How do you identify a fact? How do you verify it? In this master class, the head of the fact-checking department at The New Yorker, Fergus McIntosh, introduces students to the bizarre, delightful, and contentious world of fact checking. Across four sessions, students will learn what the roles and responsibilities of a fact checker are, how to approach the practice of checking, sourcing, and editing, and where to draw the line between fake news and the truth. This class will include a workshop component, where students fact check a piece for a working journalist.
Fergus McIntosh is the head research editor at The New Yorker and runs the magazine’s fact-checking department.