Publishers & Editors: If you have received a submitted article that you want to have checked for
validity but do not have the in house resources, this is for you.
Or you may want to check an updated edition including both recently published
and new material.
Businesses & Organizations: If you have received a submitted article for in house or
for public viewing but need to check its legitimacy, this is for
you.
Writers: If you have taken on a project that was initiated by another
or revisiting an older manuscript, checking for authenticity is
crucial.
A freelance fact checker is an affordable choice
to those not able to hire a full time fact checker.
Fact Checking has two major elements
- Check and collect approval on quotes, dates, names, agencies, statistics,
citations, and other represented facts
- Work with all parties involved to secure information through sources deemed
worthy for validation and finalization
The goal of a fact checker is to make sure
nothing is in the text that could get you into trouble, cause a lawsuit, or
harm somebody personally or physically. A fact checker always comes to a piece
of writing with a legal eye. In order to do this, time is taken to secure the
validity, authenticity, and legitimacy of content. Fact checking is the first
response to stopping an untrue story from being published. There are a lot of
nightmare stories out there so be sure to protect yourself.
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| Fact Checking vs. Research |
While fact checking is sometimes labeled as research
since it uses many of the same resources and skills, there are a few very
definite differences that set fact checking apart:
- A fact checker comes to the process after content
is written. Therefore, she must then be able to identify and extract question-worthy
content in need of fact checking.
- A fact checker usually uses defined quality resources
– especially when working for a publisher or editor – for validity. This means
working with primary sources when available and quality secondary sources
when necessary.
- A fact checker works to protect the privacy of
sources just as writers do.
- A fact checker usually gets an assignment with
a very tight deadline. This means working quickly and diligently to meet a
press date
- A fact checker must work with and represent all
those involved including authors, editors and publishers. She does not work
solely with one person in mind.
- A fact checker’s initial library of information
is the information already filtered and given to her. She must then be able
to sift through and take on the knowledge sources quickly and easily and to
fill in, expand, or complete any holes in the text.
- A fact checker’s ultimate goal is not to find
new information but to check the legitimacy, authenticity, and validity of
the information at hand.
Because fact checking does include a great deal
of research, please check out Research for resources, examples, and more.
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While there is no systematic chain of events, there
are a few things that makes the fact checking process organized, thorough and completed
by deadline
- Collect all the information pertaining to text including
materials author worked with if available.
- Cold read to soak in the full article.
- Read again, breaking down and marking the text for
checking.
- Start researching.
- Check phrasing and word choices such as “always”
“exactly” etc.
- Create record of questions for the writer or source
(editor, organization or company contact) for productivity which can be sent
to a source if necessary.
- Develop a contact list of sources for questioning
including quotes, relations, name spelling etc.
- If appropriate, set up defined text resources for
validation with. Company website: Yes. Common Knowledge: No. Dailies: No.
Encyclopedia of Association: Yes. Dialog: Yes. Lexis-Nexis: Yes.
- Record research including
sources and methods.
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