December 07, 2007
Followup on Faultlines: The Register’s credibility checklist
A group of editors and reporters, working through the newsroom’s Diversity Committee, wanted to develop a strategy for covering immigration and other sensitive stories that would help them overcome any perception of bias. The result was a series of questions that became the Credibility Checklist.
CREDIBILITY CHECKLIST
Is the story fair?
* Have I thought through my biases, and discussed them?
* Do the quotes, statistics and anecdotes present a fair picture?
* Does the full story—including photos, graphics and design—
reflect a balanced report?
* Does the story end in a way that allows readers to draw their
own conclusions?
Is the story forthright?
* Am I clear with readers about how much reporting
went into my story?
* Have I included what I don’t know about the story,
when relevant?
* Have I presented the true strengths of opposing points?
Is the story accessible?
* Have I made clear in the report why readers should care?
* Have I included context, scope and impact?
* Have I used the appropriate storytelling tools in the toolbox?
* Do I understand the audience I’m trying to reach?
Do we have the right sources?
* Does the story reflect the diversity of stakeholders in the issue
(political, ethnic, geographic, etc.)
* Am I approaching my beat/job in a way that will reflect the
diversity of the area I cover?
Do we avoid loaded language?
* Is the tone appropriate?
* Is the language free of bias?
* Have we avoided labels?
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