I did not mean to continue this discussion, and drag it on to bore everyone to death. Permit me your indulgences to raise a few queries from Santosh.
This issue is not just important to an understanding of journalism. More importantly, because the "at least two independent sources for any factual information he provides his readers" has been used (in my view) to take away attention from the substantive issues raised in my earlier article, to question my functioning, and also to discredit ex-editor (Mid-Day, Delhi) John Dayal. Santosh's contention that he got this "two independent sources" logic from "sources too many to remember in the American news media" isn't very convincing to me. Are you suggesting that Dayal's facts are untrue, or attempting to discredit Dayal and use the quote to shift attention from the point that my article seeks to make? I would be interested in knowing if you have any other set of figures for the fallout from the recent communal violence in Orissa, Karnataka and some other pockets. >From the African and Philippines sites you quote, I am still to understand where you got the idea that my writing is a transgression of "an ethical obligation to make sure that they have two independent sources before they report something as fact". Check this: "New York Times's minimal standard for reporting a fact not otherwise attributed to a single speaker is that it be verified by at least two independent sources." [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_sources] I would like to ask Santosh (a) whether he recognises a difference between news-reports, feature article (such as a cover story for a monthly magazine) or news features, and other genres of journalism and (b) whether he accepts that there can be some difference between "a fact not otherwise attributed to a single speaker" and a statement clearly attributed to an identified person? In the interest of not wanting to drag on this point in a way that bores everyone, I rest my case. FN 2009/1/6 Santosh Helekar <[email protected]>: > >From sources too many to remember in the American news media. > But here are two that I found just now, elsewhere: > > 1. An article entitled "The three foundations of journalism" at - > http://www.rap21.org/article18465.html > > Here is the pertinent quote under the subheading "Accuracy": > > "Accuracy: Every journalists code stresses the need for > accuracy. There are no prizes for being fast and wrong. > Writing for a journalist is the skill of presenting information > clearly, concisely and effectively. It is based on hard facts, > so the reporter must know how and where to find reliable > information. A critical challenge is how to reconcile > conflicting accounts of the same event. Many journalistic > organisations insist on the two source rule that means > that every fact must be confirmed by two independent > sources before it can be taken as reliable." > > 2. An article entitled "Media and Conflict in the > Philippines" from the Committee of Concerned > Journalists at - > http://www.concernedjournalists.org/media-and-conflict-philippines -- FN * Independent Journalist http://fn.goa-india.org M: +91-9822122436 P: +91-832-2409490
