Author Archive: Bryan W. White
Bryan W. White
July 25, 2023
On July 24, 2023 PolitiFact published a supposed fact check of Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris claimed “(T)hey (Florida) decided middle school students will be taught that enslaved people benefitted from slavery.” PolitiFact rated Harris’ claim “Mostly True” on its trademarked “Truth-O-Meter.” Doubtless DEI directors and Democrats will largely cheer the ruling. We’ll explain how PolitiFact botched the ruling in…
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Bryan W. White
July 17, 2023
Zebra Fact Check had reason in July to submit a correction to Snopes.com, again “verified” as a signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network’s statement of principles. We found the process needlessly difficult. In fact, we referred to the IFCN’s most recent assessment of Snopes, by Margot Susca, to figure out how to submit our correction request. Before resorting to reliance…
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Bryan W. White
July 17, 2023
In a December 2022 fact check, Snopes.com claimed PolitiFact debunked the claim that a diary for a time in the possession of Project Veritas was authentic. That claim was false. We know the diary is authentic even if alleged contents of the diary have not been confirmed. PolitiFact’s fact check “debunked” claims about the contents of the diary, not the…
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Bryan W. White
July 7, 2023
Zebra Fact Check noticed a fine case of inconsistent methodology from the fact checkers at PolitiFact. As correction requests go, this one counts as ill-defined. We point out the inconsistency but do not suggest how PolitiFact might fix the problem, for the problem of inconsistency forms a veritable spider’s web of problems with PolitiFact’s fact-checking. In response to our email…
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Bryan W. White
January 11, 2023
After PolitiFact failed to respond to a correction request we sent on Dec. 20, 2022, Zebra Fact Check submitted a formal complaint to the International Fact-Checking Network on Jan. 10, 2023.
Bryan W. White
January 10, 2023
When PolitiFact Wisconsin perpetuated PolitiFact’s inconsistent approach to rating claims about the gender pay gap with a Dec. 16, 2022 fact check of Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Zebra Fact Check sent a correction request. As of this date (Jan. 10, 2023), we have noted no effort by PolitiFact or PolitiFact Wisconsin to address its inconsistency. PolitiFact acknowledged our request with its…
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Bryan W. White
December 15, 2022
“Lord knows the decision about a Truth-O-Meter rating is entirely subjective.” –Bill Adair, 2016 “It’s not as subjective as some people think.” –Bill Adair, 2022 When we first encountered PolitiFact in late 2007, we immediately noticed the apparent subjectivity of its trademarked “Truth-O-Meter.” We thereafter realized their aggregated ratings could easily mislead people. And we realized the ratings were opinion,…
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Bryan W. White
December 8, 2022
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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Bryan W. White
November 29, 2022
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.
Bryan W. White
November 29, 2022
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.