Checking the facts
Journalists should be rigorous about establishing the origins of material derived from the Internet. For example,we should carefully scrutinise and if necessary corroborate eyewitness accounts submitted by email before using them, by talking to the eyewitnesses on the phone if possible. By the same token, we should also be alert to the possibility that a site may be a hoax site. Any contributor found through the Internet should be checked and double-checked. We should talk to them before putting them on air to make sure they are who they say they are. Remember accounts on the Internet are no more reliable than any other similar source elsewhere.