Stephanie Dale

Stephanie Dale

Citizen Journalist at No Fibs
Stephanie Dale is a journalist and author with a background of 25 years in media, politics and publishing. Stephanie believes we need to find new ways of sharing our Earth, and making way for all its people, not just those privileged by the current economic system, and all its creatures - on their own terms.
Stephanie Dale
I have two published books available - the novel Hymn for the Wounded Man and the travel memoir My Pilgrim's Heart, which was reviewed recently by the Huffington Post.

No Fibs media training fact or opinion

Yes, there is a difference between fact and opinion – and a credible CJ must be able to identify that difference.

Facts are claims that you can verify by asking yourself a simple question: ‘says who?’

Opinions are thoughts that you or the person you are interviewing express about an issue, event or topic of interest.

Facts

Facts are claims that can be verified.

All facts must be attributed – to someone or something (such as a report). If you haven’t read the report that is being quoted yourself, then claims made about the report must be attributed to someone – a person.

If your interviewee expresses ‘facts’ – you must check them.

Most facts can be disputed. For your story to be credible, you must request an interview with people who may hold alternative opinions.

In MSM (mainstream media) this is called getting ‘the other side of the story’. At No Fibs we recognise there are many prisms through which to view a story, not just two. However the principle is the same – it’s vital to healthy media to report myriad views.

Opinions

It’s okay for your interviewee to express opinions in your story.

All such opinions must be either contained within quote marks or attributed to your interviewee with ‘s/he said’.

Beware reporting what your interviewee claims someone else said – unless you have asked the person yourself, such information is for you to tuck away for another day.

Do not report what someone says someone else says unless you have checked with the source yourself.

There is no place in a news story for your opinions.

There is however a place on No Fibs for an opinion piece, if you’d like to write what you think about a particular issue.

Such pieces will be clearly labelled ‘Opinion’. All claims you make in your opinion piece must be verifiable and attributed to a particular source.