B. Glossary
- accuracy:
One of the three essential values of fact-checking. A statement is accurate if it is free from factual error; it reflects the "fact of the matter" about a topic, whenever such a thing exists; and it "sounds right" to the people whom the statement concerns.
- annotated draft:
The draft of a story submitted to the fact checker by the reporter in their research package. Each statement in the piece is linked to a footnote listing the source(s) against which it can be verified.
A gathered or interviewed source that is fully qualified to confirm or refute the fact at hand. Authority is a fact-relative way of categorizing sources: given a certain fact, certain sources are authoritative for confirming or refuting it, while others are not.
A source is always authoritative regarding its internal facts but only sometimes authoritative regarding its external facts, depending on the source's relationship to those facts and how they were gathered.
Authority is a fact-relative way of categorizing sources: given a certain fact, certain sources are authoritative for confirming or refuting it, while others are not. Authority is grounded in expertise, reliability, and appropriateness; primary sources are usually (but not always) authoritative.
- checked copy:
The fact-checked draft of a story, in which the fact checker has noted only their recommended corrections and clarifications. This version is shared with the handling editor so that they can input corrections in the story.
- checking copy:
The draft of a story in which the fact checker shows their fact-checking work. Using comments in the document, the fact checker attributes sources to each fact and notes the corrections, clarifications, and other pertinent information they've uncovered.
- checking sure:
A term borrowed from Cynthia Brouse's After the Fact (2007). Being "checking sure" that a fact is correct requires having critically reviewed the sources available to confirm that fact; it is, therefore, a higher standard than being "virtually certain."
- Collaboration Principle:
Whenever appropriate and within reason, a fact checker should give people and communities a choice over how journalists will fact-check their stories but not whether the relevant facts will be checked before publication.
- compassionate fact-checking:
An approach to fact-checking that aims to minimize secondary victimization and give agency to interviewed sources without compromising on the standard of factual accuracy that the reported stories are held up to.
- context-dependent meaning:
Meaning (of words and phrases) that changes depending on the context in which they're presented.
- cultural terms:
Words and phrases that are part of a community's cultural vocabulary but may not appear in a standard English dictionary.
- external facts:
Facts about anything other than the source to which they are attributed—including facts about external events, places, and people. In principle, any source could be mistaken about its external facts (as opposed to its internal facts), and other sources may be more appropriate for the checking of those facts.
- fact-check input:
The step in the fact-checking process where the fact checker meets with the handling editor to incorporate all corrections and clarifications into the story.
- fact-check read:
The fact checker's final review of a piece right before it is published. During the read, the fact checker ensures that the agreed-upon corrections and clarifications have been made and that no subsequent editorial changes have affected the accuracy of the piece.
- fact-checking folder:
The digital folder that contains the fact checker's work on a story, including gathered sources; interview documents; records of exchanges with sources over email or otherwise; the checking, checked, and post-input copies of the story; and the reporter's annotated draft.
- forms of knowledge:
The different mediums in which facts can exist and be checked, including printed and oral records, lived experience, data and statistics, scientific consensus, and others.
- gathered sources:
The published documents, online media, journal articles, and other records that the reporter and fact checker consult during their work (as opposed to interviewed sources).
- handling editor:
The editor who works with the reporter to shape their piece and shepherd it through the editorial process, from the commissioning stage to publication.
- head of research:
The person who oversees fact-checking at a publication. They provide training and support to fact checkers, intervene whenever there are factual disagreements, and ensure the publication's fact-checking standards are met in every published story.
- Independence Principle:
Every fact should be checked against at least one authoritative source or, if that is not possible, several independent non-authoritative sources. If a fact can be verified only via non-authoritative sources, that may need to be made clear in the text of the story.
- informed consent:
The relationship that a reporter and fact-checker should strive to build with every person they interview. It is the reporter's responsibility to ensure that every interviewed source has a complete understanding of what their participation in the project entails, including what will be required of them during the fact-checking process.
- integrity:
One of the three essential values of fact-checking. Working with integrity means having clear and ethical intentions, treating others with respect and humility, and remaining aware of the context in which one is operating.
- Internal/External Fact Distinction:
Most factual statements attributed to a source include a mix of internal and external facts about that source; it is the fact checker's job to parse them as best as possible and to check each kind of fact in the most appropriate way.
- internal facts:
Facts that concern only the source in question (as opposed to external facts). In principle, no other source—neither interviewed nor gathered—is better suited to check such facts.
- interviewed sources:
The people with whom the reporter and fact checker speak during their work (as opposed to gathered sources)—including anyone who was interviewed on background.
- Knowledge Principle:
A fact checker should be prepared to navigate different forms of knowledge comfortably and to choose the most appropriate one for confirming the fact at hand.
A source that is not authoritative for confirming or refuting the fact at hand. Non-authoritative sources may still sometimes be used during fact-checking but only when there is good reason to do so and the appropriate measures are taken to independently corroborate the information they provide.
- off the record:
An attribution agreement between a journalist and an interviewed source according to which the information given by the source can be neither made public nor attributed to the source.
- on background:
An attribution agreement between a journalist and an interviewed source according to which the information given by the source can be made public but the source can’t be named. This includes both veiled sources, who are cited in the story without their full name being published, and not-for-attribution sources, who are not mentioned in the story at all.
- on the record:
An attribution agreement between a journalist and an interviewed source according to which the information given by the source can be made public and attributed to the source.
- oral history:
A type of historical oral record that is passed down within Indigenous communities, based on established (community-specific) cultural protocols. Sometimes also called oral tradition, oral narrative, or other such terms.
- oral record:
Knowledge preserved and passed down orally in a community, following certain (formal or informal) protocols that ensure accuracy.
- outside reader:
Someone hired by a publication to participate as an external reviewer/adviser in the editorial production of a piece. The outside reader ensures that the piece is accurate and properly reported and produced. Often, they are a member of the community being reported on in the piece, but they are not one of the story's interviewed sources.
- personal identity language:
Language that reflects how someone describes their own identity and experience (as opposed to social identity language). Personal identity language conveys an internal fact about that person.
- Personal Principle:
Any fact in a story that concerns someone should be checked with that person. This means that, with very few exceptions, a fact should be checked with every person it involves, regardless of who originally told it to the reporter.
- points of verification:
Additional sources used to check the credibility of the external facts of someone's lived experience.
- polarizing language:
Words and terms that have moral or political connotations on top of what is included in their formal definitions and that are often the subject of intense social debate.
- post-input copy:
The draft of a story that is produced after fact-check input has taken place. This version reflects all of the changes to the piece made by the editor in response to the fact checker's comments, and it also notes, for the record, any fact-checking changes that were stetted.
- Power Principle:
Always be mindful of the power that comes with being the arbiter of truth in fact-checked journalism. As a fact checker, you should handle facts with care, think conscientiously about relationships among people and communities, and treat all forms of knowledge as equally valid.
- pre-fact-checking conversation:
A conversation that takes place between the fact checker and an interviewed source before fact-checking begins. It is optional and usually takes place in the context of compassionate fact-checking. It ensures informed consent and allows the interviewed source to discuss and prepare for complicated or sensitive fact-checking requirements.
- reporter guidelines:
A document of standards and instructions provided by a publication that outlines the reporter's fact-checking responsibilities. This typically includes instructions for gathering and documenting sources and for formatting an annotated draft. Appendix A of The Truth in Journalism Fact-Checking Guide provides a sample of such guidelines.
- research package:
The folder prepared by the reporter prior to their story entering fact-checking. It includes their annotated draft, every gathered source, contact information for every interviewed source, interview transcripts and recordings, and any pertinent notes and instructions for the fact checker.
- responsible communication:
A fact-checking mindset in line with Canadian libel law, which requires journalists to be "diligent" in trying to verify any allegation before publication.
- secondary victimization:
Retraumatization that occurs when someone who previously experienced trauma is forced to relive it as a result of the insensitive questions or actions of others.
Language that describes a community or social group's identity and experiences (as opposed to personal identity language). When social identity language is used to describe someone, that description is partly an external fact.
- stet:
A technical term in journalism for when a (fact-checking or copy-editing) correction or suggestion has been rejected or overruled.
- top read:
The step where the fact checker's work is looked over and assessed by someone else, likely the head of research or another fact checker. The top reader ensures that appropriate sources were used and that nothing has been overlooked; often, they will ask questions and assign small follow-ups to the fact checker.
- transparency:
One of the three essential values of fact-checking. It is a manner of working and communicating that makes it easy for others to understand one's methodology and motivations. In a fact-checking context, this means being open and honest about the requirements and limitations of your work and making sure that the public knows which facts have been checked and how.
- triangulating:
The practice of using a variety of different sources and forms of knowledge to corroborate the same fact.
- Turtle Problem:
To avoid referring to an infinite series of sources (the first confirming the fact, the second confirming the reliability of the first, the third confirming the reliability of the second, and so on), fact checkers are logically required to consider some sources reliable enough to stand on their own.
- Two-Layer Principle:
There are always two distinct steps to establishing a statement in a journalistic story: first, reporting; then, verification.