Demand Accuracy from the Media!(mass media) (Brief Article)

• Author: Saltzman, Joe

Media critics are worried that the day is fast approaching when there will be no place to get accurate and fair news coverage. They savage the Internet because people without any credentials pour information into cyberspace and there is no way to know if it is accurate. They complain about television news because it is superficial and trivial. They are concerned that no one is reading newspapers or magazines any more and that the print media that exist are being downsized in intelligence and competence to attract a young audience who ignores them. They worry about conglomerates buying up the news media and slanting the news to benefit their philosophy and way of life. And now they are troubled that nonfiction books are inaccurate as well, transmitting falsehoods and misinformation.

Steve Weinberg, writing in the Columbia Journalism Review. points out that hundreds of current nonfiction books have problems with accuracy and that careless or duplicitous authors often go undetected. Since books are society's most reliable record, Weinberg is justifiably alarmed at the lack of factual accuracy. Unlike most media critics, he offers a plan to do something about it, urging authors to use reliable primary sources, to not blindly trust books, and to let outside experts, sources, and subjects read appropriate portions of the manuscript for accuracy. Weinberg urges book editors to check an author's record for accuracy and demand backup documentation. He suggests that publishers hire accomplished fact-checkers, recall books from stores when inaccuracies turn out to be serious, and publish a revised, corrected edition. Book reviewers and book section editors should challenge inaccuracies and step up scrutiny of books on news and feature pages, he says. And finally, Weinberg urges readers to pay more attention to publisher's brand names and to let them know--by letter, e-mail, fax, or telephone--when a book is demonstrably wrong. Accuracy in books, he concludes, is everybody's business.

As admirable as Weinberg and serious media critics are about bemoaning inaccuracies in the media--especially in books, videos, and CDs that end up on library shelves--their chances for success seem limited. Most print and TV reporters and editors, nonfiction book authors, and Internet gossips are too busy trying to find an audience to worry much about accuracy. Publishers and media owners really only care about one thing: profits. If accuracy and good journalism meant...