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.