9. “It is often the best people who make the
worst mistakes—error is not the monopoly
of an unfortunate few...far from being
random, mishaps tend to fall into recurrent
patterns. The same set of circumstances can
provoke similar errors, regardless of the
people involved.”
-- James Reason
Sunday, October 31, 2010
10. “Pound for pound, the
most mistake-packed
article I have ever
checked was written by a
Pulitzer Prize winner.”
-- Ariel Hart, Columbia Journalism
Review
Sunday, October 31, 2010
18. Error Rate
•70+ years of research
•40%-60% of news stories contain an
error
•Subjective vs. Objective
•Meyer method = 25%
Sunday, October 31, 2010
19. Common Errors
1.Misquotes
2.Incorrect headline
3.Numerical error
4.Misspelling
5.Incorrect job title
6.Incorrect name
7.Incorrect location
8.Incorrect time
9.Incorrect date
10.Incorrect address
11.Incorrect age
Sunday, October 31, 2010
24. WHO surgical safety
checklist helped reduce
inpatient deaths following
operations by 40 percent --
New England Journal of Medicine
Sunday, October 31, 2010
26. Why?
• Remove reliance on memory
• Prevent distraction
• Central collection point
• Introduce repeatable, measurable process
• Create discipline (“force”) necessary for
high performance
Sunday, October 31, 2010
27. Using a Checklist
•A habit
•Enforced across organization, at all levels
•Tracked
•Coupled with teamwork/communication
(“Just ticking boxes is not the ultimate goal
here. Embracing a culture of teamwork and
discipline is.")
Sunday, October 31, 2010
28. Tips
• Increase font size while reviewing work
• Ask to spell name/title
• Keep research in separate font, color from
your writing
• Keep items TK or to check in yet another
color
• 5-minute rule
Sunday, October 31, 2010
31. Verifying Real-Time/
Crowdsourced Info
• Track back RTs, etc. to source
• Look for clusters
• Location enabled?
• Evaluate the network
• Evaluate the history
• Links, photos?
• Take it old school
• Disclose, hedge, repeat
• Be brave only in correction
Sunday, October 31, 2010
