The leaders of the American magazine industry recently huddled together in Arizona for the American Magazine Conference. Interestingly, a few of the speakers at the event hit upon a common theme: accuracy.

First, Time Inc. Chairman and CEO Ann Moore chastised bloggers and mainstream media for a “lack of ‘fact checking,’ allowing rumors to migrate ‘to the mainstream press’,” according to a report on media minder FishBowlNY. Then People group editor Martha Nelson took aim at the “misinformation and speculation” and “sheer lies” to be found in the blogosphere. (Publicist to the stars Ken Sunshine also piled on.)

It’s interesting to see Accuracy with a Big A highlighted and used as a differentiator by media executives. They want to send the message that the work they do has standards, actual and factual while the blogosphere is littered with rumors, speculation and whole hog fabrications. Beware of Blogs, reads their sign.

Quite a contrast with the feedback I received from regular (albeit very tech savvy) folks when I gave a presentation about NewAssignment.Net at BarCamp Montreal (Oct. 21). While attendees didn’t express total confidence in blogs, they were more interested in discussing the problems with bias and inaccuracy that exist in the mainstream press.

How does someone become a “Director of Verification”? Make errors, I guess. Then get obsessive about correcting them, and spend a couple years reading and reporting on media errors and corrections from print, online and broadcast media.

Why subject myself to this constant barrage of human fallibility? It’s important to know you’re fallible. And, yes, I have a strange fascination with it.

In grade three or four I confronted a children’s author with a list of the spelling mistakes in her book. (Our class had collected them prior to her visit.) She told me to take it up with her publisher. I went for recess instead.

Now fast-forward to October 2004 when I launched Regret the Error, a website that tracks and reports on media errors and accuracy. I saw an opportunity to raise the issue of media accuracy in an entertaining, engaging way and (hopefully) inspire journalists and the public to think about how we can meet a higher standard.