The fine art of crafting the truth By Scott McLeod Credibility is a newspaper's cornerstone, the foundation upon which all else rests. Protecting it is a never-ending chore. I complained about the newspaper not living up to its potential, which is a sad thing for those of us who live in these mountains and depend on it as our only regional daily newspaper. One of those is handling mistakes and shortcomings in stories.
Reporters everywhere take on an awesome responsibility when they write a story.
First and most important is to present the facts correctly. To do that they must overcome their own biases. As objective as we try to be, those biases exist, and they manifest themselves in the questions we ask and in which stories we think are important. Good reporters learn to ask the right questions so that stories are not slanted. Then there is the issue of who we talk to concerning any particular story.