Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/11/19
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]B.D.: >I'll tell you what - On a day we agree on, you call me at 2 p.m., and >I'll assign you to write a story of 1200 words which you have to report >and have written and turned into me by 6 p.m. >Journalists face a near impossible >task; in fact, if you expect perfection, they face an impossible task. >I get so damn sick and tired of hearing people say - 'any time I know >anything about a subject, some reporter gets it wrong.' Given that reporters are often such time pressure that it's nearly impossible for them to get their facts straight and verified by independent sources, then why do you get sick of hearing that? I thought reporting news was about conveying accurate information. Not just timely. Not just "good enough because we didn't have time to check the facts." If it's not accurate, what's the point? To remind you, this thread started because a local paper reported an urban legend as fact in regards to how twain got its name. Ruben said words to the effect of, "I'm not joking--it's true. I read it in the paper." When the paper can't be trusted, what's it matter if somebody wrote a 1200 word story in 4 hours? I'd say maybe he needed 6 hours. I'm not trying to insult journalists. Everybody makes mistakes. But isn't that why papers are supposed to have copy editors and fact checkers? If erroneous information repeatedly gets published, that means the process is broken. And it is. Eric - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html