What are the best ways to ensure transparency in your fact-checking process?

Fact-checking is a crucial skill for journalists, especially in the era of misinformation and polarization. But how can you make sure that your readers trust your sources, methods, and findings? Transparency is the key to building credibility and accountability in your fact-checking process. Here are some of the best ways to ensure transparency in your fact-checking process.

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1 Show your work

One of the most effective ways to demonstrate transparency is to show your work. This means providing links, screenshots, documents, or other evidence that support your claims and show how you verified them. You can also explain your criteria, standards, and tools for fact-checking, and acknowledge any limitations, uncertainties, or corrections. Showing your work not only helps your readers understand and evaluate your fact-checking, but also invites feedback and collaboration from other journalists and experts.

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Beverly Dix

Expert Wellness Communicator: Specializing in Holistic Health | Creator of Meticulously Researched Articles, Blog Posts, E-Books & Guides | Skilled in RFPs, Cases for Support & Donor Engagement Strategies.
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One thing I have found helpful when writing about health-related subjects is to routinely utilize multiple sources to strengthen my understanding of a topic and its nuances. Also, I use standard medical dictionaries to verify health terms, their correct spelling and usage.

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2 Label your sources

Another important aspect of transparency is to label your sources clearly and accurately. This means identifying who they are, what their credentials and affiliations are, and how you contacted them. You should also indicate the level of confidence and reliability of your sources, and whether they have any conflicts of interest or biases. Labeling your sources helps your readers assess the quality and credibility of your information, and avoid confusion or misrepresentation.

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3 Disclose your funding

A third way to ensure transparency is to disclose your funding sources and any potential conflicts of interest. This means revealing who pays for your fact-checking work, whether it is a news organization, a grant, a donation, or a sponsorship. You should also disclose any personal or professional ties or interests that might influence your fact-checking, such as political affiliations, memberships, or investments. Disclosing your funding helps your readers understand your editorial independence and integrity, and avoid any perception of bias or influence.

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4 Collaborate with others

A fourth way to ensure transparency is to collaborate with other fact-checkers, journalists, and experts. This means seeking input, feedback, and verification from multiple sources and perspectives, and acknowledging their contributions. You can also join networks, platforms, or initiatives that promote fact-checking standards, best practices, and cooperation. Collaborating with others helps you improve your fact-checking quality and accuracy, and increase your credibility and trustworthiness.

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5 Engage with your audience

A fifth way to ensure transparency is to engage with your audience. This means inviting questions, comments, and suggestions from your readers, and responding to them in a respectful and constructive manner. You can also ask for their help in identifying and correcting errors, or in finding and verifying new information. Engaging with your audience helps you build a relationship of mutual respect and learning, and foster a culture of fact-checking and critical thinking.

Fact-checking is not only a skill, but also a responsibility. By ensuring transparency in your fact-checking process, you can uphold the values of journalism and serve the public interest.

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Mekiya O.

Award-Winning Author | MacDowell Fellow | Co-Founder at The DateKeepers | Developmental & Structural Editor | Copyeditor | Proofreader | Manuscript Analyst | Author Support | Open to Writing & Editing Contracts
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This isn't always in the hands of the journalist, but readers should receive a push notification if and when retractions and corrections are made to a story that's already been published. Ideally, the fact-checking process should be completed on the front end because once a story's out in the world, there's no practical way to reach every single person who's been influenced by it, but a push notification to subscribers would go a long way toward mitigating this issue. Presently, things move quickly, lots of errors get missed in the fact-checking process, and major outlets like NYT end up publishing stories full of significant errors and correcting them later. Unfortunately, early readers may never know those corrections have happened.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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What are the best ways to ensure transparency in your fact-checking process?

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1 Show your work

2 Label your sources

3 Disclose your funding

4 Collaborate with others

5 Engage with your audience

6 Here’s what else to consider

Journalism

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