ABSTRACT
The third chapter offers an overview of how one can evaluate audiovisual content found online. This process is commonly referred to as “verification”. As this term carries some rhetorical baggage from the natural sciences, its use in journalism is contextualised. It further explains how journalism is carried out at three different levels: source-originated, digging and analytical, and how digital source criticism is relevant for each level. It underscores the role that figures and statistics have in journalism, and how digital source criticism is especially relevant to stories based on this. As user-generated content (UGC) disseminated online is becoming an integral news source for any journalist, the chapter explores the implications and challenges this poses for journalism and journalists. The heart of the chapter is a detailed exploration of the verification process of audiovisual material. The step-by-step guide will help any journalist to better ensure that the information they present to their readers is accurate. It also touches upon a less discussed subject of verification work and mental health, and how this work can be traumatising unless one takes steps to avoid this – some helpful steps are outlined at the end. It concludes with a series of questions and exercises.
