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.
The Latest
Republicans Promoted a False Rumor That James Talarico Was in Ohio
News nytimes.com ·Republican Ads Distort the Facts in Claiming Democratic Support for ‘Sex Changes’ for Kids
News FactCheck.org ·Why ‘False Flag’ Has Become the Internet’s Default, All-Purpose Conspiracy Theory
News NewsGuard's Reality Check ·The falsehoods billionaires are mailing to Ohio voters
News Popular Information ·No, Joe Biden didn’t ban 440 reporters from the White House
News Poynter ·Experts Question the White House’s Defense of Taxpayer-Funded Ads
News FactCheck.org ·Fact check: Trump lies again that grocery prices ‘have come way down’ this term
News edition.cnn.com ·How MAGA invents ‘controversies’ and some media buy in
News commentary Stop the Presses ·RFK Jr. says Americans have the ‘sickest children in history.’ History says otherwise.
News Poynter ·FactChecking Day Two of the GOP Midterm Convention
News FactCheck.org ·FactChecking Trump’s Midterm Convention Speech
News FactCheck.org ·Statement from the International Fact-Checking Network on Meta’s expansion of Community Notes to Latin America
News commentary Poynter ·Mapping the Fake History of ‘Lake America’
News newsguardrealitycheck.com ·Rising Measles Cases Driven by Falling Vaccination, Not Illegal Immigration
News FactCheck.org ·What We Know About Pennsylvania’s Two ‘Measles-Associated’ Deaths
News FactCheck.org ·in brief
Fact checking: not a tool for all seasons
It was love at first sight, but over time, my ardor has cooled. I still believe there is value in cataloging misstatements, exaggerations, and, well, lies. But when government policies are undertaken and justified by nothing more than a fever-dream of fantasy and fiction, fact checking doesn’t meet the moment.
Sept. 27, 2024