Sunday, August 2, 2009

Where have all the fact-checkers gone?

One of the most important jobs of a copy editor is fact checking. The New York Times must need some new copy editors. Seven errors in a story about Walter Cronkite? Uncle Walt must be rolling in his grave. Clark Hoyt, the paper's public editor, discussed the problem in this week's column.

This is really depressing to me. When I worked at the copy desk of the Indiana Daily Student, my college paper, we checked EVERY name. Does anyone do that anymore? Is fact checking "so last century"? If so, that's pretty sad. Reader comments would be appreciated.

2 comments:

Catherine Meyer said...

For the internship I am doing and unfamiliar names in the Mirror, I fact check just about anything that I don't know. I don't think fact is last century and I find it very important. After all, I hate when people misspell my name.

JD (The Engine Room) said...

Fact checking is important, but it takes time, and time is money. Sad, I agree.