To address pressing issues of accuracy and honesty in media, Knight Science Journalism at MIT recently released “The State of Fact-Checking in Science Journalism.” The report explores many of the challenges facing today’s science journalists, especially when it comes to the dwindling number of fact-checking resources that are available to them.
The media is under intense scrutiny and the foundation supported the creation of this report to better understand the prevalence of fact-checking, especially in the complex science, environment and health reporting. Science journalists are not only tasked with delivering relevant stories to readers, but they face the added challenge of decoding and translating dense, jargon-filled research.
The report concludes that increased resources and processes to ensure accuracy of science stories would be immensely helpful to the field.
The report includes recommendations for how media outlets and interested funders may be able to improve the discipline of fact-checking within science journalism. We encourage you to read the fact-checking report in its entirety.