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In March of 2019 we noticed some discrepancies in a gender wage gap article by Warren Fiske of PolitiFact Virginia. We sent messages asking about the discrepancies and received replies from Fiske. Notably, PolitiFact did make at least three changes to its story in apparent response to our messages. The email exchange occurs below, excluding some extra messages stemming from…
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On April 16, 2019 we sent an email to PolitiFact/PunditFact pointing out problems with its fact check of Turning Point USA’s Candace Owens on the subject of the “Southern strategy.” We will update this point if we receive any email reply from PolitiFact (other behaviors by PolitiFact that may occur in response to our message will be noted in related…
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On Oct. 9, 2018 we received a response to an email message we sent to truthometer@politifact.com. Katie Sanders sent the response. Sanders serves as PolitiFact’s managing editor. Note that Sanders may well have also read a different description of the same issue forwarded through the International Fact-Checking Network. ZEBRA FACT CHECK (Oct. 3, 2-018) The Sept. 20, 2018 PolitiFact Missouri fact…
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Each month we pose a question to International Fact-Checking Network Director Alexios Mantzarlis. Our arrangement permits Mantzarlis to reply to questions at any time as his schedule permits. ZEBRA FACT CHECK (Sept. 3, 2018) Earlier this year, PolitiFact issued a new statement of principles, including a corrections policy that apparently gives it license to correct all spelling errors without issuing any…
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Our message to PolitiFact pointing out an error in its PunditFact fact from Sept. 12, 2018 resulted in an automated response. We will update this item if we receive additional response from PolitiFact. Message from Zebra Fact Check (Sept. 12, 2018 10:32 p.m. EDT): Dear Truth-O-Meter, A PunditFact fact check published on Sept. 12, 2018 requires correction. The fact check examines the…
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Each month we pose a question to International Fact-Checking Network Director Alexios Mantzarlis. Our arrangement permits Mantzarlis to reply to questions at any time as his schedule permits. ZEBRA FACT CHECK (Aug. 17, 2018) The IFCN has published a review of its first year enforcing its principles. It has also revamped its web presence, including making the rules for compliance with…
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Each month we pose a question to International Fact-Checking Network Director Alexios Mantzarlis. ZEBRA FACT CHECK (July 9, 2018) Hypothetical: Evidence reveals the Washington Post Fact Checker, Glenn Kessler, as a long-time partisan Republican (with a history of partisan political donations and advocating for political issues that he fact checked). What happens in terms of IFCN verification, if anything?…
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Each month we pose a question to International Fact-Checking Network Director Alexios Mantzarlis. It is our policy to publish the question during the month it was asked regardless of whether we have received a reply. If Mantzarlis replies later we will add his reply promptly to the page where we published the question. We’re tardy posting the June 2018 question,…
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Email sent to PolitiFact’s Angie Drobnic Holan and Jon Z. Greenberg on May 10, 2018. I’m currently writing up a fact check of statements PolitiFact has supported. First, that the BCRA’s Medicaid cut was aimed at reducing Medicaid enrollment (Holan). Second, that the BCRA eliminates the ACA option for states to expand Medicaid (Greenberg). The other day during your Reddit…
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ZEBRA FACT CHECK From the start, the rating systems for PolitiFact and the Washington Post Fact Checker have drawn criticism over their inherent subjectivity. At the same time, such systems draw some strong support from members of the fact-checking community (a Duke Reporters Lab article from 2016 estimates a majority of fact-checking organizations use such rating systems). PolitiFact’s founder, Bill Adair, reportedly participated…
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