An independent experimental fact-checking site, exploring and advocating ways to make fact-checking better.
In July 2019, Zebra Fact Check discovered an error in the International Fact-Checking Network’s coverage of a Pew Research survey. The IFCN-published story falsely said “Almost half of Americans believe that fact checkers are biased, and the majority of those skeptics are Republican.” Pew Research data apparently do not support the latter proposition. Zebra Fact Check received no reply to…
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The editing interface shows invisible previews of Twitter embeds, so we’re compelled to run a live test to see if they work.
In our Feb. 7, 2020 examination of PolitiFact’s Feb. 3, 2020 fact check of Rep. Val Demings we were guilty of misspelling “Demings” by giving it two m’s in one instance. We corrected our mistake on Dec Feb . 7, 2020. Correction Feb. 7, 2020: The correction detailed above did not occur on Dec. 7 2020, which isn’t here yet,…
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“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion,” said the late Sen. Patrick Moynihan, “but not to his own facts.” Fact checkers like PolitiFact have a way around Moynihan’s maxim. They first choose which claim to check, then choose how to check the claim. Both steps feature subjective judgments. The end result? The fact checkers choose their own facts. PolitiFact’s Feb….
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The so-called “elite three” mainstream fact checkers, FactCheck.org, PolitiFact and the Washington Post Fact Checker, all followed the mainstream press in making a serious error reporting on the Inspector General’s report on the FBI’s “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation. What the IG Report Said The IG report repeatedly said investigators failed to find “documentary or testimonial evidence” of political bias. But the…
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We are aware of an issue that is preventing .pdf embeds from loading properly at the website. We’re working on it. Update Jan. 14, 2020: We believe we have fixed the problem. If readers notice a .pdf file failing to load, please make use of the Report an Error button found on each page here at Zebra Fact Check.
We failed to give a proper reading to part of PolitiFact’s Nov. 2019 Medicare For All explainer. Specifically, we failed to attach the claim about cutting costs in one paragraph to the examples offered in the following paragraph. Do we think PolitiFact communicated poorly in the two paragraphs? Yes, but we offer that as a replacement critique, not as an…
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CORRECTION: This article received a significant correction the same day it was published, affecting three paragraphs. Find specific details here. In addition to its “Truth-O-Meter” and “Flip-O-Meter” judgments on political speech, PolitiFact delves fairly often into the “explainer” genre. PolitiFact’s November 2019 “Medicare For All” explainer contained a number of misleading elements while offering its readers a credulous view of…
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On Sept. 2, 2019 Zebra Fact Check contacted PolitiFact at truthometer@politifact.com to point out problems with a Sept. 1, 2019 fact check published by PolitiFact Illinois. The fact check checked a claim other than the claim made by Democrat Sean Casten. Note: We have not yet sent to the IFCN as an example of PolitiFact failing to adhere to an…
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After confirming that the IFCN’s outside assessor responsible for PolitiFact’s 2019 IFCN verification renewal had not received complaints submitted to the IFCN about PolitiFact, we reached out to the International Fact-Checking Network to find out more information and try to resolve the problem. The email exchange with PolitiFact Director Baybars Örsek spans about two months. Find a .pdf version of…
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