It was widely reported that Harry and Meghan spoke at a JP Morgan conference in Miami this week. Kieran Corcoran with Business Insider offered the his readers a look into this Harry and Meghan story with what appears to be a lack of real thought into facts.
On the surface, there are a few things that would lead a reader to believe this is solid content. These things include:
The Publication: Business Insider not known as a gossip site or tabloid but instead a place for business information. With this in mind, it would appear to be a trustworthy article.
Sources: Corcoran uses six outside sources with direct links to their content in the piece. While some like Page Six can be considered questionable gossip sites, BBC is also sited and it is a trusted news source around the world.
The reader would be woefully under informed if they did not further examine the article and look for more information. This article gives an overview with no real “meat” to the article. This is likely due to the speed at which consumer’s seek content especially concerning popular public figures. Harry and Meghan are very popular worldwide and this was a business conference. It is easy to understand why Kieran Cocoran uploaded this content onto the site.
This does not mean as a reader, one should excuse such shoddy reporting. They should instead demand content that is both reliable and robust, which this piece is not. An examination shows the flaws with the article.
The six sources Cocoran uses include the following:
Page Six– a known gossip site. It is cited twice in the piece for two separate articles about the event.
1Hotels-the site of the convention. There is no real information from 1Hotels however. It is merely a photo of the property from Instagram. There is no confirmed information from the site or even a source with information. If this was present it would could allow for an excellent first hand account of the events and perhaps even the speech Harry gave.
Reuters-This linked article also does not provide any information but in fact, is more speculation from a “royal source”.
BBC-while this new source is very reliable. The linked article lacks any substantive information and also uses Page Six as the source.
Daily Mail- another known gossip site that should not be considered a credible source for news. The linked article provides no credible information but instead speculation on speaking fees.
Business Insider-Cocoran cites two people from his own site and their speculation for how Harry and Meghan will earn money once they completely cut ties from the royal family.
Overall this piece deserves a letter D grade for reporting. I would give it an F but I have to give it a small bump up because we as consumers have created the culture where reporting must be now. Facts can be checked after the story has broke but a story must come out as soon as possible if media outlets are to compete. Sadly, until we demand more, we will continue to see failures in our news reporting.
