1. Developing a Fact

2. Why facts are important
• An appraisal on Saturday about Walter Cronkite’s career included a
number of errors. In some copies, it misstated the date that the Rev. Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. was killed and referred incorrectly to Mr. Cronkite’s
coverage of D-Day. Dr. King was killed on April 4, 1968, not April 30. Mr.
Cronkite covered the D-Day landing from a warplane; he did not storm the
beaches. In addition, Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon on July 20,
1969, not July 26. “The CBS Evening News” overtook “The Huntley-
Brinkley Report” on NBC in the ratings during the 1967-68 television
season, not after Chet Huntley retired in 1970. A communications satellite
used to relay correspondents’ reports from around the world was Telstar,
not Telestar. Howard K. Smith was not one of the CBS correspondents Mr.
Cronkite would turn to for reports from the field after he became anchor
of “The CBS Evening News” in 1962; he left CBS before Mr. Cronkite was
the anchor. Because of an editing error, the appraisal also misstated the
name of the news agency for which Mr. Cronkite was Moscow bureau
chief after World War II. At that time it was United Press, not United Press
International.

3. Why facts are important, add1
• Bad facts, or incorrect facts, make us look
stupid.
• It makes the reader doubt our competence.
• It makes us look foolish.
• Most bad facts come from laziness.

4. Common causes of fact indigestion
• Writing from memory, not text
• Relying on bad sources
• Not verifying information
• Not following the “If your mother says she
loves you, check it out,” theory

5. Facts vs. Claims
• Facts are objective (the Earth is round)
• Claims are subjective (“The cake is the best in
the world”)

6. Developing a fact
• Developing a fact = feeding and watering
• It’s the process of taking a piece of
information and following it to its logical
terminus.
• “It’s raining cats and dogs in Columbia” 
How much rain in how many hours? Where?
….
And then…

7. The follow-on
1. “It’s raining cats and dogs in Columbia”
2. How much rain in how many hours? 9 inches in
3 hours.
Where do you go from there?
3. Where did it fall? The Perche Creek, Grindstone
Creek and Hinkson Creek drainages.
4. What’s the consequence? I-70 is flooded over at
Perche Creek, the community of Midway has
been evacuated, homes in Columbia have been
flooded.

8. Continuing to follow
• I-70 is flooded: To what depth? What
milepost? Has the roadway been
harmed/carried away? Any motorists
stuck/carried away? When will it reopen?
• Midway has been evacuated: How many
people will be evacuated? What route will
they be taking? Can they drive out or is it
National Guardsmen driving them out in
trucks?

9. Mining reports for info
Answer the HWWWT questions
Look for outliers
Look for differences
Look for color
Use the report as a foundation

10. What to look for: FAA Report
On December 19, 2007, about 0130 New
Zealand daylight time, a turbine
powered, wheel/ski-equipped
Douglas DC-3T, C-FMKB, sustained
substantial damage during an on
ground collision with snow-covered
terrain during takeoff from a remote
site, about 547 miles east of
McMurdo Station, Antarctica. The
airplane was being operated by the
National Science Foundation's
Antarctica Mission, as a public use
flight.
 Answers when
 Answers what

11. What to look for, add1
The airplane and crew were provided under
contract to the National Science
Foundation by Kenn Borek Air, Ltd.,
Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Of the 10 people
on board, the airline transport pilot and 8
passengers sustained no injuries, and the
first officer sustained minor injuries.
Visual meteorological conditions
prevailed, and company flight following
procedures were in effect.
The National Science Foundation public
use aircraft contract with Kenn Borek Air,
Ltd., is administered by the United States
Department of the Interior (DOI), Aviation
Management Directorate (AMD).
 Answers to what extent
 Crap you don’t need

12. What to look for, add2
During a telephone conversation with the
National Transportation Safety Board
(NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on
December 23, about 1310 Alaska standard
time, the accident captain reported that
the purpose of the flight was to provide
aviation support services to the scientific
research team. He noted that the
outbound flight to a prearranged site near
Mt. Paterson was uneventful. After
arriving at the site, the research team
installed a monitoring station, which
required about 5 to 6 hours to complete.
The captain said both he and the first
officer remained at the airplane and
waited for the research team to complete
the installation. Once the research team
completed their work, they returned to
the airplane, and the airplane was
prepared for departure.
 Provides more details about the what
happened, including preface

13. What to look for, add2
The captain reported that his
predetermined takeoff site consisted of
hard packed, wind blown snow, which was
atop a 5-degree down slope grade. He
said that during the takeoff run, as the
airplane neared 70 knots, he moved the
airplane's control column aft in an
attempt to lower the tail, and attain a
flying attitude. He said that just before the
airplane became airborne, the left wing
struck the snow-covered terrain, which
pivoted the airplane 90 degrees to the
left. He said that both main landing gear
assemblies collapsed, and the airplane
came to rest on the belly.
 Provides an account of what happened
 Action in the account

14. What to look for, add3
During a telephone conversation with the
NTSB IIC on December 26, about 0945
Alaska standard time, the first officer
reported that during the takeoff run, as
the airplane neared 60 knots, and as the
captain moved the control column aft, she
felt the airplane's tailwheel contact the
hard packed snow. She said she told the
captain the airplane was not going to fly,
and he responded by saying "yes it will."
The airplane sustained substantial damage
to the left wing and fuselage.
The captain and first offer both reported
that there were no preaccident
mechanical anomalies with the airplane.
 Outlier: Contradiction

15. Under the new rates, effective for fall 2008, resident undergraduates will pay the following
base tuition and mandatory fees:
Resident Undergraduate Base Tuition and Mandatory Fees
Academic Year 2008-2009
Arizona State University Tempe and Downtown Phoenix
Continuing students enrolled prior to fall 2008
Students starting fall 2008
$5,313
5,659
Arizona State University Polytechnic and West
Continuing students enrolled prior to fall 2008
Students starting fall 2008
5,099
5,659
Northern Arizona University Flagstaff
Continuing students enrolled prior to fall 2008
Students starting fall 2008
5,217
5,446
Northern Arizona University Statewide and Yuma
4,850
University of Arizona Main
5,531
University of Arizona South
4,804
Looking for differences