Accurate
reporting requires close attention to a plethora of details such as correct
spellings of candidate names, precise numbers of attending audiences at
election events, exact quotes and attribution, and so forth.
Journalists
also have a broader responsibility to place words and events into a clear and
accurate context. A news report can easily become skewed in favour or against a
particular candidate if context of a statement is not accurately provided or
portrayed. Often this task will require a journalist or editor to place one
candidate’s remark in correct correlation to statements of other candidates.
The
media will always compete to get a story quickly. However, journalists also
have an ethical responsibility not only to be timely but also accurate in doing
so. There are pragmatic reasons for this, as well as principled ones. Media or
journalists who are cavalier with facts will lose trust, and as a result will often
face obstacles in gathering further information.
