Facts matter: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter. Support our nonprofit reporting. Subscribe to our print magazine.
Newsweek might not bother with fact checking these days, but Ta-Nehisi Coates says it’s still alive and well where he works:
When I arrived at The Atlantic in 2008, I was subjected to arguably the most thorough fact-checking procedure in all of popular publishing. That meant submitting an annotated version of the story with all sources cited, turning over all my notes, transcripts or audio, and the names and numbers of each of my sources, all of whom were called to confirm the veracity of my quotes.
In case you’re curious, Mother Jones works the same way for its print pieces and online reported pieces. And yes, it’s every bit the pain in the ass you’d expect. Also every bit as necessary as you’d think.
