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Verification

WikiFactCheck Site Sets to CrowdSource Fact Checking by Sydney Smith, StinkyJournalism.org August 30, 2010   07:50 am EST Andrew Lih, pictured above, has created a new fact checking site, WikiFactCheck. (Credit: Flickr, "TheSeafarer"   The community submitted, edited and free for users Wikipedia has been around for a few years now. Google ranks Wikipedia as the fifth most trafficked site on the web. The Wiki brand recently leaped into another international controversy with WikiLeaks' publication of secret U.S. military Afghan war documents. And now, the next Wiki on the scene is WikiFactCheck, a wiki site created by journalist Andrew Lih.  Wikis are open-content sites, which allow...Go to full story Add a comment     Comments (0)

The Atlantic criticizes HuffPost for being duped by satire site & not admitting error by Sydney Smith, StinkyJournalism.org August 24, 2010   06:25 am EST Screenshot detail shows Huffington Post's updated version of its article that originally critiqued ChristWire's satirical article. (Credit: Huffington Post)   The Atlantic Wire's John Hudson called out the Huffington Post Aug 19 for treating a satirical article as news and not being transparent in its corrections. According to Hudson, Huffington Post's Katla McGlynn criticized a joke article "Is my Husband Gay?" as if it were a serious, not a satirical article. The article was published Aug 14 on ChristWire.org, which labels itself "Conservative Values for the Unsaved World."  While the...Go to full story Add a comment     Comments (0)

Bloggers Spot Incorrect Wikipedia Information in UK's The Independent's Story by Sydney Smith, StinkyJournalism.org August 19, 2010   07:53 am EST Blogger Kat Arney and online technology publication The Register both scanned in The Independent's brief on The Big Chill festival, which featured information likely from Wikipedia. (Credit: Kat Arney)   Is Wikipedia a legitimate source for news information?  The user-submitted and -edited website sometimes provides a comprehensive summary of an event or topic, but the site isn't perfect, as a recent brief story in The Independent indicates. The brief, published Aug. 7 in The Independent, was an advance story about The Big Chill music festival.  The story ended with this incorrect statement: "The Big Chill was founded in 1994 as the Wanky Balls...Go to full story Add a comment     Comments (0)

NY Post deletes incorrect liver transplant story after page 2 correction by Sydney Smith, StinkyJournalism.org August 17, 2010   06:42 am EST The New York Post published an article on July 26 that claimed Johnny Concepcion, a man accused of killing his wife, had a liver transplant at New York Presbyterian Hospital. The hospital says it's untrue. See the Post article in a screenshot from Google Cache.   An unusually large correction with a big font headline ran on page 2 in the print edition of the New York Post July 28 and online. The New York Post published a false story, July 26, that claimed notorious Johnny Concepcion, accused of killing his wife over the Fourth of July weekend, got a liver transplant at a New York hospital.  The story was quickly picked up and re-reported by many mainstream media outlets including Forbes, MSNBC, CBS...Go to full story Add a comment     Comments (0)

Epoch Times Claims Chinese Govt Behind Fake Photo It Published by Sydney Smith, StinkyJournalism.org August 16, 2010   07:35 am EST See above an AFP/Getty Image of the actual Nanjing disaster. Independent news outlet The Epoch Times claims that the Chinese government provided it with an inaccurate photo of the disaster. (Credit: AFP/Getty Images/Epoch Times)   In a recent news story, independent news outlet The Epoch Times accused the Chinese government of attempting to discredit its reporting and suppress media coverage of a late July factory explosion. The Epoch Times is an online and print newspaper considered critical of the Chinese government.  It is based in New York with reporters around the world and its website says that it is a privately held media company.  The newspaper was...Go to full story Add a comment     Comments (0)

Shirley Sherrod Plans to Sue Blogger Andrew Breitbart for NAACP Story by Sydney Smith, StinkyJournalism.org August 05, 2010   07:29 am EST Shirley Sherrod said last week that she plans to sue Andrew Breitbart, the conservative blogger who posted the video that led to her losing her job. Image above is screenshot from Sherrod's full lecture, posted on YouTube at the center of the controversy. (Credit: NAACP, YouTube)   Shirley Sherrod, a former state director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, announced at the National Association of Black Journalists July 29 that she intends to sue Andrew Breitbart, the conservative blogger who first published the video that led to her resignation.  Bloggers started weighing in on what grounds Sherrod could sue as soon as it became clear that the video clip was out of context. The Backstory... Now...Go to full story Add a comment     Comments (0)

UK's Daily Star Apologizes, Pays Damages after Publishing Hoax Story by Sydney Smith, StinkyJournalism.org July 30, 2010   06:42 am EST This Daily Star article (since removed from The Star website, but available via screenshot on Destructoid) was based on a hoax. The Daily Star issued an apology, admitting it did not attempt to verify or seek comment from Rockstar Games. (Credit: Destructoid)   British newspaper The Daily Star published an apology July 24 for a July 21 hoax it printed about Rockstar Games, the company that makes the Grand Theft Auto video games. Video gaming website Joystiq wrote July 24 that Rockstar Games' forthcoming game, that turned out to be a hoax, was based on Raoul Moat's July "shooting rampage."  In real life, Moat shot his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend in early July, The Telegraph reported.  Seven...Go to full story Add a comment     Comments (0)

Reuters' chronic use of anonymous sources troubling by Sydney Smith, StinkyJournalism.org June 13, 2010   09:53 am EST ANONYMOUS SOURCES RULED CHINA EXPORT COVERAGE: BusinessWeek wrote an article based on Reuters' anonymously sourced article. Not identifying sources keeps the public in the dark and unable to verify if the information is worthwhile. In this case, the articles had an effect on the stock market. (Credit: East Asia Forum)   COMMENTARY A June 9 BusinessWeek article featured a particularly troubling use of an anonymous source. What's worse, the report was based on an article featuring almost all anonymously sourced information. BusinessWeek reported that, after Reuters released a “report that China’s exports increased faster last month than most economists estimated," "Canadian stocks rose." The BusinessWeek article...Go to full story Add a comment     Comments (0)

Should Anonymous Commenters Be Treated Like Sources By News Sites? by Sydney Smith, StinkyJournalism.org May 30, 2010   08:59 am EST Unlike granting a source anonymity after careful consideration and vetting, news comments sections posters are unvetted and often given a free-for-all for their unsourced voices.   COMMENTARY One important change made when Great Britain's The Times and Sunday Times re-launched their Web sites May 25 was the banning of anonymous comments on the two news sites. The Guardian reported May 26 that The Independent would be following suit soon. The Guardian wondered if the banning of anonymous comments would "be part of a trend for newspaper websites" and if it would "raise the tone of online...Go to full story Add a comment     Comments (0)

Is Fact Checking of Sunday Morning Shows Working? by Sydney Smith, StinkyJournalism.org May 12, 2010   08:37 am EST PolitiFact rates certain statements on ABC's "This Week" for their truth value. Media ethics blogs, FAIR and Media Matters, say the ratings are limited and in some cases trivial.   StinkyJournalism recently reported that as a result of New York University professor Jay Rosen's suggestion, ABC would have PolitiFact fact check statements made by guests of the Sunday network program This Week. Feedback, so far, regarding the success of this effort has been lukewarm at best.  Media ethics site FAIR is disappointed with PolitiFact's fact checking of This Week. Media Matters has added concerns about Howard Kurtz's fact checking efforts of Sunday...Go to full story Add a comment     Comments (0)

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