Norms and Practices Relating to Fact-Checking in the Reporting of Science News: An Exploratory Study

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This professional development fellowship supports training and research activities on ethics and current practices of fact checking in the reporting of science news. While accepted in some publication domains, fact-checking or the sharing of written text with news sources for their review for inaccuracies is a controversial practice. Critics charge it compromises journalistic independence, while proponents believe the practice would improve accuracy and quality and build trust and respect between scientists and journalists. The fellow is a chemist with experience writing science news articles, whose faculty appointment is in technical communication. The project mentors are professors of journalism and mass communications with specialties in the sociology of risk communication and ethics. With the assistance of her mentors over the course of this award, the fellow will develop and participate in seminars and tutorials to 1) lay the fundamental groundwork for understanding the ethical issues and the dynamics of power and control in the interactions between scientists and journalists over fact-checking, 2) trace the historical origins of ethical guidelines and attitudes relating to the practice of fact-checking, 3) survey reporters in the field in order to understand better the current practices and attitudes toward fact-checking, and 4) explore casuistry or the use of cases, as a framework for analyzing journalists' decision-making processes relating to fact-checking. In addition to assisting in research in areas of interest to the mentors and publishing results in the literature, the fellow will enhance her capabilities to carry out further scholarly work in the realm of science communications. The team will also develop a workshop based on project outcomes for scientists and journalists.