Fact-checking the Experts By Jamaal Abdul-Alim, education editor at The Conversation US Education Writers Association 2019 National Seminar May 5-8, Baltimore, Maryland

expert - noun a person who has a comprehensive and authoritative knowledge of or skill in a particular area. synonyms: specialist, authority, pundit, oracle, resource person;

Who are experts? Academics Analysts Authors

Expert Knowledgeable Reliable Trustworthy

Assumptions

Experts have a unique way of admitting they were wrong Apocryphal Extrapolated Hyperbole

The Essence of Journalism is a Discipline of Verification

Principle No. 1 If your mother tells you she loves you, check it out Same thing applies to experts

Reporting vs. Editing

Principle No. 2 Treat the experts you quote as if you were their editor

You should push back when experts say The research shows … The research doesn’t show … Courts have ruled ….

The research shows … Ask to see the specific study or studies to which they are referring to as the basis for the claim Ask expert to cite or highlight the specific passage or passages in the referenced research that serves as the basis for the claim

The research doesn't show… Ask the expert: Did you look? Look on your own (Google scholar or academia.edu)

Courts have found … Ask to see the specific court decisions to which they are referring Ask them to highlight the specific passage from the decision in question Is the passage part of the conclusion or the overall discussion?

Examples School shooting story (numbers changed) Claim that someone had invented a particular statistic (a footnote contradicted the claim. Irony: the book was about fact-checking research) Faulty math