Misinformation and disinformation are rampant while trust in journalism is at an all-time low. These were the reasons I entered journalism and they are a guiding factor in what I do. As a journalist-in-training, even an independent one, I and the rest of the journalism industry have a responsibility and commitment to ensure that anything we right is accurate, factual and not misleading.
My goal is to ensure that anything I do publish, through whatever platform or format, conforms to that commitment. As a student, fact-checking was driven home by my lecturers, and as someone with over a decade of experience in pre-hospital medical care, I’m more than aware of the risks associated with misleading and inaccurate information, whether by mistake or deliberately.
My oath is this. Anything I write will have been fact-checked through at least two reputable and independent sources wherever possible, my content won’t be misleading and the sources will, where possible, be accessible so that you, the reader, can independently verify what is being claimed. While journalists should be classed as reliable sources in and of themselves, the public should always have the ability and are encouraged, to fact-check and independently verify what is being claimed.
As a journalist-in-training, I’m currently a member of the National Union of Journalists and adhere to their Code of Conduct and continue to educate myself through resources such as FactCheckNI, Poynter, The European Fact-Checking Standards Network and the International Fact-Checking Network. I aim to report on a range of topics that have community importance, but I’m driven towards investigations in particular, which by their very nature involve research and fact verification.
What do I mean by reputable and independent sources?
Reputable sources are those with a longstanding record of accuracy and adherence to strict editorial standards, think established news organisations such as academic and peer-reviewed journals, or official reputable government publications. Independent sources are those that operate free from external political or commercial pressures, ensuring that their reporting or research remains objective and verifiable.
Corrections.
Where I’ve made a mistake in my writing, either discovered myself or from feedback from readers, I’ll issue a correction with the correct information and an acknowledgement that a mistake was made and that it was corrected with any relevant details.
Independence.
This website is entirely my own. It’maintained and paid for by me, not by anyone else, I have no commercial backers or sponsors and as such I have no one telling me what, or what not, to publish.