Fact Check #Fail
Wednesday Feb 15, 2012
NewsCred Blog
In the Feb. 14 broadcast of The Rachel Maddow Show, host Rachel Maddow lambasted Politifact for incorrectly evaluating a statementmade by Florida congressman Marco Rubio at the CPAC conference last week.
Seriously! Claim A: False! Claim B: False! Overall PolitiFact rating: “Mostly True”!
PolitiFact, please leave the building. Do not bother turning off the lights when you leave; we will need them on to clean up the mess you have left behind you as you are leaving.
PolitiFact, you are a disaster.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Maddow's frustration is far from unique. Journalists have been concerned with the integrity of the news for decades. George Orwell wrote an essay "The Politics of the English Language," on that very subject in 1946. Orwell's concern is continues in large part because the journalism industry -- colloquially known as the forth branch of government -- is so influential.
During election season, the watchdog service of publications is particularly valuable. Fortunately, new developments in media are allowing the press to fact-check in new and innovative ways:
INNOVATIONS IN FACTCHECKING:
- The New York Times performed a live fact-check of President Barack Obama's State of the Union address in January.
- The Atlantic went a step further, making an annotated copy of the speech available online.
- At the DLD Conference in Munich this January, Huffington Post editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington raised the bet: challenging conference attendees to create a program that could evaluate political statements in real time.
Until developers give life to Huffington's fact-checking machine of the future, the reality is that it is time-intensive and laborious venture -- one that offers advantage to high caliber publications with the staff, resources and reputation to get it done. For related posts on content and media innovation, please read:
- "Do ingredients matter?"
- "Readers looking for “more curation, more selectivity, more civility,” says Arianna Huffington"
Recommended reading on fact-checking:
- "Keeping Them Honest" by Arthur S. Brisbane of The New York Times
Subscribe
The Bureau is NewsCred's daily, covering everything content marketing – curation, design innovation, ad tech, SEO, social media and marketing best-practices. Join our growing community for the latest industry news!
Connect with us:
This article you are reading was written by Claire for NewsCred Blog and is available for syndication through NewsCred, the world's leading content marketing platform.
- Jonah Bloom's 7 principles of #contentmarketing http://t.co/kZ99RxKDpf #journalism @Kapost @jonahbloom 15 MINUTES AGO
- 'low-interest industry' does not = low-interest brand, social media or marketing http://t.co/qM6VFPEgcc @B2Community 2 HOURS, 20 MINUTES AGO
- Daily photo inspiration from the NewsCred archives: Circa 1955: A roper lassoes standing on a horse’s backhttp://ow.ly/ld3pE 14 HOURS, 25 MINUTES AGO
- 'One thing is clear: consumer experiences w brands will be more intense' Future of on demand marketing http://t.co/11yDJrc9y1 @McKinsey 16 HOURS, 11 MINUTES AGO
- Reddit's pitch reassures advertisers it isn’t anti-advertising http://t.co/DqgmMZcnqp @digiday 17 HOURS, 35 MINUTES AGO
Recent Posts
-
Thursday May. 16, 2013
-
Wednesday May. 15, 2013
-
Friday May. 10, 2013
-
Thursday May. 02, 2013
-
Thursday May. 02, 2013
-
About
-
Categories
-
Connect With Us
-
Visit us
-
27 West 24 th Street
Suite 202
New York, NY 10010 - +1 212 989 4100 sales@newscred.com
-
27 West 24 th Street
Reader Comments