Fact checking is crucial for building credibility and trust. Don’t skip this step.

By Audrey Auerbach Nelson

Recently, I fact-checked an episode of Degrees, the green careers podcast that we produce for the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). I’d never done it before. I learned a lot not only about the fact-checking process itself, but also about why it’s important. So I decided to write about it.

Why does fact checking matter?

Of course, before being asked to fact check this episode, I was aware of the growing impact of mis- and disinformation and Americans’ increased distrust of media. I knew these factors shape elections, increase political polarization, and influence our feelings about everything from vaccinations to climate change.

And it seemed obvious that combating false information is critical in traditional investigative journalism, when sources often want to obscure the truth or outright lie. 

But when I first read the script for this Degrees episode about a punk-rocking paralegal-turned-climate activist, I wasn’t sure why confirming what year the guest moved to Seattle was such a big deal. 

Elaine Appleton Grant helped me understand. She runs Podcast Allies and is at the helm of Degrees. “As podcast creators, we take responsibility for anything a guest says on our airwaves,” she said.  

For a show like Degrees or Sound Judgment, where guests are often eager to be interviewed, I made the assumption that there would be few cases where someone deliberately misrepresents a fact. It turned out that while this is true, Elaine reminded me about human nature: we all want to look good, no matter the venue. And that may mean the sources fudge the facts or amplify their influence, even subtly. Furthermore, people make mistakes. Memories are faulty. But no matter what the error’s source is, Elaine said, “if one of our guests says something that’s factually wrong”—even if it seems harmless compared to, say, election fraud claims—“we’re the ones who have to answer for it.” 

So when we catch and correct even the smallest of errors? We’re reinforcing trust in media and establishing a powerful commitment to telling factual stories. It’s a societal win-win.

Now that we’ve covered the why, let’s get into the nitty gritty of how to fact check.

How do you fact check a podcast episode?

For reference, the episode I worked on is part of Degrees’ upcoming sixth season, which launches in September. It features Drew Wilkinson, who cofounded Microsoft’s employee sustainability group.

The first thing I did was to scroll through the episode script and highlight everything—everything!—that could be considered a fact. Standard fare like names (Her name was Holly Beale), job titles (Holly was a Technical Accounts Manager at Microsoft), dates, and quantities (So, in 2018, he decided to use Microsoft’s trillion-dollar resources to do something good). But also superlative statements (We’ve sweltered through the hottest summer on record) and other assertions of fact (In 2020, Microsoft promised to be carbon negative, water positive, and zero waste by 2030, with its employees at the center of their strategy).

Once I’d finished my first pass through the document, I made a list of questions designed to confirm these facts. There were questions I could easily answer myself with Google research; by reading a 10K, an SEC report filed by publicly held companies; or skimming a Form 990, an IRS form nonprofits must file:

• Is Microsoft one of the largest corporations in the world?

• Is The Ocean Cleanup a nonprofit based in the Netherlands?

But there were also questions I needed Drew’s help with:

• How long had you been at Microsoft by the time you were invited to see the cafeteria [which Drew helped to transform into a zero-waste dining hall]?

• The hackathon partnership with The Ocean Cleanup first took place in 2018, then again in 2019 and 2020, correct? Any other years?

I compiled all of my questions into an email and sent it to Drew. Twenty-four hours later (thank you, Drew!), he replied with an exhaustive list of answers.

From there, I went back into the episode script and used Google Docs’ “suggest” mode to input changes. Happily, Drew had confirmed many facts. Others were barely incorrect; one assertion was fixed by cutting the word “dramatically.” But after learning the importance of fact checking, it felt satisfying to set the record straight—even on whether Drew’s former punk band had lived out of a bus or a van while on tour. 

What are other benefits of fact checking?

As I was poring over Drew’s episode, I discovered something that surprised me. 

Fact checking isn’t just a social good, a way of protecting journalists’ reputations and ensuring quality standards in the industry. It also helps us tell better stories.

For example, in the first draft of this episode, the timeline was initially muddled. There was confusion over whether a partnership with The Ocean Cleanup had happened the same year that Drew co-founded Microsoft’s Sustainability Connected Community (SCC). From the script and Drew’s interview, it wasn’t clear which event had come first, and whether the launch of one had encouraged the other.

Fact checking the dates cleared this timeline issue up, so that the cause and effect was clearer and Drew’s journey was simply and succinctly presented. In this way, the decision to fact check made a significant impact on the quality of the story itself.

Plus, I’ll tell you a secret: 

Fact checking was…fun.

“Really?” Elaine said when I told her. “Most people hate fact checking!”

But I didn’t. Fact checking afforded me the chance to go deep on this Degrees episode in a way I wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. And it taught me a great deal about Microsoft’s sustainability commitments, huge company town halls, and corporate hackathons—all of which I never would have researched on my own. I spent the whole next day chattering to anyone who would listen about the tidbits I’d learned.

Takeaway

Fact checking matters! Getting even minor details wrong can call the credibility of your entire show into question. (Think about how you feel about a writer when they spell your name wrong.) The reverse is true, too—if your details are watertight, listeners and readers trust you. Fact checking the small things and holding your guests and sources accountable can have an outsized impact on your reputation.

Audrey Nelson is a student at Wesleyan University, Podcast Allies’ production intern, and soon-to-be production assistant. Check out Audrey’s blog post about How to Choose the AI Transcription Tool That’s Right for You.