Basic Ledes: Get It Right!!!

In this exercise, you got credit simply for participating. But in all future exercises, starting today, ANY fact error will automatically drop your grade to a 1.0.

That isn't to be mean; rather, it's to emphasize the importance of accuracy, fact-checking and understanding topics in journalism. Our credibility rests on our accuracy, and if we don't develop good habits to make sure what we write is right, then we have dim prospects in this industry.

Unfortunately, on this exercise we had a few of what we call "fatals." In fact, SEVEN people would have fataled this assignment. Not unusual for newbie journalists who are still working on their fact-checking habits, but not something to ignore, either.

To-wit:

This lede: A study by sociologists at the University of Florida shows that fewer women are likely to get divorced or separated after receiving their degree.

Technically, the lede is strong. The problem is, the study found the exact opposite result, that women with higher educational levels are more likely to divorce!

In another lede, you referred to a person's last name as Sindelair in one reference, then Sinclair in the next.

If you did a proper post-write fact-check, in which you went over the basics like names and compared what you wrote against the information you were provided, then you would have surely found the error.

Additionally, if you thoroughly read what you wrote and looked for inconsistencies then you would have found that you wrote one name in two ways, and that at least one surely had to be wrong.

Three of you flubbed on the name altogether. Two spelled it as Sinclair, and another as Sendelair. Another incorrectly referred to him as a city council treasurer, when in fact he was a county treasurer.

One of those fatalees actually had a double-fatal: not only did they misspell the name, they also reported he was charged with embezzlement today. In fact, he pleaded guilty today, after being charged three months ago.


Another person incorrectly reported the treasurer resigned two weeks ago. In fact, he resigned two weeks after being originally charged three months before! Please pay attention to detail and make sure you catch little things that, if left unnoticed, can cause big errors. (See why I had the gotcha true-or-false quiz questions?)

Journalism isn't about just writing; it's about understanding what you are writing before you type a single key stroke, and double-checking what you wrote once you're finished writing.

That means in any time period you are given to write a story, you should spend the first 25 percent going over and understanding your background material; 50 percent writing the story; and 25 percent going over what you wrote. Every minute of actual writing time should have an equal amount of quality control time behind it.