On 7/9/06, Sarah slimvirgin@gmail.com wrote:
Mistakes in newspapers cost them money, sometimes a lot of money, so they're highly motivated not to get things wrong.
What I generally find is that newspapers are highly motivated to get things right in areas where they feel likely to be sued if they get things wrong. In other areas, not so much - especially when it comes to factual errors that are not likely to be libellous or otherwise actionable.
In other words, I'm very inclined to trust a newspaper to have fact-checked an accusation against someone that if wrong would be grounds for a lawsuit. I have less confidence in them, for example, reporting accurately on a technical or scientific matter. I trust them less as well when they're merely passing on the word of someone else - e.g. the New York Times passing on what the police told them about a suspect doesn't make it any more trustworthy.
-Matt