America's fact fight fades
America’s obsession with countering mis- and disinformation has withered as society grows skeptical of institutions once trusted with facts.
Why it matters: Professional fact-checking went mainstream during the first Trump administration, but it’s since become politicized.
Americans are less enthusiastic about policing information today than they were two years ago, and the trend is bipartisan, per Pew Research Center.
Related Knowledge Center: Information integrity
In an increasingly fractured media landscape, truth has been a casualty in the public discussion. Coverage has been warped by the business needs of struggling news organizations, and a significant segment of the public relies on bad-faith outlets that are little more than propagandists. While fact-checking has become routine, some organizations are exploring other ways to combat the trends. And misinformation spewed by AI-driven chatbots has become more of a feature than simply a bug.
Fact-checking and its detractors
Related Knowledge Center: Fact-checking and its detractors
Fact-checking has become a familiar tool for political reporters to hold office-holders and candidates accountable. But critics ask if fact-checkers sometimes miss the forest for the trees, and if the practice often struggles with false equivalency the way conventional political coverage does.