Editing Fact-checking (section)

== Pre-publication fact-checking ==
Among the benefits of printing only checked copy is that it averts serious, sometimes costly, problems. These problems can include lawsuits for mistakes that damage people or businesses, but even small mistakes can cause a loss of reputation for the publication. The loss of reputation is often the more significant motivating factor for journalists.<ref name=":6" />

Fact-checkers verify that the names, dates, and facts in an article or book are correct.<ref name=":6" /> For example, they may contact a person who is quoted in a proposed news article and ask the person whether this quotation is correct, or how to spell the person's name. Fact-checkers are primarily useful in catching accidental mistakes; they are not guaranteed safeguards against those who wish to commit [[journalistic fraud]]s.

=== As a career ===
Professional fact-checkers have generally been hired by newspapers, magazines, and book publishers, probably starting in the early 1920s with the creation of [[Time (magazine)|''Time'']] magazine in the United States,<ref name=OxfordUniversity/><ref name=":6">{{Cite book|title=The Fact Checker's Bible: A Guide to Getting it Right|last=Harrison Smith|first=Sarah|date=2004|publisher=Anchor Books|isbn=0385721064|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/factcheckersbibl00smit/page/8 8–12]|oclc=53919260|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/factcheckersbibl00smit/page/8}}</ref> though they were not originally called "fact-checkers".<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://time.com/4858683/fact-checking-history/|title=The Story Behind the First-Ever Fact-Checkers|magazine=Time|language=en|access-date=2020-01-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200116003117/https://time.com/4858683/fact-checking-history/|archive-date=16 January 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> Fact-checkers may be aspiring writers, future editors, or [[freelancer]]s engaged other projects; others are career professionals.<ref name=":6"/>

Historically, the field was considered [[women's work]], and from the time of the first professional American fact-checker through at least the 1970s, the fact-checkers at a media company might be entirely female or primarily so.<ref name=":6"/>

The number of people employed in fact-checking varies by publication. Some organizations have substantial fact-checking departments. For example, ''[[The New Yorker]]'' magazine had 16 fact-checkers in 2003<ref name=":6"/> and the fact-checking department of the German weekly magazine {{lang|de|[[Der Spiegel]]}} counted 70 staff in 2017.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Southern|first=Lucinda|date=2017-08-15|title=Inside Spiegel's 70-person fact-checking team|work=[[Digiday]]|url=https://digiday.com/media/inside-spiegels-70-person-fact-checking-team/|access-date=2021-11-20}}</ref> Others may hire freelancers per piece or may combine fact-checking with other duties. Magazines are more likely to use fact-checkers than newspapers.<ref name=OxfordUniversity/> Television and radio programs rarely employ dedicated fact-checkers, and instead expect others, including senior staff, to engage in fact-checking in addition to their other duties.<ref name=":6"/>

===Checking original reportage===
[[Stephen Glass (reporter)|Stephen Glass]] began his journalism career as a fact-checker. He went on to invent fictitious stories, which he submitted as [[reportage]], and which fact-checkers at ''[[The New Republic]]'' (and other weeklies for which he worked) never flagged. [[Michael Kelly (editor)|Michael Kelly]], who edited some of Glass's concocted stories, blamed himself, rather than the fact-checkers, saying: "Any fact-checking system is built on trust ... If a reporter is willing to fake notes, it defeats the system. Anyway, the real vetting system is not fact-checking but the editor."{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}}

=== Alumni of the role ===
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The following is a list of individuals for whom it has been reported, reliably, that they have played such a fact-checking role at some point in their careers, often as a stepping point to other journalistic endeavors, or to an independent writing career:
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* [[Susan Choi]] – American novelist<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bookmouth.com/choi.html |title=An Interview With Susan Choi |access-date=18 November 2006 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010218100352/http://www.bookmouth.com/choi.html |archive-date=18 February 2001 }}</ref>
* [[Anderson Cooper]] – Television anchorman<ref>{{cite news |url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/01/lkl.01.html |title=CNN.com – Transcripts |publisher=CNN |date=1 June 2006 |access-date=18 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629051423/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/01/lkl.01.html |archive-date=29 June 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[William Gaddis]] – American novelist<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9035777/William-Gaddis |title=William Gaddis (American author) |encyclopedia=Britannica.com |access-date=18 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080505102209/https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9035777/William-Gaddis |archive-date=5 May 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Virginia Heffernan]] – ''The New York Times'' television critic<ref>{{cite web |last=Skurnick |first=Lizzie |url=http://www.mediabistro.com/articles/cache/a57.asp |title=Content |publisher=Mediabistro.com |access-date=18 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928042635/http://www.mediabistro.com/articles/cache/a57.asp |archive-date=28 September 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Roger Hodge]] – Former editor, [[Harper's Magazine]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.harpers.org/RogerDHodge.html |title=Hodge, Roger D. |access-date=18 November 2006 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070308075900/http://www.harpers.org/RogerDHodge.html |archive-date=8 March 2007 }}</ref>
* [[David D. Kirkpatrick]] – ''[[The New York Times]]'' reporter<ref>{{cite news |url=http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/k/david_d_kirkpatrick/index.html | work=The New York Times | first=David D. | last=Kirkpatrick | title=David Kirkpatrick | access-date=15 June 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130616002714/http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/k/david_d_kirkpatrick/index.html | archive-date=16 June 2013 | url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Sean Wilsey]] – [[McSweeney's]] Editor and memoirist<ref>{{cite web|url=http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,0_1000066618,00.html?sym=BIO |title=Sean Wilsey – About Sean Wilsey – Penguin Group |publisher=Us.penguingroup.com |access-date=18 October 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927112918/http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0%2C%2C0_1000066618%2C00.html?sym=BIO |archive-date=27 September 2011 }}{{Verify source|date=July 2015}}</ref>
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