The Chicago Guide to Fact-Checking, Second Edition - Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing 2nd Edition by Brooke Borel Paperback

About the Book

"Over the past few years, fact-checking has been widely touted as a corrective to the spread of misinformation, disinformation, conspiracy theories, and propaganda through the media. While political fact-checkers focus on the claims of public figures, their editorial counterparts check stories being readied for publication for a wide range of errors, from inaccurate names and dates to false quotations and misleading descriptions and interpretations of data. If journalism is a cornerstone of democracy, says author Brooke Borel, then fact-checking is its building inspector. In this second edition of her guide to the why, what, and how of editorial fact-checking, Borel covers the evolving media landscape, with new guidance on checking audio and video sources, polling data, and sensitive subjects such as trauma and abuse. She has expanded the sections on working with writers, editors, and producers and added new material on getting fact-checking gigs as well as new exercises. And she addresses the challenges of fact-checking in a world where social media, artificial intelligence, and the metaverse are making it increasingly difficult for everyone--including fact-checkers--to identify false information. But the answer, she says, is for everyone to approach information with skepticism--to learn to think like a fact-checker"--

Book Synopsis

This book will help you:

• Recognize what information to fact-check
• Identify the quality and ranking of source materials
• Learn to fact-check a variety of media types: newspaper; magazine; social media; public and commercial radio and television, books, films, etc.
• Navigate relationships with editors, writers, and producers
• Recognize plagiarism and fabrication
• Discern conflicting facts, gray areas, and litigious materials
• Learn record keeping best practices for tracking sources
• Test your own fact-checking skills

An accessible, one-stop guide to the why, what, and how of contemporary editorial fact-checking.

Over the past few years, fact-checking has been widely touted as a corrective to the spread of misinformation, disinformation, conspiracy theories, and propaganda through the media. "If journalism is a cornerstone of democracy," says author Brooke Borel, "then fact-checking is its building inspector."

In The Chicago Guide to Fact-Checking, Borel, an experienced fact-checker, draws on the expertise of more than 200 writers, editors, and fellow checkers representing the New Yorker, Popular Science, This American Life, Vogue, and many other outlets. She covers best practices for editorial fact-checking in a variety of media--from magazine and news articles, both print and online, to books and podcasts--and the perspectives of both in-house and freelance checkers.

In this second edition, Borel covers the evolving media landscape, with new guidance on checking audio and video sources, polling data, and sensitive subjects such as trauma and abuse. The sections on working with writers, editors, and producers have been expanded, and new material includes fresh exercises and advice on getting fact-checking gigs. Borel also addresses the challenges of fact-checking in a world where social media, artificial intelligence, and the metaverse may make it increasingly difficult for everyone--including fact-checkers--to identify false information. The answer, she says, is for everyone to approach information with skepticism--to learn to think like a fact-checker.

The Chicago Guide to Fact-Checking is the practical--and thoroughly vetted--guide that writers, editors, and publishers continue to consult to maintain their credibility and solidify their readers' trust.

Review Quotes

"This new edition is clear-eyed in addressing emerging challenges such as social media, Ai, and virtual environments and presents practical, adaptable strategies for professional fact-checkers and editors. . . . Highly recommended."-- "Choice"

About the Author

Brooke Borel is an award-winning journalist and the articles editor at Undark. She is the author of Infested: How the Bed Bug Infiltrated Our Bedrooms and Took Over the World, and her writing has appeared in Popular Science, BuzzFeed News, the Guardian, Scientific American, Nature, and Science, among other outlets.