Fact Checking

Think Again: As a Matter of Fact

Eric Alterman | Posted 05.17.2012

Eric Alterman

When fact-checking organizations tend to find many more conservative lies than liberal ones, rather than respond that conservatives tell far more lies, the fact-checkers go looking for liberal fabrications and find them whether they exist or not.

WATCH: Rachel Maddow Flips Out On Politifact

Posted 02.27.2012

Rachel Maddow let the folks at Politifact have it again on her Tuesday show. Maddow, who is a harsh critic of the organization and its "truth-o-me...

The News About the Truth, and the Truth About the News

Dave Saldana | Posted 03.18.2012

Dave Saldana

Let January 12, 2012, be marked as the date when the New York Times confessed, in an oblique but nonetheless conclusive way, that it theretofore had not been terribly concerned with discerning and reporting the truth.

Tim Tebow Is Jewish

Marty Kaplan | Posted 03.17.2012

Marty Kaplan

You can check whether Tim Tebow is Jewish (he's not), just like you can check whether Barack Obama was born in America (yup); or whether the earth is 6,000 years old (nope). Tim Tebow ain't Jewish, but journalism ain't stenography.

The New York Times, Truth Vigilantes, Stenographic Journalism and the One Percent

Jonathan Weiler | Posted 03.16.2012

Jonathan Weiler

Though the overwhelmingly negative response to Brisbane was warranted, the episode itself illustrates the degree to which major political forces have already succeeded in bending the mainstream media to its will.

Jason Linkins

New York Times Public Editor Asks Readers To Weigh In On Whether Or Not Reporters Should Attempt Some Sort Of 'Reporting' [UPDATE]

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 01.12.2012

In a game-changing move that could have a far-reaching impact on the way journalism is practiced in America, New York Times public editor Arthur Brisb...

Bitter Editorial Rant Kills Fact Checker Model, 'Ends Politifact As We Know It'

Richard (RJ) Eskow | Posted 02.21.2012

Richard (RJ) Eskow

Politifact editor Bill Adair probably ruined his outlet's chances of ever being taken seriously again as an objective debunker of political spin. What a shame. There's a glaring need for somebody to play that role, and Politifact was in a unique position to fill it.

PolitiFact Defends Its 'Lie Of The Year'

PolitiFact | Posted 02.21.2012

At a Republican campaign rally a few years ago, I asked one of the attendees how he got his news....

Politifact's Road To Salvation

Dan Froomkin | Posted 02.20.2012

Dan Froomkin

Yesterday, I sent an email to Politifact editor Bill Adair, expressing my horror over his group's decision to designate "Republicans voted to kill Medicare" as the "lie of the year." Today, I'm sending him a draft of what I imagine his explanation should look like.

Occupy Wall Street and Social Media: Who's Making Sense of It All?

Jeff Elder | Posted 01.04.2012

Jeff Elder

Occupy is a story coming from many viewpoints, with many developments. This makes it an ideal topic for social media. The question becomes: How do you round all that up?

New Study Confirms What We All Feared About Pundits

Posted 11.30.2011

They can talk all they want, but a new research project shows what many people already seem to believe: that pundits are only right some of the time. ...

Should PolitiFact's Truth-O-Meter Be Changed?

PolitiFact | Posted 09.09.2011

Many PolitiFact readers have criticized Barely True because they say it puts too much emphasis on "true" when the rating actually describes something ...

Trafficked: The Village Voice Needs to Fact-Check

Turnstyle | Posted 09.06.2011

Turnstyle

Originally published on Turnstylenews.com, a digital information service surfacing emerging stories in news, entertainment, art and culture; powered ...

iWatchNews, trustworthy journalism from Center for Public Integrity

Craig Newmark | Posted 06.12.2011

Craig Newmark

Folks, you might remember I really support the Center for Public Integrity, one of the nation's oldest and largest nonprofit, nonpartisan investigativ...

Fact-checking Waiting for 'Superman': Documentary or Urban Myth?

Leonie Haimson | Posted 05.25.2011

Leonie Haimson

In the movie Waiting for "Superman", nominated for an Oscar as the best Documentary of 2010, the following statement is made: " ...in Illinois, 1 i...

Politifact: gop-pledge-o-meter joins the obameter

Craig Newmark | Posted 05.25.2011

Craig Newmark

The folks at Politifact do some really serious fact checking of politicians, holding them accountable. The GOP Pledge-O-Meter follows dozens of prom...

Truthsquad and crowdsourced fact-checking

Craig Newmark | Posted 05.25.2011

Craig Newmark

We need news we can trust, and fact-checking is required for that. It's not easy to do, it can be expensive and time-consuming. It's hard to find tra...

Home computers, student achievement, and bad info

Craig Newmark | Posted 05.25.2011

Craig Newmark

Hey, sometimes misleading research hurts people, and we all need to do what we can to fix that. In response to recent media reports on the potential n...

The Scary Staleness of Truth Telling

Marty Kaplan | Posted 05.25.2011

Marty Kaplan

NPR's Linda Wertheimer recently discussed a decision that political reporters have to make: How many times can you (politely) say that Candidate X lied today, when Candidate X lies every day, and so do Candidates A through Z?

Liberals Are Liars: More on ABC's Factchecking Failure

Peter Hart | Posted 05.25.2011

Peter Hart

PolitiFact recently handed out seven "False" statements -- six to Democrats/liberals, one to a Republican -- and seven "True" labels -- four for Republicans/conservatives, just two for Democrats

Checking ABC's Factcheck: Scrutiny of This Week Better in Theory Than Practice

Peter Hart | Posted 05.25.2011

Peter Hart

An evaluation of the record thus far suggests that even this limited attempt to test the accuracy of claims made on This Week has focused largely on trivial points and ignored more substantive and controversial arguments.

News Media Survival Requires Fact-Checking

Craig Newmark | Posted 05.25.2011

Craig Newmark

Trust is required for media to survive. There's a window of opportunity now for restoring trust, but it won't last forever. The winners will be serious about fact checking.

Trust, Factchecking, and the News Media Landscape To Come

Craig Newmark | Posted 05.25.2011

Craig Newmark

Among news organizations, the successful survivors will be the ones that build a culture of trust, largely by checking facts, and not tolerating disinformation.

'Last Train From Hiroshima' Publisher On The Pellegrino Scandal

The New York Times | MOTOKO RICH | Posted 05.25.2011

Last week Henry Holt & Company stopped printing and selling "The Last Train From Hiroshima," about the atomic bombing of Japan, because its author had...

Should Publishers Trust Their Authors? The Pellegrino Perplex

Peter Ginna | Posted 05.25.2011

Peter Ginna

A major difference between book and magazine or newspaper publishing is that publishers don't have fact-checkers on staff, and never have.