Author Archive

Articles by Craig Silverman | Email the Author

 

1. Behind the News

   The Truth about Public Untruths

   December 2, 2011 01:13 PM

   What’s to be done with lying liars and the lies they tell journalists and the public? This is a topic of serious discussion in journalism circles, perhaps now more than ever. I say that with the knowledge that two... Continue reading

2. The News Frontier

   Know Your Journalists

   November 21, 2011 11:10 AM

   In 2006 Adrian Holovaty, then a programmer and journalist of some reputation, wrote a blog post entitled, “A fundamental way newspaper sites need to change.” In the five years since he published it, Holovaty went on to win a... Continue reading

3. Behind the News

   Some Thoughts on the Romenesko Affair

   November 11, 2011 01:49 PM

   I have no other option than to start this column about Jim Romenesko with a litany of disclosures. Deep breath, here we go: Romenesko has linked to my blog, Regret the Error, many times since it launched in... Continue reading

4. Behind the News

   Misinformation Propagation

   November 4, 2011 12:18 PM

   Growing up in Rome, Filippo Menczer used to watch the local con artists offer gullible tourists a chance to buy the Coliseum. The scam worked often enough that it spread and other people began doing it, until a... Continue reading

5. The News Frontier

   The Story of the Gaddafi Story

   October 20, 2011 02:14 PM

   Earlier this morning news began to spread that something major was happening in Libya. At first it seemed that a convoy, likely belonging to those loyal to former leader Moammar Gaddfi, was under attack in/near Sirte. This was where his... Continue reading

6. Behind the News

   Journos Call For More Transparency at NYT Op-Ed Page

   October 6, 2011 01:46 PM

   Just a bit after 11 a.m. this morning, New York Times public editor Arthur Brisbane received an e-mail from the Checks and Balances Project, a nonprofit government and industry watchdog group. Attached to the message was a... Continue reading

7. Behind the News

   Unknown Quantities

   September 30, 2011 12:35 PM

   We don’t know. Those are three difficult words for a journalist to say. For many, it's an admission of failure. We don’t know is a barrier to publication, dissemination. It means more work needs to be done, or that it’s... Continue reading

8. Behind the News

   Eight Simple Rules for Doing Accurate Journalism

   September 16, 2011 12:23 PM

   It’s a cliché to say clichés exist for a reason. As journalists, we’re supposed to avoid them like the, um, plague. But it’s useful to have a catchy phrase that can stick in someone’s mind, particularly if you’re trying to... Continue reading

9. Behind the News

   Calling Out a Source that Lied

   September 9, 2011 01:19 PM

   As far as official denials go, it was clear and emphatic. Lori Willis, communications director of the Schnucks grocery chain, issued this response after a reporter with the Memphis Commercial Appeal recently asked if the rumors were true that her... Continue reading

10. Behind the News

    Errors in Anytown, U.S.A.

    September 2, 2011 12:59 PM

    Last spring, Kirstie Hettinga spent several months working two days a week as an unpaid intern at what she will only describe as “a small, regional newspaper in the Northeastern United States.” Yes, like many interns, she’s a student, but... Continue reading

11. Behind the News

    A Victim’s Tale

    August 19, 2011 12:00 PM

    Last week was a terrible one for Jon Harris, a librarian at the North Canton Public Library in Ohio. On Thursday he was smoking a cigarette on his front porch when a man walked up, pulled a gun, and demanded... Continue reading

12. Behind the News

    Schmidle in Secret

    August 12, 2011 12:39 PM

    Amid the discussion and debate about the sourcing and accuracy of Nicholas Schmidle’s lengthy retelling of the Bin Laden raid in The New Yorker, we’ve failed to hear from one important group of people. They have the detailed... Continue reading

13. Behind the News

    From Breaking News to Baseless Speculation

    July 29, 2011 11:35 AM

    Why do journalists and news organizations exhibit such a lack of restraint when it comes to breaking news like last week’s events in Norway? This is the question I’ve most frequently been asked in the week since the bloody attacks.... Continue reading

14. Behind the News

    What The Guardian Can Learn from Watergate Coverage

    July 22, 2011 01:30 PM

    Up until The New York Times Magazine published a lengthy piece last September that broke new ground in the News Corp. phone hacking scandal, The Guardian was basically the only media outlet that had pushed the story forward.... Continue reading

15. Behind the News

    The Case for the Corrections Page

    July 15, 2011 11:35 AM

    A website redesign is a major event for a news organization. Reuters recently unveiled a new website, and it occasioned blog posts from former editor-in-chief and current chairman of Thomson Reuters China David Schlesinger, and from Chrystia Freeland,... Continue reading

16. Behind the News

    Introducing the Grantland Corrections Desk

    July 8, 2011 12:45 PM

    “Without looking it up, I can tell you the night the Toronto Blue Jays won their first World Series — October 24, 1992 — because that was also the night I lost my virginity.” That’s how Esquire writer at... Continue reading

17. Behind the News

    And on the Fender Bass, President Abraham Lincoln!

    July 1, 2011 01:19 PM

    It wasn’t too long after the July/August issue of the mid-Atlantic edition of AAA World magazine reached subscribers that Mike Caddell and his colleagues began receiving the emails. When I spoke with him this week, he said they were still... Continue reading

18. Behind the News

    Misquotes That Refuse to Die

    June 24, 2011 11:47 AM

    Back in 2009, Barack Obama’s presidential campaign manager, David Plouffe, said some rather kind words about Utah governor Jon Huntsman, and he has probably been regretting them ever since. As detailed this week by The New York Times... Continue reading

19. Behind the News

    The Backfire Effect

    June 17, 2011 11:44 AM

    Which of these headlines strikes you as the most persuasive: “I am not a Muslim, Obama says.” “I am a Christian, Obama says.” The first headline is a direct and unequivocal denial of a piece of misinformation that’s had... Continue reading

20. The News Frontier

    Best Practices for Social Media Verification

    June 3, 2011 11:52 AM

    Whether you view it as long overdue or just in time, I believe we are starting to see the emergence of best practices for verifying social media content and citizen reports. Recent weeks and months have seen leading practitioners of... Continue reading

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