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Popular mainstream fact checker PolitiFact published an article on Nov. 14, 2022 flatly proclaiming Donald Trump counts as the least accurate politician it has ever covered. The claim creates a problem for PolitiFact, for an objective proof of “least accurate” presents an exceptionally tall order. If PolitFact lacks that proof then its article ends up expressing a derogatory opinion about…
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When PolitiFact failed to respond to our correction/revision request by clarifying, correcting or revising its supposedly unbiased yet apparently unsupported claim that Donald Trump counts as the least accurate politician it has ever covered, Zebra Fact Check submitted a formal complaint to the International Fact-Checking Network.
When PolitiFact took no corrective action in response to our November 12 revision/correction request respecting a PolitiFact Virginia fact check from Nov. 11, 2022, Zebra Fact Check submitted a formal complaint to the International Fact-Checking Network.
PolitiFact published an article on Nov. 14, 2022 bearing the title “Donald Trump, the least accurate politician we’ve ever covered, eyes another White House run.” The article later similarly claimed “Trump has the worst record of any politician fact-checked by PolitiFact.” Given that PolitiFact does not rate politicians using a randomly selected set of stories and uses subjective judgments to…
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A PolitiFact Virginia fact check from Nov. 11, 2022 featured a substantial hole in its reasoning, so on Nov. 12 (after using Twitter to flag the issue) Zebra Fact Check sent PolitiFact a description of the problem and two potential avenues it might take toward fixing it. PolitiFact promptly responded with its standard response email.
In August 2022 Zebra Fact Check sent an email to the International Fact-Checking Network and Poynter Institute president Neal Brown asking why the IFCN does not answer our inquiries (giving two examples). A long email exchange eventually ensued, which we document here with the exception of one email specified as off-the-record and our response to that email. We are not…
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When Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said Vice President Kamala Harris spoke words amounting to the claim that disaster victims might receive faster FEMA aid depending on the color of their skin, fact checkers leapt into action to defend the vice president. Fact checkers, including PolitiFact, said critics took Harris’ words out of context. PolitiFact’s version of the fact check included…
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Zebra Fact Check detected a false statement and missing context in an Oct. 3, 2022 PolitiFact fact check of a claim by Sen. Rick Scott (R, Fla.). Accordingly, we sent a correction request to PolitiFact on Oct. 5, 2022. PolitiFact sent its standard acknowledgment email in response.
Upon noticing an apparent error in a PolitiFact newsletter sent Sept. 15, 2022, Zebra Fact Check sent a correction/clarification request to PolitiFact that same day. PolitiFact responded (unusual in our experience) the same day. PolitiFact Audience Director Josie Hollingsworth affirmed the presence of the error and committed to issuing a correction in the next edition of the newsletter. Note: We…
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PolitiFact used an equivocal argument in an Aug. 12, 2022 fact check rating a tweet from Libs of TikTok as “False.” Zebra Fact Check sent PolitiFact a correction request to PolitiFact on Aug. 16, 2022. PolitiFact sent its standardized reply the same minute we sent the correction request.