How to curb the corrections plague

I'm seeking advice about how to curb the corrections plague that erupts periodically with some of our younger reporters. We've determined that in cases they try to file their stories way too fast and this contributes to the error rates, which are off the charts again lately. We've ordered them to slow down and when they do, it helps. But not always and not for long.
We've counseled them to double check every name, every fact, every figure, every quote.
Any and all ideas would be appreciated, as always.
Nancy Weil
IDG News Service

I'm a big believer in positive motivation, but this is a case where fear is a worthy motivator as well. These reporters need to understand the importance of accuracy, and it's certainly appropriate here to let the reporters know that their jobs are on the line (and mean it). No one's perfect, but reporters who don't care enough to fix an accuracy problem are not going to last long in the business.
If the reporters want to improve and don't understand how to improve their accuracy, here are some techniques that might help:

1. Make sure they understand what double-checking means. It doesn't mean taking a second look at their notes (it's disturbing how many journalists think that is what it means). Double-checking starts when they take notes. When the reporter is introduced to John Smith, she doesn't write "John Smith" in her notebook. She asks how it's spelled (and if it's a common name like John Smith, she might do so with a self-deprecating joke or with a comment about wanting to get everything accurate and not assuming anything). John spells out J-o-h-n, and the reporter writes it in her notebook and reads it back, "J-o-h-n," or "John with an H," and John says Smith is the usual spelling and the reporter spells back, "S-M-I-T-H." If the reporter thinks that's excessive, tell her about Merry Ellen Turner, a University of Nebraska at Omaha official whose name is a land mine waiting for careless reporters who default to the usual spelling without asking. Or the reporter can hand the notebook over to John and ask him to spell his name and then look it over and spell it back to John, to make sure she can read his handwriting. After all this, the reporter still asks John for a business card. So when she double-checks the story, she's not just taking a second look at her notes, but checking a second source. You can also double-check against clips, documents, directories, Web sites, phone books.
2. Because these reporters have problems with accuracy, I'd suggest requiring them to triple-check where possible.
3. Require the reporters to footnote and/or provide hard copy of source materials. In other words, the reporter turns in his story and at the end in notes mode he explains the source for every fact: "Merry Ellen Smith spelled her name for me and I read it back to her and checked the spelling in the story against my notes and her business card and the university's Web site. The enrollment figure came from the head of the program and I asked her for documentation and she gave me a copy of the enrollment report. The numbers didn't match up so I asked her about the discrepancy and she said the report was right, she was just citing from memory." And the reporter turns in the business card, the enrollment report, a printout from the Web site, etc. It's a lot of work, but it makes the point that accuracy requires work. It may seem punitive, but it makes the point that inaccuracy merits punishment.
4. Require them to personally apologize to everyone whose name they misspell or whose information they report inaccurately.
5. Ask George Kennedy at the Columbia Missourian about his policy of requiring reporters to call sources back and read them stories. He says it improves accuracy. I don't do that on every story, but I do read sources what I've written if I'm dealing with complicated or technical issues.
6. Tell reporters to state back to the source during the interview their understanding of what the source has said. This gives the source a chance to correct inaccuracies that result from the source's lack of clarity or the reporter's lack of understanding.
7. Remind the reporters not to assume that sources know the truth and will tell it to you. They should seek other sources to verify the accuracy of information that they obtain.

And don't forget: Our industry's been slumping. This is a buyer's market for journalism talent. If these reporters don't want to be accurate, you can find some who do.
Steve Buttry
Omaha World-Herald

How many stories are the two younger reporters writing? If it's more than one a day, perhaps you could ease up on their assignments for a while, and ask them to devote their energies to just one story a day with the goal of error-free work.
What is their reaction each time they're caught in errors? Do they take the penalty box seriously, or do they think of it as a joke?
Also, I'm wondering what they think accuracy means. How about asking each of them to write a few paragraphs on what accuracy comprises?
Rosalie Stemer
Newsroom Coach, Stamford, CT