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Today for the first time we reported a post on Facebook as “False News.” The Facebook post was from PolitiFact Wisconsin, linking a Feb. 28, 2020, fact check of a claim from Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.). As pointed out in a post at PolitiFactBias.com by this author, the Pocan fact check claims real wages have increased while failing to keep…
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After reporting PolitiFact Wisconsin errors to PolitiFact without seeing any correction, Zebra Fact Check sent a formal complaint to the International Fact-Checking Network
The International Fact-Checking Network’s Epic Fail on Fact-Checking Accountability It’s a scandal when an accountability organization fails to provide accountability. After years of finding fault with mainstream media fact checkers, especially PolitiFact, it came as welcome news in 2018 that the International Fact-Checking Network would institute a formal system for registering complaints about its stable of fact-checking organizations. A properly…
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Zebra Fact Check asked about the International Fact-Checking Network’s policy on informing signatory fact-checking organizations when the IFCN receives complaints about them.
After Zebra Fact Check received a message from the International Fact-Checking Network’s outside assessor, Michael Wagner, describing the flawed reasoning he used to dismiss our complaints to the IFCN about PolitiFact, we contacted IFCN Director Baybars Orsek to ask for confirmation that what Wagner sent us was the same reasoning he sent to the IFCN. This email exchange also marks…
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In January 2020 we renewed our efforts to obtain a reply from the International Fact-Checking Network or the Poynter Institute addressing various problems with the IFCN’s efforts to ensure fact checker accountability. We hoped inquiring after the various holidays might find IFCN or Poynter officials less busy and more likely to respond. We obtained automated replies from Poynter Institute President…
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Following up on a lack of response from the International Fact-Checking Network regarding our inquiries, we phoned the Poynter Institute to try coaxing an official response either from the IFCN or its parent organization. Zebra Fact Check’s phone call was transferred to the office of the Neil Brown, president of the Poynter Institute. We left a phone message and then…
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Lack of response from the International Fact-Checking Network led Zebra Fact Check to seek answers and accountability from the Poynter Institute, which hosts and effectively owns the IFCN. This post includes our email outreach to the Poynter Institute as well as Poynter’s automated reply promising a response to inquiry within one business day.
On March 3, 2020 Zebra Fact Check took note of a number of major errors in a PolitiFact Wisconsin fact check published on Feb. 28, 2020. After trying to bring PolitiFact Wisconsin’s attention to the mistakes on Twitter, we sent a request for major corrections to truthometer@politifact.com. That email message follows in .pdf format. We will update this item if…
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In 2019, when we were posting a string of correction requests and formal complaints to PolitiFact and the International Fact-Checking Network, respectively, we posted one complaint about PolitiFact Oregon twice instead of posting about a separate case involving PolitiFact Oregon. We did what we believed was a correction on the complaint to the IFCN, thinking the problem was merely embedding…
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