For a profile of a deceased artist, our sources (the artist’s children) wanted a chance to fact-check the draft before we published the story. It would compromise journalistic integrity to allow our sources to review the draft before it was published, but it would also be unethical to publish the draft without our sources’ permission.
To solve this issue, we sent quotes to our sources so they could verify them, shared the sources we had used for outside research, and explained why Verde’s ethics policy could not allow us to send a text draft. The sources understood and gave us permission to publish the story. This showed me how honesty and transparency are essential for ethical journalism. The sources appreciated our work.
This is the final print version of the story.