Just printed out my story. I’ll highlight facts, details or quotes in green and names in orange. Then I’ll grab a pen and go through each, writing down the page of a document or interview that supports it. This is how I fact check, interrogating every sentence. #WhatReportersDo 
Contextual words like “first,” “only,” “never,” “always,” most” and “often” get circled for special attention. These little buggers seem innocuous but can easily create errors if not backed up. #WhatReportersDo
One quick note about this process: It can make your writing stronger, too. If you have loads of evidence behind a key fact, you can write that bit with much more verve and authority than if the sourcing is tenuous and you have to explain that caveat to readers. #WhatReportersDo
Other things I look for: numbers, timing issues (words like “before,” “after” and “during”), comparisons, job titles, etc. And geography! Quickest way to annoy locals and lose trust is to say something is on the west side when it’s actually in the east side. #WhatReportersDo
Obviously, I’m adding things here as I think of them because it’s a distraction from this tedious process. Gonna put away for my phone for a bit so I can actually get all this done.
Caught so far:
- "80 minutes" = wrong. I didn't count time when recording was paused.
- Editor-induced error: "was the first" should be "wasn't the only"
- clarified technicality
- swapped repetitious vocab
- cut allusion to now-gone section
- fixed 2 typos
#WhatReportersDo
- "80 minutes" = wrong. I didn't count time when recording was paused.
- Editor-induced error: "was the first" should be "wasn't the only"
- clarified technicality
- swapped repetitious vocab
- cut allusion to now-gone section
- fixed 2 typos
#WhatReportersDo
Wow. Thanks for all the replies and follows. I'm learning a lot from you all. Please continue to share your own tips/tricks for fact checking or editing. Tomorrow, I'll compile them into a few more tweets for this thread so we can all get a little better.
