Fact Checking Another name for Research

Whether you are writing children's literature, romance novels, horror, or even science fiction, you have to have your facts right! Many authors do the research themselves, while publishing companies, hire fact checkers, who are individuals whose job, it
is to verify factual assertions usually made in news copy and determine if the assertions are correct. While this job does require a general knowledge on the subject more importantly, it requires that the individual process the ability and know how to
conduct a thorough and quick research on the assertions that were made.

The resources and time necessary for to do an accurate fact-checking research are substantial. For this reason, fact-checking is not usually performed at many newspapers,
where deadlines must be made and where reporters' have to have the ability to correct and verify their own information. However, news sources such as magazines, which publish on a weekly, or monthly basis are more likely to employ fact-checkers, as they do not have the short deadlines of daily newspapers.

However, you are writing a children's publication that is strictly fictional, so why should you do research? For the simple reason if your story contains a simple oversight---you will hear about it. An example of this occurred with an acquaintance of mine who if I swore not to use her name, gave me permission to relate her mishap.

In her third published book, she had written a simple sentence about the family loading up the Ford-Ambassador station wagon to go to the beach. Ford did not make the Ambassador; American Motors' produced the station wagon. She received over eight hundred letters, emails, and postcards all explaining this fact to her, with a majority stating that they would not purchase her next book because of her mistake. This wasn't a book about automobiles, or a mystery where the type of car might be relevant to the story. It was about baby brother's visit to the beach.

Therefore, even if you are writing children's literature you have to check your fact. The author simply stated that the family loaded up the station wagon, to go to the beach, it is doubtful that she would have received so many letters.

Fact checking is most critical those authors who have not been trained as a reporter at some point of their writing career. For news sources that have the recourses and budget, they can spend hours researching every assertion made in every article
they print. However, for the author who is writing fictional literature or for the publications that do not have the staff or budget to confirm every statement made in a given article, must still attempt to do just that. Fact checkers can only catch accidental mistakes that have been made and should not be held at fault for fraudulent journalism.

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