Of course they do if they want to be featured on Regator. But it’s more complicated than that. When I said I was going to write a post on blogging and journalistic integrity for the current Social Media Club question of the week, Scott laughed and said, “That should be an easy one.” And I thought it would. After all, I spent a good decade in publishing (paper and ink and wondrous tactile appeal…sigh) and am now charged with finding the web’s best blog content (freshness and individuality and exhilarating lack of rules…ooooh) for Regator. Quick post, huh?
Not so much. Imagine writing a post on something you have cursory knowledge of…say, octopi. It’s squishy arms, shooting ink, deep blue sea, frightening level of intelligence, and you’re done.
(This guy is scary smart.)
Now write a post on your best friend. It’s tougher than the octopus post. Where do you start? How much do you cover? You can’t possibly make every point and tell every story you want to. Thus my dilemma.
Bloggers vs. Journalists is soooooo 2005.
It’s less relevant than you may think. The line has been blurred into submission. Traditional journalists are blogging; bloggers are eligible for Pulitzers. Journalism itself is a craft, not a particular medium. So whether you’re writing online or on paper, what really matters is trust and reputation. Trust is your currency, and it must be built with readers. Go ahead and be a lazy reporter. Copy and paste from Wikipedia, take no time to verify your facts, type what you think might be right then go back and change it later if it’s wrong, don’t do a bit of research. I. Don’t. Care. Why not? Because you are wasting your own time. The internet—with all its imperfections—is good at uncovering bullshit. That kind of fast and loose blogging will only hurt your reputation and destroy the trust you need to build with readers. They will see through you. They will either stop reading and go somewhere with reliable information or you will become the online version of the Weekly World News, which was fun and all, but did end up folding.
With blogs, as with mainstream media, the cream rises to the top. With more than 100 million blogs in existence, the online cream can be a little harder to find than the newsstand cream. That’s why we built Regator to help you find the good stuff amid the junk. There are a lot of amazing, well-researched, well-written, factually solid blogs out there. We have more than 4,000 of them on Regator with more added all the time. Those are the kind that will last, build long-standing relationships with readers who trust them, and grow their audience through word-of-mouth.
“Send it through the fact-check department.”
That’s a sentence you won’t hear from many bloggers. Even though many larger, more established blogs do have teams of editors who review copy before posting it, most blogs are still one-person shows. Traditional media has an obvious advantage when it comes to resources. Just for giggles (skip the numbered bit if you’re not interested), let’s take a look at the process each and every story goes through at a magazine I used to work for:
1. Assigning editor brainstorms stories, runs them past editor in chief, selects and contacts writer to assign the story.
2. Writer turns in first draft to assigning editor, who makes suggestions on angle, wording, content, etc. This continues, with the writer turning in drafts until both (s)he and the editor are pleased with the piece.
3. The writer also provides fact-check information in the form of contact details for everyone who was interviewed for the piece as well as any additional materials used to compile it. No Wikipedia allowed.
4. Assigning editor shows story to editor in chief, who might make additional suggestions/tweaks. This may or may not necessitate another round with the writer.
5. Piece goes to copy editor, who highlights every fact in the story so that the fact-check team can verify them.
6. Fact-check team calls/reads every source, verifying spelling of proper nouns as well as every fact in the story.
7. Copy goes back to assigning editor, who okays the fact-check changes and makes notes regarding any grey areas the fact-checkers uncovered.
8. Assigning editor gives the copy to the managing editor, who makes the fact-check changes.
9. Copy editor receives the piece for copy editing, and also double-checks that all fact-check changes have been accurately made.
10. Art department lays out the copy.
11. Assigning editor gets a working proof, makes any additional changes that may be needed to make the copy fit correctly.
12. Art department provides a fresh proof to three or four senior level editors for review. After they review the piece, making their notes on it, it returns to the assigning editor, who enters the changes.
13. Art department provides a fresh proof to the managing editor, who checks once again for sentence flow, grammar, spelling, etc. He makes any changes needed.
14. Fresh copy is printed and put out on a table, where the entirety of the editorial staff takes one more look at it.
15. Final proof is printed as it will look in the publication (including ads) and it is viewed by the editor in chief and managing editor.
Compete with that, bloggers! The resources simply aren’t in place, right? So to the Question of the Week: Are bloggers responsible for getting the facts right? I say: Yes, to the best of their abilities. Bloggers are writing for the public. That alone creates certain expectations. Fail to deliver accuracy often enough and it will be noticed, costing you credibility, trust, and ultimately, readers.
Does this mean that all mainstream media outlets go through such a painstaking process to ensure accuracy, or that they never make errors? Absolutely not. The systems in place are unique to each publication. Some work better than others and in the end, they’re all prone to human error. All I ask is that bloggers make an honest effort to obtain the facts and present them accurately.
Okay, so that’s a lie.
In an effort to practice what I preach, I’ll admit that last sentence isn’t exactly true. The honest effort isn’t actually ALL I ask from bloggers. Let’s set aside things like investigative journalism, knowledge of libel laws, Freedom of Information Act requests, and the like for a moment. Maybe as a blogger, you’re not setting out to be that kind of serious journalist. Heck, maybe you’re writing about your three-year-old’s eating habits or using Paint to draw moustaches on pop culture icons. No problem. Nobody says you have to take yourself seriously and your blog does add value for a particular demographic. (Admittedly, I STILL cannot get enough of icanhascheezburger.com’s crazy kitties. But I digress…)
Regardless of your topic or where you fall on the highbrow/lowbrow scale, I believe that someone creating a publication for public consumption—and that includes blogs—should make decisions with their readers’ best interests in mind. That is the key. The Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics, “embraced by thousands of journalists, regardless of place or platform,” is a good place to start. Admittedly some guidelines are more applicable to bloggers of the LOL cat/“what my kid is eating” variety than others but it’s certainly worth reading. A few sample guidelines:
• “…exercise care to avoid inadvertent error.” (We’ve covered this.)
• “Never plagiarize.”
• “Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived.”
• “Admit mistakes and correct them promptly.”
First!
That last rule on the list, the one about correcting mistakes promptly does not override the first rule. In other words, it doesn’t mean that, as a blogger, you should bang out 500 words without regard to factual accuracy, publish it, THEN fact-check it so that you can get the story out before your competitor. We’re going back to the same point, which is that you will lose trust.
You have no way to guarantee that someone who read your post on, oh say, Steve Jobs’ nonexistent heart attack, is going to come back to read the corrected version or that they’re not going to rush out based on your false information and sell all of their Apple stock, causing it to plunge to a sixteen-month low. It is irresponsible to post first, check facts later, yet I think the practice is where the blogosphere’s biggest credibility challenge stems from.
Instead of taking a “me first!” mentality on your blog, consider providing unique, well-researched content. That may sound unrealistic or like it’ll kill your traffic, but the truth is that very few bloggers are making phone calls, digging for unique information, and making a story their own. Those who do are providing their readers with much higher quality content that will bring them back over and over. Any jackass can recycle a press release. Would you rather go to a blog where the story is told with a unique angle and exclusive information, or one where the writer cut and pasted from a press release? I’d go to the former, regardless of who was first. The ability to strike a balance between speed and unique content—don’t let the story get old, but don’t spit out “me first” rubbish either—is one of a blogger’s most important tools.
So let’s wrap this up. It’s late, I’ve got a plane to catch in the morning, and you are, hopefully, ready to share a few of your own thoughts on the matter here or at Social Media Club’s Question of the Week page, where there’s already some interesting discussion going on.
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