At Medill, there’s a wonderful tradition called the “Medill F.” Make a factual error of any sort, and you fail the assignment. The sadistic part of me likes it — a journalist’s job is to tell the truth. If you miss the mark, you’ve failed the public, and failed at your job for the day. Harsh but true. My only Medill F was writing down the wrong day for an exhibit closing. I’ll never forget that one.
Why do you care, you ask? Because it’s an example of just how simple it is to make a factual error. That’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot recently. (more…)
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