It’s going to happen.
Beat reporters, you’ll know the trends and source material. You’ll work your sources fairly. You’ll strive for accuracy. You’ll fact check and contextualize.
Then the message will come — a call for a correction. Sometimes it’ll be baseless, often there will confusion and then there will come those times when you just got it wrong.
The web moves fast and with the vast communication network that exists today, reporters are the front lines for complaints and criticisms like never before. You can’t hide from the emails, social messages and texts.
So you’ll need to know how to handle this, particularly when you’re challenged to navigate complaints within a community you serve.
Firstly build your instincts. The vast majority of complaints I’ve received started with anger, frustration and the like — it’s not facts but concern.
So, no matter what the complaint, you must calm the source without promising anything. Here’s your initial response (whether in person, on the phone or even via email, however the complaint comes in):
Thank you for this feedback. We’ll get this figured out. We prioritize accuracy above all else, so I want to understand more specifically. It might make sense to speak to my editor but first can you cite what specific portion of the report is inaccurate and what would make it accurate?
Critically you must not apologize nor push back without knowing the details. You must aim to get as much specific and actionable feedback as you can calmly.
From there primarily you want to weigh the concern fairly and openly. You cannot become defensive. You must act with humility and honesty: your mission is to be accurate, not protect your sense of self-value.
Here are some other lessons worth taking into consideration:
- If the complaint comes in publicly — like via a social message — take the conversation privately as soon as possible.
(1) dilpomatically push through (glad you like the story, let’s keep in touch and oh, i like both of your voices in there, so let’s keep both of your names in there. keep in touch!!)
(2) that makes it easier for her to just let it go (see boss, I tried with him!), but if she persists, these WRITTEN sourcing is so nebulous anyway, that i don’t think we’re really making a big ethical stand to hold off on changing it and it might mean a lot to them, so i personally suggest we do make the change.