Resource pages

Seeking clarification or correction from Kaiser Family Foundation

Zebra Fact Check logo

A research tangent from an apparent PolitiFact error led Zebra Fact Check to a Kaiser Family Foundation page claiming U.S. law does not permit abortion up until the moment of birth. KFF offered no information to substantiate its claim. So we filled out and submitted a form asking either for the backing information or else a correction. That was on…
Read more

Another correction request submitted to PolitiFact on April 11, 2022

Zebra Fact Check logo

A PolitiFact fact check published April 5, 2022 resulted in justified pushback on social media. Zebra Fact Check summarized the objections in the form of a correction request, submitted on April 11, 2022. On April 12, 2022 we followed up our first email with one correcting a mistake in our correction request. We will update this item if and when…
Read more

Correction request submitted to PolitiFact, April 11, 2022 (Updated)

Zebra Fact Check logo

A PolitiFact fact check from April 8, 2022 made an ambiguous and misleading claim comparing costs of insulin in the United States to elsewhere. Accordingly, we asked PolitiFact for a correction. We will update this post when and if we note PolitiFact has either corrected the item or otherwise responded to the complaint. Update/Correction note: We changed the background description…
Read more

Correction request sent to PolitiFact, Feb. 8, 2022

Zebra Fact Check logo

PolitiFact’s Jan. 28, 2022 fact check of a claim by Fox News’ Sean Hannity mistakenly rated his claim as though it used an “or” conditional instead of an “and” conditional. The resulting conclusion (“False”) flew in the face of logic. We noticed a fair amount of pushback against PolitiFact’s conclusion on Twitter, but after PolitiFact spent days making no move…
Read more

Complaint to the International Fact-Checking Network about PolitiFact, Jan. 21, 2022

complaint to the international fact-checking network about PolitiFact

On Jan. 21, 2022, after PolitiFact declined to act in response to our Jan. 14, 2022 correction request, we sent this formal complaint to the International Fact-Checking Network, noting on the complaint form that PolitiFact’s inaction breached its pledge to “scrupulously” adhere to an open and honest policy on corrections. Updated a few minutes after publication to add the date…
Read more

Email outreach to PolitiFact’s Josie Hollingsworth, Sept. 30, 2021

Zebra Fact Check logo

On Sept. 30, 2021 Zebra Fact Check sent an email inquiry to PolitiFact’s editor of audience engagement, Josie Hollingsworth. Hollingsworth claimed in an explainer video that “Truth-O-Meter” jury members have multiple years working with PolitiFact’s rating system. We found that hard to reconcile with PolitiFact’s past practice of having state franchises provide their own “Truth-O-Meter” juries, with assistance as needed…
Read more

Correction request sent to Repustar/FactSparrow (Updated/Corrected)

Zebra Fact Check logo

Fact checker Repustar, represented on Twitter as “FactSparrow,” published a fact brief that (we believed) confused hospital admissions for coronavirus with coronavirus hospitalizations, though the CDC reports very different statistics for each. After seeing no movement on the issue based on Twitter outreach, Zebra Fact Check emailed Repustar to encourage a correction to the misinformation (we believed we detected). Update…
Read more