We have ways of fact-checking without giving you access to the story. I
have occasionally given others access to my copy -- in the name of
"accuracy" -- and some sources are OK, others use it as an opportunity
to rewrite my story for me. Their suggestions do not improve the
accuracy, but they do kill any semblance of readability.
Many of my colleagues will NOT risk the hassle, and I don't blame them.
In your if "X is done" example, find a way to drop the caveat. Caveats
are OK in scientific literature, but they do not make good or effective
news copy. Journalists have been telling scientists that for years, but
you seem to have not gotten the message.
Besides, if you were doing such a good job of communicating science, you
would best say "G finds that Y does not happen when X is done." There's
no caveat and no room for misunderstanding.
Don't bash reporters for saying what you said.
Dave
On 4/10/2011 9:42 AM, David L. McNeely wrote:
---- "David M. Lawrence"<[email protected]> wrote:
Let's do a thought experiment here. Do we want journalists clear pieces
with politicians, powerful political interests, and attorneys persons
accused of serious crimes first?
No.
>If not, why should journalists do the
same with scientists?
for accuracy. the scientist is not trying to control what you say, but to help you to be accurate. If the "source"
says, "My data suggest that if X is done, Y will happen, but G has found differently," and the reporter writes,
"If X is done, Y will happen," that is not what the "source" said. You must have misunderstood, and
therefore you wrote an inaccurate story. I would think a clear agreement before would prevent misunderstandings as to what the
"source" is responsible for or not. If you don't want your facts checked, you should not be writing science
journalism. If you are willing to let your sources dictate your story, you should not be in journalism. But fact checking and
dictating the story are different things.
>I personally know a handful of scientists whose
word I would never take for granted -- and I damn sure wouldn't get
their approval of a story I wrote involving them first.
Trust works both ways. It takes trustworthiness on both sides for two
individuals to work together.
mcneely
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