Author Archive: Bryan W. White

Correction request sent to Reuters Fact Check, July 30, 2022

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On Dec. 27, 2021 Reuters Fact Check published a fact check examining whether anti-elective-abortion activist Alexandra DeSanctis Marr correctly stated that abortion is never medically necessary. Zebra Fact Check found the same fallacy of equivocation in that fact check that we observed from other mainstream fact checkers looking at similar claims. Accordingly, we sent a correction request on July 30,…
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Clarification request sent to The Healthy Indian Project on July 23, 2022, with response

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On July 23, 2022 Zebra Fact Check sent a clarification request to International Fact-Checking Network verified signatory The Healthy Indian Project asking it to resolve an equivocation problem in an abortion fact check. We were pleased to receive a response from THIP’s founder and CEO Sudipta Sengupta on July 24, 2022. Zebra Fact Check sent its reply to the THIP…
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Is abortion ever medically necessary? Second-guessing AP Fact Check

AP Fact Check w/strikethrough

When AP Fact Check looked at the question of whether abortion ever counts as medically necessary, we found its reasoning of a kind with the Health Feedback/Science Feedback fact check we panned back in 2019. Both fact checks equivocated on the key term “abortion,” and AP Fact Check went further by failing to identify key sources. The Equivocation Game In…
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Attempted correction request to AFP Fact Check

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AFP Fact Check used the same equivocal argument other fact-checking organizations have used in answering whether abortion is ever medically necessary. The fact-checking organization under Agence France-Presse uses a form interface instead of email submission of correction requests. After submission, we received confirmation of submission and a message that the email was not sent. We’re not sure what that means…
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Transparency plea sent to the International Fact-Checking Network, July 8, 2022

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When PolitiFact happened to vindicate our complaint about the International Fact-Checking Network’s evaluation of a challenged Health Feedback (Science Feedback) fact check, Zebra Fact Check sent an email to the IFCN pleading for improved transparency and movement toward reform. Update Aug. 2, 2022: Supplied a missing apostrophe. Also note that we received an automated reply from Poynter’s Neal Brown (to…
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