They say a picture is worth a thousand words...

In February 11th's Daily Illini, there was an article highlighting the University Dining Hall's new policy on disclosing nutrition information. Along with offering this information online, the dining hall now posts the information in the dining hall where it is more accessible and relevant to the students. This is all helpful and great, but I just don't know if all the facts provided by the dining hall are correct. The graphic provided by the DI disclosed the calories, protein, fat and carbohydrates in a serving of several foods, among them "jasmin rice." (Spelling error #1) In the jump of the article, there is a photograph of the actual hot food line, with nutritional information written in marker probably by a worker. From the photo, "Seasoned Green Beans," can be seen clearly and so can "Protien." (Spelling error #2) With spelling errors like these, I just don't know if I can trust that my seasoned green beans are actually one calorie from fat as posted.

But, I guess people can glance over minor details and take what the paper says to heart. After all, journalists are all about exposing the truth. Unfortunately, there are several journalists who abuse their privilege and outright lie. Such is the case with Jayson Blair. Blair fabricated countless articles for The New York Times before he was caught. Along with blatantly making up quotes and names, Blair never even attended the events he was assigned to cover. In my News Editing lecture, we watched an interview clip of Blair, and he described how he made up the last name of his main source in order to use this person's quotes. How can this source not tell the editor, or did he not read the story? Also, there are several rounds of editing in the newsroom, so how did the editor miss a person's name?

There's a trust that builds between editors and journalists, but there is a difference between trusting and merely double-checking facts in a story.