We expect news outlets to get it right.

What happens when they don’t??

There’s a saying in PR, “News outlets shout the story, and then silently correct it when it’s wrong.” Have you ever noticed the corrections or adjustments at the bottom of an article for an inaccuracy? That’s just one small glimpse into how the media correct things they’ve gotten wrong, and some outlets don’t bother to correct anything – even when they’re aware it’s factually inaccurate.

A little history lesson…

When starting this article, I researched the history of newspapers (since radio and TV obviously weren’t available yet). Nothing I found was surprising. Newspapers were created in the early 18th century with the publication of colonial papers. Following American Independence, the first amendment to the Constitution guaranteed freedom of the press and that’s where news, opinion pieces, and political bias began.

Fast-forward to the 1900s, and newspapers were booming. In fact, during the early 20th century, prior to the introduction of the television, Americans read multiple papers per day. Imagine that.

Where do people get their news from today?

According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center, people’s relationship with their local news provider is shifting, as the pressure to evolve into digital continues. If you’d like to read the full report, you can view it here. The most interesting takeaway I garnered, was that local communities still feel a strong connection to their news outlets; however, the level of interest in obtaining news from traditional news organizations is declining. Consumers are much more likely to obtain information from social media apps and outlets that they’re already scrolling online.

At face value, there’s nothing wrong with this. But in the grand scheme of things, it’s a huge issue. Everyone (and I literally mean everyone) is required to hold news organizations accountable. In an era where the faster the story gets out, the more clicks and interest you’ll generate, mistakes are being made. And no one’s calling out the reporters and outlets making the errors. It’s supremely disappointing when stories and sources aren’t fact-checked prior to publish. It’s even more shocking that more media watchdogs aren’t speaking out about these challenges.

Compile the speed of the news cycle with the amount of turnover in the media, with budget cuts and reporters taking on beats that they’re not necessarily familiar with and you have a perfect storm for innacuracies.

From a PR Pro’s perspective –

If you’re a company or individual and need your story told fairly and accurately, you desperately need a PR firm. We don’t ever expect reporters to fully “get it right”. We also recognize they may choose to cover a story from a different angle or viewpoint. However, a PR firm can and should reach out to reporters ahead of time and do all they can to ensure accuracy in reporting. Additionally, inaccuracies should be called out and corrected on the back end, to eliminate any negative associations (assuming there are none).

Even with the best of efforts, reporters and outlets can get it wrong. Unfortunately, many refuse to correct, or at best, make small corrections at the bottom of an article that attract little to no attention.

In a season where many companies think public relations efforts are unnecessary, from my vantage point, it seems like they’re needed more urgently than ever.