in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, O ct ob er 4, 20 18 | 24242 Presenting Partner: Betty Birmingham Thank you for being a Lifeline to Cancer Support! Wellspring provides professionally-led supportive care programs and services that helpWellspring provides professionally-led supportive care programs and services that helpW those living with cancer, and their loved ones, overcome the practical, emotional, physical/ functional, informational and social challenges that come with a diagnosis. Wellspring programs are provided at no charge with no need for medical referral. wellspring.ca The 9th annual Nine, Wine and Dine on the Sixth Line Golf Tournament was held on September 11, 2018 at the Oakville Golf Club. More than $120,000was raised in support of Wellspring Birmingham Gilgan House to continue to provide supportive care for individuals and families living with cancer in the Oakville community. Thank you to all of our wonderful sponsors, partners and supporters for helping to make this event a tremendous success! Michael Bogle Lyndon Fournier Peter and Eve Willis www.thesundancespastore.com *OAC. See store for details. 2000 Appleby Line (Millcroft Shopping Centre) Burlington 905-315-7800 380 Dundas St. (Highway #5) Unit D12 Oakville 905-257-5006 5985 Rodeo Drive (Heartland beside Wicker Emporium) Mississauga 905-890-6200 Up to $6000 OFF in Factory Rebates Don't Pay A Cent til 2019!* PLUS FALL CLEARANCE SALE ON NOW! It's the end of an inter- view for a news story and both parties are preparing to say goodbye -- the seem- ingly innocuous time when the dreaded question is most likely to surface. "Do you mind sending over the article before it's published?" asks the inter- viewee casually, some- times adding something like, "You know, so I can make sure everything's ac- curate?" The simple answer, and one I hope other journal- ists are giving as well, is "No." That said, if I take in- to account the frequency at which I am asked this ques- tion (All. The. Time.), I sus- pect not all journalists are following the same rules. According to the Jour- nalistic Standards Guide published by Torstar, which owns this newspa- per, "independence from those we cover is a key principle of journalistic in- tegrity." Think about it this way: if we let people in positions of power edit the articles we wrote about them, you can bet some of the more controversial facts may not make it to print. That would be a dis- service to our readers, who want to know the details that affect their lives and their voting choices -- good, bad and ugly. People would stop trusting the paper. Torstar's guide says un- published stories can't be read back to sources "un- less this has been approved by senior editors," which only happens in the rarest of big-complicated-story situations, in my experi- ence. The guide also says we can't make promises about how a story will be displayed or what it will say. We work hard to get the details right and when we don't, proper procedure is to correct them promptly. (Most reporters wince at the thought of incorrect in- formation appearing un- der their name anyway.) Many of the people who ask to see my stories in ad- vance aren't being devious, they just want to make sure they've been understood. Fortunately -- both for sources concerned they will be paraphrased inac- curately and writers wor- ried about their grasp on a complicated topic -- there are other solutions. I don't mind sending someone a few bullet points stating the facts as I have under- stood them, but I'd never do the same with direct quotations. If you said it, you said it. There's no edit- ing that after the fact. Journalists face con- stant pressures, big and small, to alter what we're writing, include certain de- tails or pretend someone didn't say something that clearly came out of their mouth. Every time we say "no," your community news gets a little more ac- curate. Saira Peesker is a re- porter with the Burlington Post, Milton Canadian Champion and Oakville Beaver. . . . This column is part of our special content for Na- tional Newspaper Week, which runs Oct. 1 to 7. Use the hashtag #NowMoreTh- anEver to join the conver- sation on social media. NO, I WON'T SHOW YOU MY STORY BEFORE IT'S PUBLISHED - AND WHY THAT'S A GOOD THING Saira Peesker wants you to know why she won't let you read her story before it's published. Nikki Wesley/Metroland OPINION JOURNALISTS FACE CONSTANT PRESSURES TO ALTER WHAT WE'RE WRITING, WRITES PEESKER SAIRA PEESKER Column