Aaron Sharockman
Executive Director
367
Stories Published
329
Fact-Checks Published
Aaron Sharockman is the executive director of PolitiFact, and the Vice President for Sales and Strategic Partnerships at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. In his roles, Aaron oversees PolitiFact and Poynter's partnerships with newsrooms, NGOs and technology companies. Aaron is a veteran journalist having written about government and politics before joining the staff of PolitiFact in 2010 to launch PolitiFact's fact-checking program in Florida. In 2013, he created PolitiFact's project to fact-check pundits, PunditFact. He was named Executive Director of PolitiFact in 2015, where he has shepherded a period of immense growth. During his time as executive director, PolitiFact has launched more than a dozen new publishing partnerships, created a new fact-checking program in Spanish, PolitiFact en Español, and seen its staff triple in size. Aaron has more than a decade of experience reporting on and teaching mis- and disinformation tactics with a focus on empowering citizens with more accurate information, and has presented on issues of mis- and disinformation in more than 20 countries. At Poynter, Aaron develops training, teaching and publishing partnerships with newsrooms, communicators, technology companies and other organizations. Aaron is the current chair of the Board of Directors for Campus Communications, Inc., which oversees the Independent Florida Alligator, is a 2016-17 Reynolds Fellow at the University of Missouri and taught a class on political fact-checking at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. He is a proud graduate of Indiana University.
Areas of Expertise
Latest Fact-Checks by Aaron Sharockman
- New posts stir up old unproven claims about Dominion Voting Systems, election rigging, Eric Coomer November 3, 2024
- Joe Rogan didn’t say he’s not voting for Trump (he endorsed him on Nov. 4) November 3, 2024
- Group falsely claims there are less than 2,000 current COVID-19 hospitalizations August 9, 2021
- Liberty U. confuses its Kennedys: Louisiana senator, not ex-president talked tough on immigration June 22, 2021
- Social posters spread election misinformation about “shredded” ballot applications for Donald Trump October 8, 2020
- Biden isn’t in the basement, but the Trump campaign keeps saying so October 4, 2020
- Facebook post mislabels months-old image on mask policy as new to spread COVID-19 disinformation August 18, 2020
- Photo shows St. Louis protesters pointing a microphone, not a weapon, at Patricia and Mark McCloskey July 1, 2020
- Viral Facebook post manipulated to make it look like it came from tennis pro Serena Williams June 24, 2020
- No, Tim Tebow didn’t kneel during the national anthem June 19, 2020
Latest Stories by Aaron Sharockman
- Fact-check: Is replacing Joe Biden on the ticket ‘unlawful’? Election law experts say it’s not July 22, 2024
- United Facts of America: Experts say facts alone won’t bridge the partisan divide September 27, 2022
- Would Tom Hanks have qualified for a coronavirus test in the US? March 12, 2020
- Fact-checking Donald Trump’s 2020 State of the Union address February 5, 2020
- What we know about Shadow, Acronym and the Iowa caucuses February 4, 2020
- A new look for the PolitiFact website February 2, 2020
- PolitiFact answers the Senate’s impeachment questions January 31, 2020
- PolitiFact launches 2024 swing district project, bringing fact-checking to key U.S. Senate races August 19, 2024
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sued PolitiFact’s owner in 2020 over flu vaccine fact-check December 21, 2023
- WATCH: DeSantis, monoclonal antibodies and the FDA: What’s effective? February 10, 2022
- Biden, DeSantis feud over ventilator request. Here’s what we know August 11, 2021
- Time flies: PolitiFact is 13! August 21, 2020
- Donald Trump’s 4 biggest falsehoods on ABC News May 6, 2020
- Celebrate with us. PolitiFact turns 12! August 22, 2019
- Live fact-checking day 2 of the first 2020 Democratic presidential debate June 27, 2019
- Live fact-checking the first 2020 Democratic presidential debate June 25, 2019
- It’s #GivingNewsDay! Every dollar you donate to PolitiFact is now tripled November 27, 2018