But even opinion writers, whether they be columnists or editorial page writers, must nevertheless adhere to standards of fact-based, and reality-based conclusions.
We cannot expect, and the public do not credit, forum discussions with the same standards of fact-checking as national news outlets, but the law currently insists on this.
News media reportage, on the other hand, should be trimmed and pruned to a higher standard of fact-checking and objectivity.
Narrative nonfiction typically conforms to the artfully narrow standards of American fact checking (another indigenous art) while enjoying what Dwight Macdonald once called the "atmospheric license" of fiction.
His answer resonates with this growing fear that, with newspapers slowly disappearing, we might have to, God forbid, rely on the blogosphere for information, and the strict standards of the fact-checking department will be gone.
That could be applied to blogs that agree to abide by certain standards of accuracy of fact checking, for example - but the rules are open to definition by whoever wants to contribute.
Debates involved arguments, and you can't argue without a standard set of facts to base your disagreements around.
Debates involve arguments, and you can't argue without a standard set of facts to base your disagreements around.
As a result, we should shift our focus from process, procedure and documentation requirements of the standards to fact-based performance outcomes in quality and reliability through various outcome-based measures.
