Lesson plan
Stealth edit
A stealth edit occurs when an online resource is changed without leaving a record to indicate that the information has been changed from its original published state. Stealth edits are considered unethical in journalism, as they are a technique that allows authors to retroactively change what is written. A common scenario would be a reporter posting a diatribe against something, followed by a blogger posting that the reporter is too extreme, followed by the reporter stealth editing the original post to be less extreme. The result is that the blogger looks like the one who is too extreme, since the public can't tell that the original post has been changed. Stealth edits may often be detected by comparing a current web page against its archived or cached version. Editors and journalists have argued that making undeclared edits to articles is a routine part of digital journalism, claiming that it allows them to give the most complete version of a story. Readers, however, often feel that it is unethical or suspicious for a news publication to make undeclared changes to a story, especially when the edits significantly change the story's context.
Article summary
A stealth edit occurs when an online resource is changed without leaving a record to indicate that the information has been changed from its original published state. Stealth edits are considered unethical in journalism, as they are a technique that allows authors to retroactively change what is written. A common scenario would be a reporter posting a diatribe against something, followed by a blogger posting that the reporter is too extreme, followed by the reporter stealth editing the original post to be less extreme. The result is that the blogger looks like the one who is too extreme, since the public can't tell that the original post has been changed. Stealth edits may often be detected by comparing a current web page against its archived or cached version. Editors and journalists have argued that making undeclared edits to articles is a routine part of digital journalism, claiming that it allows them to give the most complete version of a story. Readers, however, often feel that it is unethical or suspicious for a news publication to make undeclared changes to a story, especially when the edits significantly change the story's context.
Key claims
No claims recorded.
Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
No sources recorded.
Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.