PolitiFact to fact-check ABC’s ‘This Week’

A few months ago, New York University journalism professor Jay Rosen suggested that the Sunday talk shows begin fact-checking their guests. He said PolitiFact could do the work and post the results a day or two after the show.

“The midweek fact check — in the spirit of PolitiFact.com, which could even be hired for the job — might, over time, exert some influence on the speakers on Sunday,” he wrote. “At the very least, it would guide the producers in their decisions about whom to invite back.”

Jake Tapper, the interim host of This Week, liked the suggestion and asked us to fact-check the show on a trial basis. So starting this Sunday, we’ll be fact-checking the newsmakers who appear on the program. We’ll post the items on our home page and on the show’s Web site. The items will also be archived on PolitiFact’s This Week page, so you’ll be able to check back periodically and see how the newsmakers are doing.

We hope to post a couple of Truth-O-Meter items each Sunday, plus one or two more on Monday or Tuesday. Our output will depend on how many facts we hear during the show.

We’re happy to join Jake and ABC News in this initiative. The ABC partnership — like our expansion to Texas and Florida — is consistent with our long-term goal: We believe every elected official in the nation should face the Truth-O-Meter.