Web versions of magazines are not as well edited and fact checked as their print counterparts. That’s the topline finding of a new study by Columbia Journalism Review (PDF). It found many more mistakes on the sites than in the magazines themselves. No surprise, it cited the sites’ smaller staffs as a primary reason. When asking industry specialists, it found some very lax attitudes and replies:
content decisions (17%).
there (54%).
Does any of this sound familiar? Websites at local TV stations are often run by one person with, perhaps, a staff of 2-3. The editing process is simply not the same as it is with the legacy product. We talk all about how people in our community should trust us, but we can’t expect trust if our website is full of mistakes. The web is not the minor leagues.
