region in a bid to stop looting and army troops began to arrive in the city late on Sunday." The writer should have put a comma before 'and army troops' to mark the beginning of a new sentence. Although this is not a serious mistake, it could impair the reader's understanding or the paragraph. Another example is from The Edmonton Journal in a story about hockey headshots: "Asked if he thinks the league is getting closer to something all parties can live with in a fast-moving contact sport, Burke told the Toronto Sun via e-mail: 'I believe we will present a rule change that will help reduce blind-side hits resulting in injury.'" Obviously, there is a word missing from the beginning of the sentence, but it could be corrected by inserting 'when' at the beginning. The third mistake comes from The Vancouver Sun in a story about the trial of David Letterman's extortionist: "Increased numbers of viewers tuned in after Letterman, 62, used his show Oct. 1 to reveal the extortion plot following Halderman’s arrest that day." The journalist should have indicated that 'Oct. 1' is in fact not the name of the show, but the day Letterman revealed the extortion plot on his show. This could easily be indicated by writing 'on' before the date.
Although the errors made by professional are serious, they are also helpful to the learning process of journalists. As in many other professions, the consequences of making a mistake condition us to fear making it again. Painful experience will teach us in a completely different way than getting a bad mark in school for error-riddled or inaccurate stories. I think Robert Smethurst sums up the notion of the learning process excellently in his blog post on this matter: "A journalist is not born, he or she is made."
On the other hand, journalists must keep in mind that they bear an enormous responsibility on their shoulders. The misspelling of a name can bring unforeseeable consequences: the worst case scenario would be accusing someone of a crime archaically by having misspelled the offender’s name. News organizations pride themselves with providing accurate, unbiased information to the public, and the public will mostly take for granted that the information provided are facts. Therefore, journalist's errors can cause irreparable harm and must not be taken lightly. Even typos and other seemingly minor offences in grammar can make the readers question the accuracy and reliability of the journalist or the publication. Although errors are human, journalists should work hard to avoid mistakes.
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