Oprah and Others Deceived by Author: What Does this Mean for You?

Image via WikipediaIn the news is a story about an author who included very intentionally falsified facts in his upcoming book, which was to be published in February, and even touted by Oprah. Now that the secret is out, more than a few are upset with him.

What does this mean for writers? I hope that it will mean more careful checks across the board in the publishing world, though I doubt that will be the result. For the most part, it is now, and perhaps will always be, up to writers to check their facts thoroughly and to write with the highest standards of journalistic integrity in mind.

The other side of this is that as readers, we should approach any ‘news’ or ‘biography’ and the like with skepticism, realizing that many have not gone through any type of serious fact-checking, and some ‘fact’ is more ‘opinion and spin’ than actual factual accounting.

Sources:

News of Fabricated Holocaust Memoir Sparks Anger, Sadness
FoxNews.com/Associated Press. Monday, December 29, 2008.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,473445,00.html

False Memoir of Holocaust is Canceled
Motoko Rich and Joseph Berger. New York Times (online). December 28, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/29/books/29hoax.html?_r=1&ref=us