The Discipline of Verification

Verification is key to modern day journalism because there is news everywhere and journalists need to sort through the news to determine which is verifiable and can be run. The book presents the opinion that if a story is not verifiable, it should not be published. Journalism of verification is making sure all the details of the story are correct before running the story. This can be difficult because the pushfor news outlets is to break the story first and the temptation to publish the story before verifying it is always present. This leads to journalism of assertion where not all of the details are verified. Twisting details of the story to make it more interesting is asserting unverifiable facts, which should be avoided.

Keys to verifying stories should be to seek multiple witnesses of an event to make sure all sides are represented fairly. Additionally, disclose as much as possible about the witnesses so the readers understand why those sources were used and why their opinions are valid. Additionally, if anonymous sources are necessary, journalists should let readers know why their opinions are valid and the reason for using an anonymous source. Journalistic bias is affected through verification because journalists need to be objective when gathering the news, not just presenting it. The book uses the phrase "objectivity is a method, not an aim" to show that the entire newsgathering process including verification needs to be objective. By showing objectivity the journalist is letting the audience know how they obtained their information and how it is fair.

When journalists reveal their methods to their audience they are becoming transparent. The public should know about the news gathering process and the journalist should tell the audience how they obtained their information. Transparency increases credibility. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel posted their verification process online in order to be more transparent. Often, the temptation is for journalists to be omniscient. Vague stories often lead the audience to believe the journalist knows more information than they do. This should be avoided, and journalists should inform the public of where they obtained their information and what interviews and sources they were unable to get. Richard Sambrook, the director of the BBC Global News Division says "Transparency about the newsgathering and selection process is as important as the journalism itself in retaining that trust." He said that earning the trust of the audience was key to good journalism.

Intellectual humility corresponds with transparency, because it is important for journalists to be honest about what they know and be humble enough to not pretend to know more than they actually know. Humility means that journalists assume nothing and self-check to ensure all facts are verified. In a story by Bill Kovach reported in the Los Angeles Times, he asserted that humility was the key to the 2000 election. He said journalists covered the story rather than exploited it and showed intellectual humility producing transparent journalism.