There's a saying that floats around newsrooms like a ghost: Be first or be forgotten. It's been repeated so often that it started to sound like wisdom. It isn't. It's a trap — and the journalism industry has been falling into it for years.
Accuracy isn't one value among many. It's the foundation on which everything else is built. Veteran BBC journalist Bob Eggington said it plainly: "Get it right. If you can’t respect the absolute need for accuracy, this isn’t the career for you." The same principle applies to the organizations journalists work for. If a newsroom's systems, metrics, and culture don't prioritize accuracy, the individual journalist never stands a chance.
Why "first" is a losing strategy
Let's be honest about what the race to be first is really about. The competition to publish first is mostly about money — more readers, more subscribers, more revenue. Not truth. Not public interest. It's revenue. And chasing it actively destroys the thing that makes any outlet worth reading in the first place.
When a trusted outlet publishes something wrong, readers don't just lose faith in that story — they start questioning everything that outlet has ever told them. One bad call can unravel years of credibility. The economics of speed are not as favorable as they appear.
And consider this: Social media has already won the speed race outright. Anyone with a phone can livestream a breaking event before a journalist arrives on the scene. Traditional news organizations are structurally incapable of competing on pure velocity. The outlets still trying are not just losing — they're compromising their one remaining competitive advantage in the process.
The problem is systemic
It would be convenient to frame this as a matter of individual discipline — journalists who need to slow down and check their facts. But that framing lets newsroom leadership off the hook.
Many feel the pressure to publish quickly, correct later, and keep the feed moving, even when taking real risks. When newsroom dashboards and performance metrics reward update frequency and time to publish above all else, journalists feel pushed to move before verification is complete. The system is producing the behavior.
That's a leadership problem. Media executives need to ask hard questions about whether their tools and metrics are reinforcing the right priorities. Do workflows allow time for verification? Do editors have visibility on updates before they go live? Are journalists expected to simultaneously report, publish, verify, and respond to audience comments — alone? If so, accuracy isn't really a priority.
What the industry needs to do
The path forward isn't complicated, even if it requires real commitment.
Transparency is part of accuracy. When information is uncertain, say so — clearly and in public. When something turns out to be wrong, correct it fast, explain what changed, and don't be defensive about it. Audiences are more forgiving of evolving information than of silence or spin.
Build teams around live coverage. Reporters should not juggle every responsibility at once during a fast-moving story. When someone is specifically responsible for monitoring incoming information and another for audience engagement, the journalist covering the story can focus on getting it right.
Invest in training that goes beyond speed. Early-career journalists entering live digital environments need guidance not just on how to publish quickly, but on when to pause. That judgment doesn't develop on its own.
And finally, stop measuring what you don't actually value. If credibility is the goal, the metrics should reflect that.
The real competitive advantage
Audiences don't know what to believe anymore, partly because the industry has trained them to expect corrections and half-verified breaking news.
At a time when trust in journalism is fragile, the outlets that commit unconditionally to accuracy are the ones that will build lasting audiences. Depth, context, and reliability are what professional journalism still does better than anyone else. That's where the industry's energy should go.
Speed may capture attention. Trust is what brings people back. The industry already knows this. It's time to build newsrooms that act like it.
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