Improving Newsroom Accuracy (Without Dedicated Fact-Checkers)

News moves fast, especially in today’s media environment. 

Over time, inaccuracies erode trust with your audience. 

When newsrooms sacrifice accuracy for speed, they’re often doing so without having someone in the dedicated role of “fact-checker.” 

How can newsrooms implement best practices from fact-checking to bolster the accuracy of what they publish? We’ll cover everything that’s needed to promote accuracy as a story goes from idea to publication, which means ultimately you can reduce the number of corrections issued. The end result: having an audience that trusts you more.

If you’re a newsroom who wants to adjust (or even overhaul) your editorial processes to improve accuracy, look no further than Factual’s signature training. 

What’s included: 

• 15min introductory call

• Initial meeting (4.5 hours, with breaks. This initial meeting can be split up among days, if needed)

  • 75 minute webinar on how to think holistically to improve accuracy in the newsroom, when you don’t have anyone in the dedicated role of ‘fact-checker’ (60 min lecture + 15 min Q&A)

  • 60 min custom discussion: newsroom editorial staff can bring up to three scenarios or pain points for Factual to weigh in on

  • 90 min debrief between Factual and the editorial team how to bolster their editorial processes with accuracy in mind. Factual will moderate the conversation towards solutions

  • No limit on newsroom participants for initial 75-min webinar

• Three virtual follow-up consultation calls (60 min each, at a cadence to be determined with client) on implementing changes to newsroom’s fact-checking processes

• Additional consultation calls can be added on at $500/hour

Testimonials:

“This was one of the most useful workshops for newsrooms I've ever attended. We have regular fact-checking practices in our newsroom and have some resources and material that we use to onboard new reporters, but we have always felt we needed to up our game. Wudan presents sourcing and fact-checking concepts in a way that's easy to understand and easy to apply. She helped contextualize and prioritize things for us. And the tools she introduced us to (from the "fact hierarchy" to the "guide to bullshit prevention" to "fact auditing") will soon be staples in our newsroom. I think every newsroom should bring Wudan at least once a year to offer this workshop to new reporters and anyone who needs a quick refresher. It was fantastic.” - Shereen Adel, Director of Impact, KALW

“This webinar was incredibly useful in helping me understand how strapped teams can implement a fact checking ethos in their daily work. The suggestions on auditing facts and how to triage facts was the most helpful part of the seminar. It's really interesting to think about how the (arguably) most important part of journalism is often left to the wayside and I was incredibly grateful to hear about Wudan's own experiences fact checking and to learn about how this work has been shaped by magazines which are unfortunately disappearing. It's given me so much to think about and also made fact checking feel like an endeavor that feels manageable.” - Hanisha Harjani, Community Journalism Director, KALW

“As a reporter in a small newsroom, it often feels difficult to completely fact-check stories, especially quick-turn ones or breaking news. I left this webinar feeling like we have a roadmap for how to report every story with a fact-checking mindset, divide up tasks and define our priorities as an organization.” - Hanna Merzbach, Reporter,  Wyoming Public Media

“Wudan gave a robust webinar on fact checking. While some of it was knowledge I already knew, Wudan shared it in a fascinating way that stuck with me. Her tips on how to improve accuracy without an assigned fact checker were helpful and made  me think a little more out of the box on how a small newsroom can fact check.” - Kamila Kudelska, News Director, Wyoming Public Media

Investment and pricing

Small newsroom (1-10 staff members) / Virtual: $3,000

Small newsroom (1-10 staff members) / In-person: $5,000 + travel fees 

Medium newsroom (10-50 staff members) / Virtual: $7,500

Medium newsroom (10-50staff members) / In-person: $15,000 + travel fees

Large newsroom (50+ staff members) / Virtual: $10,000

Large newsroom (50+ staff members) / In-person: $20,000 + travel fees

Factual can also offer trainings for specific departments, where applicable. If this is the case, please select the option that represents your team (swap out ‘newsroom’ for ‘team’).

Upon booking, forward confirmation email to wudan@factual.work to initiate scheduling.