There have been a number of news articles over the years where I’ve been close enough to the action to assess the accuracy of the reporting. And I caveat this post by saying these news outlets were typically smaller, regional players.
One thing I noticed was that despite the overarching story being correct, the reporting often had multiple mistakes and inaccuracies. Descriptions. Details about what things happened when. Names and places.
Seeing this first hand changed the way I read the news. I still believe the headline and the big picture, but I take the detail with a pinch of salt—especially on the big news items—because errors will always find their way in.