Lack of confidence in media

When I read a balanced and informative news article I think many times that auditing and journalism are somewhat similar. I wonder if this trend is related to this one. It makes me remember why it is important to follow audit standards and maintain our independence and objectivity.

Descriptors of an auditor

I just finished Freakonomics. It was an easy read and interesting. It would be a good text for a beginning class on auditing. At the end of the book is some "bonus material." Included is the original NY times article about Steven Levitt written by Stephen Dubner, the co-authors of Freakonmics. Mr. Dubner describes Mr. Levitt as a detective, an intuitionist, and an accidental provocateur. I think these are also descriptors of performance auditors.

Possibilities are opening up

I've followed Web 2.0 and pondered how an auditor might use this technology. Here is an exciting example. The UK Guardian has developed a new service called "Open Platform." (H/T Portland Mercury Blogtown) The newspaper is opening up its news content and data sets. Most interesting is the "Data Store." Take a look. This has great potential as a way to make auditor data sets available for public use. The Portland Mercury wonders if it is the future of journalism. I wonder if it couldn't also be in the future of auditors.