An independent experimental fact-checking site, exploring and advocating ways to make fact-checking better.
“If you watch any great coach, what they try to do is ‘work the refs.’” —Richard N. Bond, reported in the Washington Post, Aug. 20, 1992 Overview Do Republicans only complain about media bias as a strategy to “work the refs”? Some use an accurate quotation out of context to suggest a former chairman of the National Republican Committee…
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A different approach to fact checking partially unveiled itself on the Web in October 2014. Dubbed “Truthiness Check,” the site takes a Wikipedian approach to fact-checking. We’ve moved slowly to review Truthiness Check partly since we’ve puzzled over how to figure out what the site is even saying about various political claims. The creators have acknowledged the problem and promise…
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“Obama said the cost of “health care is now the single-biggest factor driving down” the federal budget deficit. … We rate Obama’s claim Mostly True.” —PolitiFact, from an Oct. 8, 2014 fact check of President Obama Overview The mainstream fact checker PolitiFact exemplifies inconsistency with its fact check of President Obama. The Facts On Oct. 8, 2014, PolitiFact published a…
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Occasionally the mainstream fact checker PolitiFact will publish an article giving an overview of a fact check topic. But two recent fact checks of political attack ads point to the need for one PolitiFact has yet to publish: the relevance of the source of political campaign cash. On March 27, 2014, PolitiFact published a fact check of an ad by…
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“Survey: Republicans Like Obamacare a Lot More if You Call It by a Different Name” –Headline of a Jonathan Cohn article in The New Republic, Sept. 15, 2014 Overview The survey doesn’t say what Jonathan Cohn and The New Republic say it does. The Facts On Sept. 15, 2014 the left-leaning magazine The New Republic published a story by…
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Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik blasted PolitiFact Oregon, among other PolitiFacts, with a Sept. 10, 2014 column titled “Another ‘fact-checker’ gets Social Security wrong.” We have complaints about the PolitiFact Oregon item, also. But Hiltzik’s demagogy takes precedence. This paragraph encapsulates Hiltzik’s most objectionable points: The money accounted for in the trust fund was borrowed by the federal government…
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Zebra Fact Check isn’t likely to publish any new fact check material for about three weeks. We’re getting caught up on some neglected projects and exploring ways to increase our impact. We believe as strongly as ever it will benefit the American media landscape greatly to have a reliable fact-check source that isn’t blind to the conservative viewpoint. If you…
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PolitiFact published a brief guide to its fact check process recently on Aug. 20, 2014. It wasn’t bad at all. PolitiFact’s PunditFact published a fact check of former Texas congressman Tom DeLay on Aug. 31, 2014. It was pretty bad. How does this happen? How does a solid outline for fact checking claims turn into amateurish and ridiculous fact checks?…
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“(Sen. Bernie) Sanders said, ‘In 1952, the corporate income tax accounted for 33 percent of all federal tax revenue. Today, despite record-breaking profits, corporate taxes bring in less than 9 percent.’” … we rate his claim Mostly True.” —PolitiFact, from an Aug. 28, 2014 fact check of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Overview PolitiFact concocts a “Mostly True” rating for…
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“Myth: The United States can’t stay economically competitive if we address climate change.” —The Democratic National Committee, Nov. 27 from its “Your Republican Uncle” website Overview Cutting carbon emissions carries a cost, and the cost tends to make the United States less competitive. The DNC’s rosy picture of the benefits of climate change mitigation ignores many complications. The Facts…
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