A false description of its policy on corrections, published in 2012, led Zebra Fact Check to ask PolitiFact for a correction.
The email message, sent on June 6, 2019, follows in .pdf format.
Dear Truth-O-Meter,
While starting research on public statements made about PolitiFact's corrections policy, I stumbled across a false statement about that policy in a 2012 article by PolitiFact's founding editor, Bill Adair.
Adair wrote:
We've created a new page so you can see Truth-O-Meter items that have a correction or update. The page will include articles or Truth-O-Meter fact-checks that have:
Corrections that were significant enough to change a Truth-O-Meter ruling
Corrections that did not require changing a ruling
Updates that provide additional information after the item was initially published
Adair's claim represents a significant misstatement of PolitiFact's corrections policy both at the time (2012) and now. PolitiFact's page of "Corrections and Updates" statements apparently has never included PolitiFact "articles," instead being composed of corrected "statements"--claims PolitiFact has rated on its trademarked "Truth-O-Meter." Corrected articles (those that have no "Truth-O-Meter" rating) tend not to appear on the page supposed hosting corrected articles and fact checks. Indeed, every item on PolitiFact's list seems to have a "Truth-O-Meter" rating.
Examples:
"Promise" article corrected but not appearing on the list of corrected stories.
Article corrected but not appearing on the list of corrected stories.
It is false and misleading for PolitiFact to claim its page of corrected items includes "articles or Truth-O-Meter fact checks."
I call on PolitiFact to scrupulously follow its policy on open and honest corrections to fix the problem.