Fact checking for business journalists: How to fight back against misinformation

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As Volkswagen’s recent false news release demonstrates, deception and loose facts are an ongoing challenge for business journalists. During SABEW’s next training session, we’ll talk about the misinformation crisis and the steps journalists can take to verify that they’re working with accurate information and trustworthy sources. Our expert panel will share best practices for fact-checking, transparency and protecting yourself against misinformation.

Moderator

Desiree Hanford, Northwestern University

Desiree is an assistant professor and director of academic integrity and appeals at Northwestern’s Medill School. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses that include news reporting, business and money reporting and investigative reporting. She is the co-faculty adviser for the Northwestern Business Review. In addition, Desiree is a contributing editor for a B2B publication. Outside of Medill, Desiree was an equities reporter for Dow Jones & Co. for more than 10 years, where she predominantly covered publicly traded companies and mutual funds. She also worked for other news organizations and magazines, and she has freelanced for several publications, including The New York Times. Desiree sits on SABEW’s board of governors.

Panelists

Jon Greenberg, Politifact

Jon is a senior correspondent with PolitiFact, the Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checking news service. Since 2011, he has vetted claims from politicians, pundits, Facebook posts and tweets and rated them on the patented Truth-o-Meter. Before joining PolitiFact, Jon spent two decades in public radio, including half a dozen years as a Washington reporter for NPR, and 14 years as Executive Editor at New Hampshire Public Radio (in that order). He is a three-time winner of Society of Professional Journalists awards, and has degrees from Johns Hopkins University, Syracuse University and Harvard University.

Glenn Kessler, The Washington Post

Glenn has been editor and chief writer of The Fact Checker since 2011 and has worked at The Washington Post since 1998. Almost on a daily basis, he examines the statements of political figures, trying to discern the truth behind the rhetoric. If the statement falls short, Kessler explains why and awards as many as four “Pinocchios” to the offending party. In an award-winning journalism career spanning nearly four decades, Kessler has covered foreign policy, economic policy, the White House, Congress, politics, airline safety and Wall Street. He is the author of The Confidante: Condoleezza Rice and the Creation of the Bush Legacy (2007) and Donald Trump and His Assault on Truth (2020). He is a graduate of Brown University and Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.

Karen Mahabir, The Associated Press

Karen is head of fact checking at The Associated Press. She has worked as a reporter, editor and producer for the AP in its Mexico City, Washington and New York offices. Karen also served as Managing Editor of News for The Huffington Post for two years and has spent many years working as a reporter and columnist at several newspapers in New York City and New Jersey. Karen holds a bachelor’s degree in English Literature, with a concentration in African, Asian and Caribbean Studies, from the University of Sussex in England. She also has a master’s degree in International Journalism from City University of London.