As we mark PolitiFact's 15th anniversary, our founding editor shares a few lessons in facts and fact-checking.
g site didn’t catch on, we were going to bail out after just five months, after Florida held its presidential primary.
The Times was overdue to try something significant on the web, so my team was given a license to be ambitious. We weren’t the first fact-checker , but we took a more lively approach with the meter and report cards that showed each politician’s record for falsehoods. As we mark PolitiFact’s 15th anniversary, I wanted to share a few lessons about facts and fact-checking.This can be forgotten in our hyper-partisan age, when so many people seek validation of their beliefs. But there still are plenty of people who want to consider all sides and know the facts.
It is normal, but it makes for some unpopular rulings on the Truth-O-Meter. A Half True rating often seems to leave both sides unhappy. How naive that seems today! Although the internet has unlocked lots of wisdom and wonder, it’s also become an ugly place where it is easy for people to make personal attacks with little regard for the consequences. This has taken a toll on many, but in my world it’s been especially painful on the fact-checkers who have endured harassment and abuse simply because they are trying to help people find the truth.