How I’d check it
When a clip comes in, I ask for the full recording and write down the minute where the clip starts and where it stops. Then I read what comes right before and right after. If I can’t find the full version, we don’t run it yet.
Leads Unit 1: Before you run with it
Marta Reyes
she/her55
Editor, a neighborhood news site
A small neighborhood news site in Brooklyn. She edits a small neighborhood news site in Brooklyn and handles the corrections herself.
At work
Unit 1: Before you run with it
What I watch for
- A clip with no beginning or end
- A quote with no name attached
- “Confirmed” when nobody can say who confirmed it
What I’d want you to remember
Before you share it, find where it started and who can confirm it. If you can’t find the original, you don’t have the story yet.
Go to Unit 1What I won’t do
Tell the crew what to post. She shows them how her newsroom confirms a story, and they decide.
Lessons Marta is called into
- Unit 1, Lesson 1Is the screening canceled?Asks for the full meeting recording and the timestamp where the clip cuts off.
- Unit 2, Lesson 7Did one complaint get the novel banned?Has the crew find the library’s reconsideration policy and the notice’s date, then ask the library what stage the request is at. “Banned” waits until the record says removed.
- Unit 4, Lesson 14Does giving credit let the crew use the song?Shows the permissions log her newsroom keeps for every photo and song. A credit line and a license are two different columns.
- Unit 5, Lesson 20Can the crew post this image as true?Finds the earliest copy of the image, compares landmarks and weather with an independent source, and has the crew write a verification note that says what they checked.
Outside the office
How I got this job
She grew up in Sunset Park and spent 12 years as a night copy editor at a daily paper, fixing other people’s corrections. When the paper closed its local desk, she started the neighborhood site with two reporters and a corrections page she updates herself.
Grew up
Sunset Park, Brooklyn
Off the clock
- Hobby
- A Tuesday-night bowling league. She keeps score by hand and checks it against the machine.
- Pet peeve
- “Sources say.” Which sources?
How I know the crew
Gia pitched her an audio story at 19. Marta said yes and sent back 11 questions. The piece ran after Gia answered all 11. Open Gia’s profile