The Future of Journalism: fact checking

What is this blog about?

"The Future Of Journalism" was created January 2010. The purpose of this blog is to focus on articles, interviews, etc. that have to deal with the future of journalism in regards to the future of print, future of shield laws, ethical dilemmas, and whatever else I may find to contribute. This blog may also feature other random articles/issues that I find relevant or amusing. I try to update twice a week. Some of my posts may be directed more toward my views on a particular article or piece of news. In this case the name "Future of Journalism" is referring to myself as being apart of the future of journalism. I was always nervous about blogging, but I hope this will be a positive addition in regards to my career as a print/web Journalist [and long term goal as a Managing Editor, I love editing. I go through articles with a fine-toothed comb and search for any comma out of place, lead not strong enough, fact unattributed].Web blog created by Nikky Raney for New England School of Communication's "Web Reporting" Class taught by Katy England, Editor of The Maine Edge.

Who is Nikky Raney?

I am currently a student at New England School of Communications with a concentration of print and web journalism. I was editor of NESCom and; Husson University's campus paper during the first semester of my freshman year. I was previously the managing editor of largest broadsheet student run newspaper in New England, The Tide. As for work non-related to school, I was a paid freelance bi-weekly columnist for Fosters Daily Democrat in 2008. I am a fan of Hunter S. Thompson, Anderson Cooper, Fareed Zakaria, and others. I want to be an investigative journalist and an editor as my future career. I read and research a lot. I always read a variety of news from a variety of sources. I do not limit myself to any specific topic, but the topics that I am most interested in would be politics, crime & controversial issues. I keep myself up-to-date with all news: international, political, health, environmental, sports, crime, education, celebrity, entertainment, technology, business, etc. My posts are done from my personal 13" 2010 Macbook Pro (early 20th birthday present).

Blogging is not Reporting

"So much for Objective Journalism. Don't bother to look for it here — not under any byline of mine; or anyone else I can think of. With the possible exception of things like box scores, race results, and stock market tabulations, there is no such thing as Objective Journalism. The phrase itself is a pompous contradiction in terms." --Hunter S. Thompson.

One of the journalists I respect the most. I hope to prove him wrong about the objectivity in articles, but for the purpose of this blog his quote helps me loosen up a bit and accept that I don't need to go out of my way to be objective when writing this blog.

COMPULSIVE SHARING

I have this habit of always letting the journalist inside me take over. Whenever I see an article/story/video/photo that really strikes my interest a little red flag in my brain goes off after I hit the "add to favorites" button. I instantly click "SHARE." Websites have made it so easy for me. I instantly share articles I read on Twitter & Facebook with a simple click! So, my Facebook & Twitter page has some interesting personal stuff, but most of the time it is filled with my constant sharing of information. I love to keep others informed & educated.

Showing posts with label fact checking. Show all posts

Lindsay Lohan is not dead: Rumor started from Wikipedia post By: Nikky Raney

Posted in Labels: accuracy, blogging, citizen journalism, credibility, death, earsucker, exclusive, fact checking, google, lindsay lohan, nikkyraney, rumors, rush limbaugh, twitter, wikipedia, yahoo, zennie62.com | at 10:27 AM

Lindsay Lohan has been the victim of the most recent celebrity death rumor. While there have been two recent deaths within these past few days: Lindsay Lohan is not one of them.

There have been so many blog posts, tweets, videos and e-mails sent "confirming" that Lindsay Lohan is dead and urging all bloggers to post about it. The numerous e-mails from readers asking to post about Lindsay Lohan's death was astounding, because why would readers advocate covering a story that had no evidence.

(Screenshot of Wikipedia post taken from Earsucker.com)

So why cover it if it isn't true? There are enough blogs that have actually "exclusively" reported that Lindsay Lohan is in fact dead, that maybe a couple posts stating that this is a rumor will slip in there. Rechecking from minute to minute it seems like some blogs are DELETING the "exclusive" posts about her UNTRUE death. There are over twelve questions on Yahoo answers asking if Lindsay Lohan is really dead.

Now, without any interviews directly with Lindsay Lohan there is no direct proof that these are false rumors. How do these rumors begin? Well, sources are citing WIKIPEDIA for the finding out Lindsay Lohan's death.

(Screenshot from July 14 at 10:00 am. Google search: "Lindsay Lohan dead.")

Wikipedia also claimed the Rush Limbaugh was dead a while back. Wikipedia should not be used as a source to find complete accurate information. Wikipedia is not considered a credible or reliable source, and to be honest I see more magazines using Twitter as a credible source. There are quotes in Newsweek taken from tweets, and tweets are proving to be more reliable than Wikipedia.

What's even worse? People are using tweets from a FAKE Kim Kardashian Twitter account to justify this - the account doesn't even spell "Kardashian" correctly. Fact-checking and researching before clicking that "PUBLISH POST" button is important.

Never will Wikipedia be cited within a blog post from me - except in circumstances like this where Wikipedia is being exposed for its unreliability. So many readers use Wikipedia as a source for information, and so many believe that Wikipedia is truly reliable. Although there may be studies that claim Wikipedia is just as accurate as other web encyclopedias - the celebrity death rumors and inaccuracies that Wikipedia posts are more frequently discussed and misinforming.

Looks like The Future of Journalism is going to be expecting a post about CREDIBLE SOURCES and how to do research and find credible sources. This is crucial to journalism AND blogging, because bloggers become "citizen journalists," and people actually use blogs (and even Wikipedia or Twitter) as their [only] way to obtain news on a daily basis.

Maybe this post took over an hour to write, but that's due to the fact checking, looking for other sources to confirm, and making sure to get everything straight. It doesn't matter if this isn't the FIRST post confirming Wikipedia was wrong - it matters that this post is accurate and provides the reader with the information needed from reliable sources.

x-posted from Zennie62.

Nikky Raney

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Comments Matter.

Posted in Labels: blogging, bloggr, comments, copy editing, fact checking, future of journalism, journalism, nikky raney, respect, san francisco chronicle, twitter | at 1:55 PM

Pretty cool: Yesterday I sent an e-mail to a blogger for the San Francisco Chronicle commenting on the flaws in the copy-editing & fact-checking of his blog entries Not only did he RESPOND to me in a positive/thankful way, he then sent me a FOLLOW request on Twitter. I feel pretty respectful & respected right now. I thought that my comment would be perceived as naive criticism from one of the many commentators.

This proves that no matter who you are, or how insignificant you may think your comment is. Even if there are 1,000,000 comments - your stills may be read & may have an influence on the writer. I know I see rude comments all the time on articles, blogs, etc. all the time. I do a lot of commenting as well (as an observer, not as a critic), and it is good to know that I'm not just wasting my time typing out what I think.

I am not going to post the comment or post who the person is, because I don't want to put any unwanted spotlight on him. I accept his follower request and I am also following him in return. It just made me feel good to know that I wasn't just looked at as "19-year-old journalism student who is trying to criticize a San Francisco Chronicle Blogger," and by the way he is also a business man and deals with advertising & hosts a show that is watched by many online.

Let this be a lesson to us.

Next time you comment on a blog, article, etc. think of what you would do if the person sent you a response. I had been unable to leave a comment so I had e-mailed the man, but it is the same concept. I did not leave a vicious or overly rude comment (it was a mature comment with a critical tone), but that doesn't mean that it could not have been taken in that manner. I feel respected and I feel respectful.

P.S. If you are one of the people on Twitter who follow & read my posts then you may know who I am referring to if you are going through my Twitter followers/posts. If you want to go do your own research and figure it out for yourself then so be it, but I don't think that those details are pivotal to this blog entry. I am talking about my personal experience in comparison to commenting as a whole.

Cheers :)

"Be careful. Journalism is more addictive than crack cocaine. Your life can get out of balance." -- Dan Rather

The Future of Journalism

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Lindsay Lohan is not dead: Rumor started from Wikipedia post By: Nikky Raney

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