You're tasked with reporting breaking news. How do you balance speed and accuracy in your coverage?

La vérification des informations est une exigence fondamentale en journalisme, quelle que soit la situation ou le délai. En d'autres termes, la rapidité ne doit jamais compromettre la précision. À l'ère du numérique, nous disposons d'outils qui nous permettent de vérifier les informations, d'effectuer des recherches inversées d'images et de vidéos pour en vérifier l'authenticité. Il est essentiel de maîtriser ces outils. Il est également important de vérifier si d'autres sources fiables rapportent la même information et de comparer les différentes versions de l'histoire pour identifier les divergences.

Choosing speed over accuracy is a cardinal sin, and I'll tell that to any corporate publisher. It's embarrassing when major outlets get the story wrong because there was such a push to get it first. Yes, breaking the news is great for the publication and the reporter. However, it's better to file an accurate and detailed story. Confirm with multiple sources, remembering that paper trails may pan out better than formal officials.

One of the best ways to move quickly when breaking news is to consider publishing a short blerb via social media and expanding in the near-term future. Yes, you may lose the full scoop, but that story puts your outlet on everyone's radar and plenty of eyeballs will be waiting to see what else you uncover. Another trick to keep your copy moving quickly is to maintain a strong rolodex. Always have someone you can reach out either to formally verify something or point you in the right direction. Ideally, you also want them to contact you with juicy leads. Finally, learn how to touch type. It seems trivial, but if every minute counts, getting words down quickly and correctly means editors will finish sooner and the story goes live quicker.

One of my pet peeves is having to re-read the headline, lead and nut graph multiple times to get the gist of the story. It may be complicated and there's a push to publish immediately, but why release a story when nobody understands it? Take some time while composing the story to ensure it flows smoothly and concepts are clear. Definitely have at least one other pair of eyes not familiar with your story attack it with a red pen.