4 ms·

What about when the journalists push conspiracy theories? (e.g., Russiagate)

by xtian 4y ago

jaredwiener 4y ago
We have an editorial policy that I'd invite you to look at: https://www.forth.news/docs/editorial https://www.forth.news/docs/editorial But basically, we cant be a truth telling machine. We can, however, filter out the obvious noise and hold our journalist partners accountable if we find issues with their reporting. We speak with every reporter who onboards to the site, and reach out when needed.
- xtian 4y ago
  How will you try to find issues? Many claims are made and accepted as true in the media without any verifiable facts to back them up. There's an inherently political valence to which claims receive this treatment at every level (national, geopolitical, etc).
  - jaredwiener 4y ago
    That claim itself sounds like it could use some verification to back it up. That said, this is why we vet journalists as they come on. We cannot guarantee that no one will ever get something wrong, but we can limit how often it happens. On Twitter/HN/etc, anyone can post anything and face little to no consequences -- thats how trolling can happen. Journalists have bylines attached, and those mess ups can haunt them the rest of their careers. They don't want to get things wrong. We don't want them to get things wrong either. And if something is wrong, then we put out a correction.
- doublepg23 4y ago
  Have you reached out to Katie Herzog and Jesse Singal? They’ve been some of the few upstanding journalists in media.
  - jaredwiener 4y ago
    We have not; though I believe they take a little more of a position than we're comfortable with -- we're looking for straight reporting, without opinion. Any journalists who are interested should reach out -- https://journalists.forth.news https://journalists.forth.news
- latency-guy2 4y ago
  > hold our journalist partners accountable What does this exactly mean? I personally don't think a journalist is "held accountable" if all that's being done is an email to them asking for a correction or clarification in an article.
  - yencabulator 4y ago
    Generally, corrections and retractions are the responsibility of the editor, not the individual journalist (of course, the editor can delegate the work, but they're still responsible for it). The mechanism and its working is pretty well established, by now. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correction_(newspaper) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correction_(newspaper)

What about when the journalists push conspiracy theories? (e.g., Russiagate)

by xtian 4y ago

What about when the journalists push conspiracy theories? (e.g., Russiagate)

We have an editorial policy that I'd invite you to look at: https://www.forth.news/docs/editorial https://www.forth.news/docs/editorial But basically, we cant be a truth telling machine. We can, however, filter out the obvious noise and hold our journalist partners accountable if we find issues with their reporting. We speak with every reporter who onboards to the site, and reach out when needed.

xtian 4y ago
How will you try to find issues? Many claims are made and accepted as true in the media without any verifiable facts to back them up. There's an inherently political valence to which claims receive this treatment at every level (national, geopolitical, etc).
- jaredwiener 4y ago
  That claim itself sounds like it could use some verification to back it up. That said, this is why we vet journalists as they come on. We cannot guarantee that no one will ever get something wrong, but we can limit how often it happens. On Twitter/HN/etc, anyone can post anything and face little to no consequences -- thats how trolling can happen. Journalists have bylines attached, and those mess ups can haunt them the rest of their careers. They don't want to get things wrong. We don't want them to get things wrong either. And if something is wrong, then we put out a correction.
doublepg23 4y ago
Have you reached out to Katie Herzog and Jesse Singal? They’ve been some of the few upstanding journalists in media.
- jaredwiener 4y ago
  We have not; though I believe they take a little more of a position than we're comfortable with -- we're looking for straight reporting, without opinion. Any journalists who are interested should reach out -- https://journalists.forth.news https://journalists.forth.news
latency-guy2 4y ago
> hold our journalist partners accountable What does this exactly mean? I personally don't think a journalist is "held accountable" if all that's being done is an email to them asking for a correction or clarification in an article.
- yencabulator 4y ago
  Generally, corrections and retractions are the responsibility of the editor, not the individual journalist (of course, the editor can delegate the work, but they're still responsible for it). The mechanism and its working is pretty well established, by now. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correction_(newspaper) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correction_(newspaper)