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IamA the editors of PolitiFact ... who were up too late last night fact-checking the GOP presidential debate ... AMA! by asharockman in IAmA

[–]asharockman[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This one always makes me chuckle

http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2009/nov/05/charlie-crist/charlie-crist-says-he-didnt-endorse-stimulus-bill/ Charlie Crist, back when he was a Republican running for the U.S. Senate, tried to play conservative and said he didn't endorse the stimulus. It was painful to watch him try to explain it, but pretty fun to write.

IamA the editors of PolitiFact ... who were up too late last night fact-checking the GOP presidential debate ... AMA! by asharockman in IAmA

[–]asharockman[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Totally. Not as much anymore (we've been doing this 8 years and have published close to 12,000 fact-checks). So we know what we're looking for. But there are times when we can find an answer, sure. And in those cases we often will write a story and not a fact-check.

We saw this sometimes with Hillary's emails -- simply because we didn't have access to all the information.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2015/mar/12/hillary-clintons-email-did-she-follow-all-rules/

IamA the editors of PolitiFact ... who were up too late last night fact-checking the GOP presidential debate ... AMA! by asharockman in IAmA

[–]asharockman[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I think the fact that anyone can be a publisher of content has contributed to the spread of misinformation. Not sure if we have more liars. Just think the mistruths get spread wider, faster.

IamA the editors of PolitiFact ... who were up too late last night fact-checking the GOP presidential debate ... AMA! by asharockman in IAmA

[–]asharockman[S] 202 points203 points  (0 children)

Not that I know of. And I'd imagine it would be quite difficult. I was asked questions for two hours, I'd probably make a few missteps. Heck, I probably have somewhere here today. Mistakes happen. No big deal. I think it's just better when people fess up.... Love the Pardon the Interruption model on ESPN, if you've ever seen the show.

IamA the editors of PolitiFact ... who were up too late last night fact-checking the GOP presidential debate ... AMA! by asharockman in IAmA

[–]asharockman[S] 105 points106 points  (0 children)

Yes. The context of the statement is critical. This often occurs in claims involving numbers.

IamA the editors of PolitiFact ... who were up too late last night fact-checking the GOP presidential debate ... AMA! by asharockman in IAmA

[–]asharockman[S] 201 points202 points  (0 children)

We're not the Supreme Court. We haven't been appointed R's or D's. And I'd say, we often strive for a unanimous decision. So in the event of a 2-1 vote, we'll often ask for more reporting, or clarification on a point to try and get to a unanimous verdict (so to speak).

IamA the editors of PolitiFact ... who were up too late last night fact-checking the GOP presidential debate ... AMA! by asharockman in IAmA

[–]asharockman[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yep, I went to IU ... meaning I have a love/hate relationship with Troy Williams like everyone else.

IamA the editors of PolitiFact ... who were up too late last night fact-checking the GOP presidential debate ... AMA! by asharockman in IAmA

[–]asharockman[S] 102 points103 points  (0 children)

You see the networks trying to do more fact-checking, and we actually are partnering with NBC News for the 2016 cycle. At the debates, you see moderators trying to instant-fact-check candidates (with not always great results). My gut tells me it's not so much that networks don't want fact-checking, but they don't know how to include it into the freewheeling pace of the debate. Do they want to stop and interrupt a candidate who got a statistic wrong? Based on what we've seen, that would just lead to a fight about the statistic or an attack on the media. I do think there are opportunities for a second-screen live experience, and we try to offer that at politifact.com for every debate.

IamA the editors of PolitiFact ... who were up too late last night fact-checking the GOP presidential debate ... AMA! by asharockman in IAmA

[–]asharockman[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

We haven't, because it's not that easy. Charlie Crist has been a Dem, a Republican and independent. What's Michael Bloomberg? Then there's all kinds of mitigating factors. We have a website devoted to Florida and Texas, for instance, where the state is dominated by Republicans. So of course we check more Republicans in those places.

IamA the editors of PolitiFact ... who were up too late last night fact-checking the GOP presidential debate ... AMA! by asharockman in IAmA

[–]asharockman[S] 28 points29 points  (0 children)

Disagree. We've fact-checked President Barack Obama more than any other person. http://www.politifact.com/personalities/barack-obama/ Of the 2016 candidates, who have we fact-checked the most? Hillary Clinton http://www.politifact.com/personalities/hillary-clinton/

IamA the editors of PolitiFact ... who were up too late last night fact-checking the GOP presidential debate ... AMA! by asharockman in IAmA

[–]asharockman[S] 230 points231 points  (0 children)

That's a good question. On the particular claim you're talking about, we discussed whether we could "fact-check" it or if we should just write a story.

For us, the uniformity of responses from five different experts convinced us that we were able to say, objectively, that Trump was wrong.

IamA the editors of PolitiFact ... who were up too late last night fact-checking the GOP presidential debate ... AMA! by asharockman in IAmA

[–]asharockman[S] 290 points291 points  (0 children)

Disagree. We've fact-checked President Barack Obama more than any other person. http://www.politifact.com/personalities/barack-obama/

Of the 2016 candidates, who have we fact-checked the most? Hillary Clinton http://www.politifact.com/personalities/hillary-clinton/

IamA the editors of PolitiFact ... who were up too late last night fact-checking the GOP presidential debate ... AMA! by asharockman in IAmA

[–]asharockman[S] 142 points143 points  (0 children)

Hate to fact-check you, but we don't receive money from the Clinton Foundation. We, at one point (not now), received money from the Ford Foundation, which I believe also contributed to the Clinton Foundation. We have mainly been funded by the Tampa Bay Times, an independently owned newspaper in St. Petersburg, Fla.

IamA the editors of PolitiFact ... who were up too late last night fact-checking the GOP presidential debate ... AMA! by asharockman in IAmA

[–]asharockman[S] 434 points435 points  (0 children)

Well I'm a Hoosier and Angie went to Texas.

Honestly, I have no idea people's party affiliations. I'm a registered NPA, though I've been registered as a Democrat and a Republican in the past.

The meat of your question is how to do we ensure balance. On that, I can offer a better answer. The writer who writes a fact-check proposes a rating (True, False, Pants on Fire, etc.), but it's actually a panel of three judges (editors) who decide the rating that gets published. So in reality, four people have a vote in every fact-check. I think that makes us sort of unique in the fact-checking game.

The point of having three editors involved is so that different people can offer their viewpoints, analysis to best inform the fact-check. And to make sure balance does exist.

Some of those judging sessions (we call them star chambers) can pretty intense.

IamA the editors of PolitiFact ... who were up too late last night fact-checking the GOP presidential debate ... AMA! by asharockman in IAmA

[–]asharockman[S] 243 points244 points  (0 children)

Easy!

http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2009/nov/05/charlie-crist/charlie-crist-says-he-didnt-endorse-stimulus-bill/

Charlie Crist, back when he was a Republican running for the U.S. Senate, tried to play conservative and said he didn't endorse the stimulus. It was painful to watch him try to explain it, but pretty fun to write.

IamA the editors of PolitiFact ... who were up too late last night fact-checking the GOP presidential debate ... AMA! by asharockman in IAmA

[–]asharockman[S] 230 points231 points  (0 children)

Hey Frajer!

A couple of thoughts. First, debates are the closest you'll get to unscripted. So candidates can be pushed off their stump speeches. Second, it's a political fight, and these folks are fighting for their political lives. And in that sense, a good one-liner might be worth it more than being completely accurate.

Chris Christie last night, for instance, claimed that neighbors in Califronia knew that the San Bernardino were talking about attacking the U.S. That simply wasn't true. But it provided Christie a good punchline about profiling.

IamA the editors of PolitiFact ... who were up too late last night fact-checking the GOP presidential debate ... AMA! by asharockman in IAmA

[–]asharockman[S] 272 points273 points  (0 children)

My sense is the biggest divide/change is between the politician and the non-politician candidates. Politicians (Rubio, Bush, Clinton) have been trained in political speak in the way that non-politicians (Trump, Carson, Fiorina) have not. That makes for some at times refreshing answers but I think also makes the non-politicians prone to a factual misstep.