Does anyone else notice the bias in fact-checkers online?

@Taskr36 (13963)
United States
May 21, 2011 4:56pm CST
I'm curious about this. Let me start by saying that these fact checkers are not typically lying, but they do seem to target politicians on the right a bit more harshly than those on the left. On politifact that's often represented by a lower rating than the person deserves. Take this statement by Ron Paul for example. "The Arab and the Muslim nations get twice as much money as Israel." http://politifact.com/texas/statements/2011/may/21/ron-paul/us-rep-ron-paul-says-arab-and-muslim-nations-get-t/ No matter how it's dressed up he actually understated the amount of money. Typically when something said to make a point is understated, it gets a rating of "true". In this case, they gave it "Mostly True" because they didn't think it was fair to compare Israel to multiple countries. Then we have Paul Ryan who said "On taxes, President Barack Obama wants to raise "the top rate to 44.8 percent." http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/may/18/paul-ryan/paul-ryan-says-barack-obama-wants-top-tax-rate-448/ He too only got a "Mostly True" rating because they said the number could be between 42.8 and 44.8 depending on how you dress it up. In other words, they really struggled to find a way to NOT call his statement true. My personal favorite involved Texas Republican Ted Poe who said "The U.S. gives foreign aid to Cuba and Venezuela, even though those countries are our enemies. " http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/mar/23/ted-poe/ted-poe-decries-us-aid-venezuela-cuba/ This statement is clearly true. In their evaluation they acknowledged that it was true saying "Poe is correct that U.S. foreign aid flows into both countries. In fiscal year 2010, the Venezuela account showed $6 million, while the Cuba account showed $20 million. For fiscal year 2012, the administration has requested a little less for Venezuela -- $5 million -- and the same $20 million amount for Cuba." There was nothing factually incorrect about his statement. However, they rated it as FALSE because they felt the money was going to the "people" of those countries rather than the regimes ruling them. On the other hand, blatant lies by democrats can get much kinder treatment. Take for example when Obama claimed "Regime change (in Iraq) took eight years" http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/mar/29/barack-obama/barack-obama-says-regime-change-iraq-took-eight-ye/ Since the war started in 2003, that would mean regime change JUST happened. As anyone not living under a rock knows, Sadaam and his government have been out of power for many years. Even while Bush was still president they had a completely different government and Bush was there visiting their leader when that moron threw a shoe at him. Then we have Nancy Pelosi and her trademark demagoguery. She said "Under a House Republican appropriations bill, "6 million seniors are deprived of meals." http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/apr/06/nancy-pelosi/nancy-pelosi-says-gop-bill-would-deprive-six-milli/ Again, this was a blatant lie. Even when her office was contacted by politifact they admitted that it was 6 million MEALS that would be cut, not 6 million SENIORS that would be forced to starve so they're starting with a lie even before they check her math. Of course even for that there was nothing in the bill that said meals would be cut, only that there would be a cut in the money spent which could be offset with smaller or less expensive meals. So what was she rated? "Half True". A blatant lie, which her office admitted, and she gets a rating of "Half True". So while factcheckers do good research, and are a valuable source, don't think for a minute that there isn't any bias in their fact-checking. You really have to read the fine print since their basic ratings often reflect what they WANT to rate statements.
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4 responses
@trruk1 (1028)
• United States
24 May 11
Yes, it is difficult to get it right, especially with politicians. For example, the statement on the House floor that 90% of what Planned Parenthood does is provide abortions was later clarified--"not intended to be a factual statement." Which is the newest euphemism for "lie." In Richard Nixon's time it was expressed this way: "That statement is no longer operative." If you want a touch of reality about Iraq, regime change is still going on. Saddam is gone, but the whole situation is still evolving. So has the regime changed? Yes, shortly after the (illegal) invasion by the U.S. It will change again. Maybe several times. Fact-checking is a good thing, but who checks the checkers? Even authoritative sources sometimes get it wrong. And if you think Democrats are given some sort of free pass by the media, you are making up your own facts. Paul Ryan wants to "save" Medicare--by totally destroying it. That is the essence of his proposal in that area, although it has been reported as "budget-cutting" rather than a plan to eliminate Medicare. Everybody gets it wrong sometimes. I do not think ANY one organization can be totally trusted when it comes to checking accuracy.
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@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
24 May 11
Not intended to be a factual statement? Wow, that's rich. As you said, the regime changed after the invasion. I'm not going to argue the legality of it since that's not the point of this thread. There's simply no question that the regime changed and as you said, regime change will continue to happen. That's just a natural part of a democratic or semi-democratic government. I'm not saying democrats are getting a free pass, but there is a clear and inherent bias just as with the blatant lie by Nancy Pelosi which was rated as "half true" because her people admitted it was a lie. Most factcheckers have a large team of people and while some make a solid and genuine attempt to be unbiased, others are no doubt in it to either go ofter their opponents, or bolster those they support while some just fail to remain neutral even if they want to be. Since Politifact is run by the St. Pete Times, and extremely left leaning newspaper, the people at the top have an agenda which will manifest itself in the people they hire for these jobs. On the plus side they do cite their sources very well and while the ratings often reflect a bias, reading the entire articles often gives you the whole truth.
@trruk1 (1028)
• United States
24 May 11
Whatever you may think about "extreme left leaning" (none of those terms can be checked; they are all emotionally-based) bias, the St. Petersburg Times is one of the best newspapers in America. But like I said, no single source can be totally trusted. Even those that diligently strive for accuracy make mistakes. A prime example is the excitement over NASA's "discovery" of an arsenic-based organism. It is not arsenic-based; it is carbon-based just like all other life forms we know. It was not discovered; they created it. They used an existing bacterium and modified it in their laboratory. getting facts wrong is not an exclusively political trait.
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@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
24 May 11
Well saying St. Pete Times is one of the "best" newspapers is simply an opinion. It has high circulation, but that's simply representative of how many people are in the area vs how many newspapers there are, not how good it is. Left leaning is representative in their articles and coverage or issues. The NASA situation isn't uncommon in science. They'll typically lie to get a big headline, and then the truth in the story will be far less interesting. They know that at best they are misrepresenting the facts, and at worst just lying, but science isn't really that interesting so they've decided that if a lie gets people interested, it's worth it.
@jb78000 (15139)
23 May 11
i've got a marvellous idea for how they can improve their true/mostly true etc ratings. personally i'd just mark everything that ever came out of any politician's mouth as "misleading". that should apply whether said statement is technically true or complete bs. removes that area for bias and you said they were ok on the details.
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@jb78000 (15139)
23 May 11
disclaimer - the appalling grammar in that was deliberate
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@jb78000 (15139)
24 May 11
i AM biased. i mark down grammar that is perfectly fine in american english, although not british english, just to annoy people.
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@debrakcarey (19887)
• United States
24 May 11
but then how do we know you aren't biased in your appraisal of grammar?
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• United States
21 May 11
Factcheckers is somewhat better (but not much) than Snopes. Snopes flat out lies and supports every Word that comes out of Obama's mouth. Anything detrimental to Obama is immediately classified "false" by Snopes.
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@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
24 May 11
Yeah, here's another one on Politifact where a Republican points out the simple fact that gas prices have risen by more than $2.00 a gallon since Obama took office. They verified 100% that it was a fact, but gave it a rating of "Half True" since they don't think it's Obama's fault. Of course the guy never claimed it was Obama's fault, but they added that in just to be nice to Obama. http://politifact.com/texas/statements/2011/may/22/michael-williams/michael-williams-says-gas-prices-are-2-obama-becam/
@debrakcarey (19887)
• United States
22 May 11
Even the questions sound loaded. Like the one on Pelosi. But there are those who swear by these sites. I tried to point out snopes bias during Obama's campaign and was promptly shot down. Everyone DOES have a certain bias...but most people stating their OPINION will qualify it as such. When you claim to be giving UNBIASED facts it is wrong to let your bias enter in to it. At the very least people who use these sources should UNDERSTAND that there is a natural bias being shown, as you did.
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