http://www.contentious.com/2005/12/08/rare-bird-sighted-the-fact-checker/ Amy Gahran's news and musings on how we communicate in the online age. Tue, 02 Dec 2008 17:45:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 http://www.contentious.com/2005/12/08/rare-bird-sighted-the-fact-checker/#comment-46594 Sibylle Hechtel Fri, 09 Dec 2005 17:27:21 +0000 #comment-46594 Perhaps whether the editors fact check stories depends on who publishes them. I write about science and many, if not most, of my stories were checked. I've interviewed two Nobel laureates (Blobel and Horvitz) and described their research for Reuters Health, which fact checked my work. New Scientist fact checked my stories, plus several other magazines. I send the technical part of the text to the scientist whose work I describe to ask whether it's correct before submitting it to the editor. When discussing active transport through the nuclear pore complex, or the enzyme cascade involved in apoptosis, I find that the scientist who did the original research is best qualified to tell me whether or not I desribed it correctly. I don't send the entire story, only the technical details. I've informed my editors that I do this ( it seems common in science magazine articles) and most not only accept it, but encourage it. Perhaps whether the editors fact check stories depends on who publishes them. I write about science and many, if not most, of my stories were checked. I’ve interviewed two Nobel laureates (Blobel and Horvitz) and described their research for Reuters Health, which fact checked my work. New Scientist fact checked my stories, plus several other magazines.
I send the technical part of the text to the scientist whose work I describe to ask whether it’s correct before submitting it to the editor. When discussing active transport through the nuclear pore complex, or the enzyme cascade involved in apoptosis, I find that the scientist who did the original research is best qualified to tell me whether or not I desribed it correctly. I don’t send the entire story, only the technical details. I’ve informed my editors that I do this ( it seems common in science magazine articles) and most not only accept it, but encourage it.

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