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On June 5, 2019 Zebra Fact Check submitted to the International Fact-Checking Network a complaint about PolitiFact regarding its failure to apply a “Truth-O-Meter” rating to a claim from actor Alyssa Milano. Milano said a bill passed in the state of Georgia would allow the prosecution of women seeking abortions. PolitiFact found the bill did not say that but did…
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On May 24, 2019 PolitiFact published an item surrounding actor Alyssa Milano’s claim a Georgia law would subject women to prosecution. The article found the law did not say what Milano claimed. But the PolitiFact article did not take the step of applying a “Truth-O-Meter” rating. We reached out to PolitiFact to encourage adherence to a consistent standard. The text…
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On June 4, 2019 Zebra Fact Check submitted a complaint about the fact-checking organization PolitiFact to the International Fact-Checking Network. Our message to the IFCN said were were offering evidence of PolitiFact’s failure to meet its IFCN obligation to adhere scrupulously to an honest and open corrections policy. The description of our complaint follows in .pdf format.
On May 27, 2019 Zebra Fact Check emailed PolitiFact asking for the fact checkers to fix an incoherent fact check published by PolitiFact Pennsylvania on January 19, 2017. PolitiFact Pennsylvania’s fact check misstated facts and misled and misdirected readers regarding the subject matter of the fact check. The text of the ZFC email follows in .pdf format.
On Monday, Sept. 30, 2019, Zebra Fact Check submitted a communication to Science Feedback regarding its fact check of comments by pro-life activist Lila Rose. See our commentary article on the problems with that fact check here. The text of the comment follows in our standard post format, followed by a screen capture version take after the Science Feedback website…
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In May 2019 we lodged a complaint with the International Fact-Checking Network charging that PolitiFact’s failure to fix a demonstrable error in its reporting helped show PolitiFact’s failure to scrupulously comply with an open and honest corrections policy. We are unsure of the exact date the message was sent to the IFCN. Typically we wait at least a week after…
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On May 13, 2019, Zebra Fact Check sent an email to PolitiFact asking for a correction of a July 19, 2013 fact check in which PolitiFact rated a literally true statement from Republican Dan Stein as “False.” A .pdf version of that email follows:
When people submit a comment through our “Report an Error” form they deserve email confirmation. We found that lacking at the Science Feedback website. And then double-checked to confirm that we have the same problem. We recommend this as standard practice at fact-checking organizations. But it may take us some time figure it out and implement it.
Transcript via YouTube, punctuation added including capitalization. Source video here. Abortion is not medically necessary. And let me explain that really quick because this is one of the biggest lies that the media tells. It is one of the biggest lies and it’s this the fear-mongering that makes good people think “Oh, I guess I have to be pro-choice.” “Oh,…
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Note: See statement of transparency following the article. Science Feedback’s fact check of a pro-life video used poor methods and the IFCN’s review missed it An August 30, 2019 Science Feedback fact check (updated Sept. 3, 2019) ruled “Inaccurate” pro-life advocate Lila Rose’s claim “Abortion is not medically necessary.” Science Feedback’s status as a Facebook fact-checking partner, made possible through…
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