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Category Archive: Q & A

Q: Aren’t partial quotations taken out of context and therefore unreliable?

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Not if it’s done right. Selecting only a phrase or even a single word from what a source said to use in a verbatim quote doesn’t mean the reporter is fundamentally misrepresenting what the source said.

Posted on October 10, 2019 News LiteracyQ & A

Q: Can a reporter force a source to go “on the record?”

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The short answer is no, but it’s more complicated than that.

Posted on October 9, 2019March 6, 2023 News LiteracyQ & A

Q: If entertainment isn’t journalism, how does “entertainment journalism” work?

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It works like any other kind of journalism, adhering to rules of verification, independence and accountability. And sometimes the scoops are world-changing.

Posted on October 7, 2019October 7, 2019 News LiteracyQ & A

Q: Should journalists publish a story before they have all the facts?

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Yes, but not always. Stories change, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t report what we know at any given time. Other times, it’s better to wait.

Posted on October 4, 2019March 18, 2022 Q & A

Q: Can undercover reporters lie to uncover the truth?

eye peeking through hole in paper
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This is a question of transparency and journalism ethics. And yes, some journalists and news organizations have been criticized and held responsible in court for just this situation.

Posted on October 3, 2019 News LiteracyQ & A

Q: How does transparency make a story more reliable?

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Transparency is the “story behind the story,” and the more a news consumer knows about how a story is put together, the easier it is to evaluate—and trust—that information.

Posted on October 2, 2019October 2, 2019 News LiteracyQ & A

Q: Why are journalists allowed to use anonymous sources?

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The use—and abuse—of anonymous sources is an ongoing and thorny debate in journalism.

Reporters always prefer to use named sources who are willing to go “on the record,” meaning that the information they provide can be attributed directly to them. But sometimes that’s just not possible.

Posted on September 30, 2019March 12, 2024 News LiteracyQ & A

Q: How do news organizations handle citizen journalists?

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Citizen journalists are increasingly important members of the news media ecosystem. They often provide the first photos and video after a disaster and firsthand reports from war zones too dangerous for journalists.

Posted on September 27, 2019 News LiteracyQ & A

Q: What are we supposed to do when algorithms hide important news from us?

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The first step is to realize that an algorithm is determining what news you see (and what you don’t). That is true on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google News, Apple News, Google search and many other news websites.

Posted on September 25, 2019September 27, 2019 Media 211News LiteracyQ & A

Q: Can news be falsely verified, and if so, what happens?

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Yes, and it gets messy. Fortunately it doesn’t happen that often.

Posted on September 25, 2019October 9, 2020 Q & A

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