Introducing … PunditFact!

Today, we’re pleased to announce the official launch of PunditFact, a partnership of PolitiFact and the Poynter Institute, the journalism school that owns the Tampa Bay Times.

PunditFact has a team of journalists to research claims by pundits and other media figures and rate them using PolitiFact’s Truth-O-Meter. Though its findings will be highlighted here at PolitiFact from time to time, PunditFact has its own online home at www.punditfact.com.

Although PolitiFact has occasionally fact-checked pundits and talk show hosts, PunditFact marks the first time that journalists and a website have been dedicated to fact-checking people in the media.

Go to the PunditFact homepage to read a welcome message from PunditFact editor Aaron Sharockman, including PunditFact’s official answer to the question, “What is a pundit?”

PunditFact also fact-checked the Sunday news shows of Nov. 3, when nearly two-dozen pundits appeared on five shows to analyze the recent woes of President Barack Obama’s health care law.