In 2020, it took four days for enough votes to be counted in Pennsylvania for media outlets to declare with confidence that Joe Biden had won the presidential election. During those days, armed protesters showed up outside Philadelphia’s vote-counting center, and Rudy Giuliani, an ally of then-President Donald Trump, held a press conference outside Four […]
Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Christina Bohannan had been exchanging opposing political viewpoints the evening of Sept. 26 without much of the interrupting that often occurs during heated political campaigns. That is, until Bohannan, the Democratic challenger seeking to oust Republican Miller-Meeks from an Iowa congressional seat Miller-Meeks has held for two years, said: “She voted against letting Medicare negotiate for […]
CNN correspondent Donie O’Sullivan didn’t start his career in broadcasting. But he’s been fact-checking since he became a journalist. In the months leading up to the 2020 election, O’Sullivan crossed the country to report on how conspiracy theories affected voters’ attitudes about the presidential election and the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On Sept. […]
Amid the devastation of Hurricane Ian, which brought record winds and record storm surges, one light moment stood out for fact-checkers: Was there really a shark swimming in the streets? Although the jury’s still out on this most recent example (credible sources offer conflicting views), several past hoaxes involving hurricanes, and sharks where they’re not […]
Hurricane Ian was still churning toward Florida on Sept. 27 when CNN anchor Don Lemon asked one of the nation’s leading meteorologists a question about climate change. “Can you tell us what this is and what effect climate change has on this phenomenon?” Lemon asked as National Hurricane Center Acting Director Jamie Rohme stood before […]
Republicans have praised Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ recent decision to use taxpayer money to fly two planes of Venezuelan asylum seekers from Texas to Florida to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. Meanwhile, in Congress, some GOP lawmakers have raised flags about Venezuelan immigrants at the southern border, citing an alleged Department of Homeland Security report saying the […]
The threat of misinformation is ever present, and the fast-approaching midterm elections are a breeding ground for misleading narratives to spread on social media. That’s especially true for Latinos in the United States who speak only Spanish. There aren’t as many Spanish-speaking journalists and media outlets in the U.S., and social media companies invest fewer […]
Judy Woodruff and Chris Stirewalt approach news delivery differently. Woodruff, the longtime “PBS NewsHour” anchor and managing editor, emphasizes neutrality and keeping her personal opinions to herself. Stirewalt, the former Fox News political editor-turned-author-and-podcaster, believes in the power of “opinion journalism,” in which journalists express their ideas as they report and present. But both agree […]
The three-day United Facts of America: A Festival of Fact-Checking heads into its final day, Sept. 29, with a full slate of online presentations, headlined by a discussion of disinformation linked to health care. The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is presenting the conference with PolitiFact, its Pulitzer Prize-winning enterprise. During the COVID-19 pandemic, debates about whether […]
Memes, like jokes, are often depicted as mostly harmless and incapable of exerting political influence. But recent elections have demonstrated organizers can easily leverage them to build political movements, spread group narratives and influence voters. On Sept. 28, PolitiFact Senior Correspondent Jon Greenberg interviewed the authors of “Meme Wars: The Untold Story of the Online […]
One message in campaign ads from Republican candidates and their allies ahead of the Nov. 8 elections is this: America is a dangerous place. Democrats made it that way. The ads — in races for governor, U.S. Senate and U.S. House — aim to trigger fear. They typically contain three elements: news reports of violent […]
The 2020 presidential election result is clear: Donald Trump lost. But fighting his stolen election narrative is a problem that requires a multipronged solution, three experts said Sept. 27 at United Facts of America: A Festival of Fact-Checking. The three-day conference, presented by PolitiFact and the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, began Sept. 27 and […]