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PolitiFact published an article on Nov. 14, 2022 bearing the title “Donald Trump, the least accurate politician we’ve ever covered, eyes another White House run.” The article later similarly claimed “Trump has the worst record of any politician fact-checked by PolitiFact.” Given that PolitiFact does not rate politicians using a randomly selected set of stories and uses subjective judgments to…
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A PolitiFact Virginia fact check from Nov. 11, 2022 featured a substantial hole in its reasoning, so on Nov. 12 (after using Twitter to flag the issue) Zebra Fact Check sent PolitiFact a description of the problem and two potential avenues it might take toward fixing it. PolitiFact promptly responded with its standard response email.
In August 2022 Zebra Fact Check sent an email to the International Fact-Checking Network and Poynter Institute president Neal Brown asking why the IFCN does not answer our inquiries (giving two examples). A long email exchange eventually ensued, which we document here with the exception of one email specified as off-the-record and our response to that email. We are not…
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When Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said Vice President Kamala Harris spoke words amounting to the claim that disaster victims might receive faster FEMA aid depending on the color of their skin, fact checkers leapt into action to defend the vice president. Fact checkers, including PolitiFact, said critics took Harris’ words out of context. PolitiFact’s version of the fact check included…
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Zebra Fact Check detected a false statement and missing context in an Oct. 3, 2022 PolitiFact fact check of a claim by Sen. Rick Scott (R, Fla.). Accordingly, we sent a correction request to PolitiFact on Oct. 5, 2022. PolitiFact sent its standard acknowledgment email in response.
Upon noticing an apparent error in a PolitiFact newsletter sent Sept. 15, 2022, Zebra Fact Check sent a correction/clarification request to PolitiFact that same day. PolitiFact responded (unusual in our experience) the same day. PolitiFact Audience Director Josie Hollingsworth affirmed the presence of the error and committed to issuing a correction in the next edition of the newsletter. Note: We…
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PolitiFact used an equivocal argument in an Aug. 12, 2022 fact check rating a tweet from Libs of TikTok as “False.” Zebra Fact Check sent PolitiFact a correction request to PolitiFact on Aug. 16, 2022. PolitiFact sent its standardized reply the same minute we sent the correction request.
Is abortion ever medically necessary? Reuters Fact Check addressed that question back in late 2021 but committed a fallacy of equivocation in its fact check (documented here in detail). On July 30, 2022, Zebra Fact Check asked Reuters Fact Check for a correction of its fallacious reasoning. After over a week of apparent inaction from Reuters Fact Check, Zebra Fact…
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Meta/Facebook fact-checking partner Lead Stories committed essentially the same fallacy of equivocation other fact-checkers committed with the issue of whether abortion is ever medically necessary. We sent a correction request to Lead Stories on July 23, 2022. Lead Stories made no apparent attempt to correct its error through Aug. 9, 2022. Lead Stories’ failure to fix a documented error duly…
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AFP Fact Check committed the same equivocation error other fact-checking organizations have committed while attempting to answer whether (elective) abortion can sometimes prove medically necessary. The failure either of AFP Fact Check’s correction request interface or else its desire to correct error count as a failure to scrupulously adhere to an open and honest corrections policy, hence our complaint submitted…
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