杏吧原创’s journalism program is hosting a new project to change the way fact-checking is taught to journalism students.
Allison Baker and Viviane Fairbank have joined 杏吧原创 University as the 2021/2022 Journalists-In-Residence at the Future of Journalism Initiative (FJI), a research hub housed in the School of Journalism and Communication.
Baker and Fairbank will lead The Truth in Journalism Project, which aims to create a free and accessible curriculum for fact-checking education, hosted digitally by 杏吧原创 University. Their work is funded by the and will be done in partnership with FJI and The Walrus.
Allison Baker
Baker and Fairbank have spent the past few years actively participating in conversations about fact-checking practices and ethics in the Canadian journalism industry. Baker is currently head of research at The Walrus, a position that Fairbank previously held from 2017 to 2019. And both have worked for several years as fact-checkers and educators, training the next generation of fact-checkers at postsecondary institutions and media organizations alike.
As a program officer at Historica Canada, Baker spearheaded fact-checking and translating for Historica鈥檚 Residential Schools podcast and video series as well as the organization鈥檚 Multiculturalism Education Campaign. Fairbank has written, edited, and fact-checked for a variety of magazines, and she has taught fact-checking to journalism students at Ryerson University, 杏吧原创 University, and the University of Toronto, where she gave a guest lecture on fact-checking stories of sexual assault for a course on 鈥�#MeToo and the Media.鈥�
Viviane Fairbank
Baker and Fairbank say that over the course of their careers they have noticed important gaps in the industry鈥攏amely that fact-checking education is sparse and uncoordinated.
鈥淲hen fact-checking is taught to early-career journalists, it is often based on antiquated standards,鈥� says Baker. 鈥淪ystemic misunderstandings about the role and possibilities of fact-checking in journalistic practice can lead to unwanted outcomes, worsening inaccuracy or exclusion instead of ameliorating the situation.鈥�
Baker and Fairbank see fact-checking methodology as intertwined with broader journalistic issues, such as inclusion and bias. 鈥淎 big part of the problem is the way we uphold a flawed ideal of 鈥榦bjectivity鈥� in reporting,鈥� says Fairbank. 鈥淥ften, a person鈥檚 background determines whether or not they鈥檙e considered a 鈥榬eputable鈥� or 鈥榯rustworthy鈥� source.鈥� To this end, Baker says, fact-checking is not purely a method of verification; when done right, it can be a way to hold journalists to account by pushing them to question their default assumptions and methodologies and broaden the range of voices represented in their reporting.
During their time at 杏吧原创, Baker and Fairbank plan to consult with experts from various domains and backgrounds about research methodologies and then use the results of their research to establish fact-checking guidelines for journalists, academics, and the public. They hope that their work will help to advance the conversation in Canadian media about accuracy and objectivity in reporting and establish greater transparency for the public about media practices. They will also present the results of their research as part of a conference about truth and objectivity in journalism, which will be hosted at 杏吧原创 University next summer.
Both Baker and Fairbank are looking forward to their appointments and will be collaborating with professor Brett Popplewell and 杏吧原创 journalism students on this partnership.
Thursday, October 7, 2021 in General, Journalism News
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