#reportingtips

I feel like I might be overcompensating, but when I write articles involving direct quotes, I find myself cross-referencing sources until I’m physically tired. For example, last week I covered a city council debate and spent an hour confirming a council member’s exact phrasing across three different live-streamed angles. Even the recorder tags on my phone are color-coded by verification priority. Am I alone in this? Do other reporters have a system for ensuring every word attributed to a source is pixel-perfect, or is this just my brain overcorrecting from that time I accidentally misquoted a whistleblower in a high school blog post? Maybe I’m just projecting, but I’d love to hear how others balance speed and accuracy. 😅