(Originally published April 6, 2011, updated periodically [dates indicated in parentheses when item added]).
The following is a guide to PolitiFact detractors, both conservative and liberal, along with those I have chosen to respond to with a link to my analysis. These will be updated, of course, on an ongoing basis.
Special Note 7/31/12: There had previously been links within this page to navigate to that part of this page (anchors) for the particular type of detractor, as well as other fact-checkers by state. For some reason, all the links ceased to work, and because of the length of this page it will probably take me next to forever to make html corrections, as there is no direct way to do it with blogspot. So in the mean time, please SCROLL DOWN for the (1) Links to those who say PolitiFact has a left-wing bias (reddish background) (2) those who say PolitiFact has a right-wing bias (bluish background), (3) those who appear to be "neutral" (purplish background) and last of all (4) a comprehensive listing of fact-checkers (with links) by state, including those of PolitiFact.
Please submit a comment if you come across something you haven't seen here. Thanks!
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| This was actually a cartoon published at a website of a LIBERAL PolitiFact detractor. |
PolitiFact Detractors: Conservatives...
...who say PolitiFact has a liberal bias!
Those conservatives who believe PolitiFact (PF) is liberally biased are higher in number and have been much more prolific in their criticisms than those on the liberal side. Many of them have come up with their own titles (like Politi-Psychotics!) which reflect a sort of Politi-disparagement.
Politi-Farce at Anchors Rising “Barnacles” section, which focuses on “Projo” PolitiFact Rhode Island with critiques mostly authored by Justin Katz and Monique Chartier. I’ve done one post with regard to them.
PolitiHack Tracker by Weston Hicks, spotlighting PolitiFact Texas, is a personal website which features Pinnochio-nosed detectives, with the nose in varying lengths, as its “Truth-O-Meter” measure. I've done one post on some of his "gradings." (Note: This site has not been updated for over a year as of July 30, 2012.)
The conservative Cato Institute has what appears to be a blog called Cato-at-Liberty; this post called “Why I’m Boycotting PolitiFact” by Michael F. Cannon declares there are logical errors in some of PolitiFact’s rulings (primarily the “Lies of the Year”) summarized thus:
There’s PolitiFact’s Fixers at Spectator.org, written in 2009 by Matthew Vadum which sort of kicked things off for PolitiFact bashers.
One of the first reviews on the Eric Ostermeier analysis of PolitiFact rulings (I've made a very in-depth analysis of his article comparing it to my own statistics on PF rulings) concluding with allegations of selection bias was written by Ed Morrissey at the website Hot Air. They also had something to say about "PolitiFact's Biggest Lie."
EducationNews, a website which describes itself as "A Global Leading News Source covering educational, political, business and environmental issues" published a piece in September, 2010 (authored by Donna Garner) entitled "Who is Behind PolitiFact Truth-O-Meter?". It called the Truth-O-Meter a "farce" as well as "undoubtedly left-leaning"--"What Truth-o-Meter actually does is to nitpick at various statements made by candidates in an attempt to discredit them while at the same time Politifact.com pretends to be a non-prejudicial referee upon whose statements voters can lean." Sounds like they agree with Michele Malkin.
Newsbusters functions as the Media Matters of the right, although it reports any negative PF rulings on prominent Democrats, especially if it supports their own claims.
BigJournalism.com, which appears to be associated with the controversial Andrew Breitbart, the "king" of right-wing websiters, has an interesting critique of PolitiFact's 2010 Lie of the Year. [Added 7/17/2011]
National Review’s Rich Lawry calls PolitiFact a “discredited, leftist mouthpiece.”
National Review Institute (which appears to be a different website than the National Review above), run by conservative pundit Mona Charen, published what it claims to be a contradiction between Factcheck.org and PolitiFact on abortion, in a section called "Media Malpractice." [Added 7/17/2011].
It seems no matter where PolitiFact goes, there’s someone there accusing it of liberal bias.
For example, The Oregon Catalyst provides us with a nice PolitiFact Bias icon we can’t get from that non-creative conservative duo over at PolitiFact Bias. [added 12/8/11]
Or, at “Blog New Jersey” otherwise known as blog.nj, we have this opinion from one Paul Mulshine:
"Critics on the national level have long charged that PolitiFact has a pronounced liberal bias, that it picks up on minor conservative miscues and ignores big blunders by liberals. That seems to be the case judging from the piece I read the other day." [added 12/8/11]
There’s also a lot of blogs such as this one called “The Iconic Midwest” which is graphically presented in much the same awful, difficult to read way as Jeff Dybert’s BNV.
...who say PolitiFact has a liberal bias!
Those conservatives who believe PolitiFact (PF) is liberally biased are higher in number and have been much more prolific in their criticisms than those on the liberal side. Many of them have come up with their own titles (like Politi-Psychotics!) which reflect a sort of Politi-disparagement.
Politi-Farce at Anchors Rising “Barnacles” section, which focuses on “Projo” PolitiFact Rhode Island with critiques mostly authored by Justin Katz and Monique Chartier. I’ve done one post with regard to them.
Fact-Checking PolitiFact at Legal Insurrection, authored by William A. Jacobson (not reviewed), which centers around PolitiFact Rhode Island (like Anchors Rising).
PolitiFact Take-Down at Redstate (Barry Popik) . Although I have not written anything with regard to Barry Popik’s posts, Redstate did have something by one “Freedom’s Truth” (who sounds suspiciously like Weston Hicks at PolitiHack Tracker) for which I’ve made a response. In 2011 Redstate's Flagstaff published a multi-ruling review of PolitiFact called PolitiFact or Politi-Spin which concluded "we can't trust a newspaper service to grade the truthfulness of politicians for us."
PolitiFact or Fiction is part of a website called Watchdog.Org supported by the so-called Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity. It has two writers (currently) Will Swaim and Jon Cassidy, who publish a “semi-regular review” of PolitiFact Ohio rulings. The last time I checked they had reported on seven rulings, all of which start (and end) the same way, basically that PolitiFact “practices opinion journalism under the guise of fact-checking.” But it seems that’s their opinion, as I point out in my review of a few of their critiques. I'm linking their very first piece as the PolitiFact or Fiction link does not work. [Added 7/11/2012]
Jon Cassidy of Watchdog.Org also published a very lengthy, slanted discourse called "PolitiFact bias: Does the GOP tell nine times more lies than left? Really?" in Human Events, a website for "powerful conservative voices." He even interviewed--no kidding--the "co-founder" of the website PolitiFact Bias, from whom he got the "nine times." However, judging from the way it was computed, the reality is it's just like a cat with nine lives--an old wives' tale. [Added 9/4/2012]
PolitiFiction at the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Examiner (some of it aimed at PolitiFact Virginia—not reviewed). The one at the Wall Street Journal was actually an editorial on PolitiFact's 2010 Lie of the Year, much like a PolitiFiction at a weblog authored by Gary Gross called Let Freedom Ring. "PolitiFiction: Where the Truth Gets Mangled" was Gary's title.
PolitiFact or Fiction is part of a website called Watchdog.Org supported by the so-called Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity. It has two writers (currently) Will Swaim and Jon Cassidy, who publish a “semi-regular review” of PolitiFact Ohio rulings. The last time I checked they had reported on seven rulings, all of which start (and end) the same way, basically that PolitiFact “practices opinion journalism under the guise of fact-checking.” But it seems that’s their opinion, as I point out in my review of a few of their critiques. I'm linking their very first piece as the PolitiFact or Fiction link does not work. [Added 7/11/2012]
Jon Cassidy of Watchdog.Org also published a very lengthy, slanted discourse called "PolitiFact bias: Does the GOP tell nine times more lies than left? Really?" in Human Events, a website for "powerful conservative voices." He even interviewed--no kidding--the "co-founder" of the website PolitiFact Bias, from whom he got the "nine times." However, judging from the way it was computed, the reality is it's just like a cat with nine lives--an old wives' tale. [Added 9/4/2012]
PolitiFiction at the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Examiner (some of it aimed at PolitiFact Virginia—not reviewed). The one at the Wall Street Journal was actually an editorial on PolitiFact's 2010 Lie of the Year, much like a PolitiFiction at a weblog authored by Gary Gross called Let Freedom Ring. "PolitiFiction: Where the Truth Gets Mangled" was Gary's title.
PolitiHack Tracker by Weston Hicks, spotlighting PolitiFact Texas, is a personal website which features Pinnochio-nosed detectives, with the nose in varying lengths, as its “Truth-O-Meter” measure. I've done one post on some of his "gradings." (Note: This site has not been updated for over a year as of July 30, 2012.)
Politi-Crap by Charlie Sykes, with a focus on PolitiFact Wisconsin, on a talk radio station website which features Dennis Miller and a local conservative named Jeff Wagner (although no Rush). This one featured “Truth-O-Toilets” for measuring the amount of crap Sykes thought he saw in PF’s rulings. However, later Sykes reported receiving an e-mail from PolitiFact Wisconsin writer Dave Umhoefer, who was doing a ruling on him, and it appears the toilets might have been a one-time thing. And yes, PF awarded Sykes a Pants on Fire for Christmas. He also published something called POLITIFACT HYPOCRISY which looks like an unedited, first version of a website (unprofessional and sloppy).
Politi-Fail on Glenn Beck’s “Stu Blog.” While they included a nice big photoshopped jpeg of PolitiFact’s Truth-0-Meter with “Utter Fail” on top of where they had (poorly) blocked out “False”, I can’t find if this is a singular review or if this is an ongoing blog of PolitiFails. Beck seems to have more of a conspiratorial obsession with Media Matters. Stu tries to be fair, however, saying “Look, Politifact is too far left for my taste, but I think they do some good work.” OMG! The good work, of course, was a “False” ruling on something Obama said. (There’s also this PolitiFail at a blog called “The Right-Wing Liberal.”)
Accuracy in Media (AIM), headed by Logan Churchwell, describes itself as "a non-profit, grassroots citizens watchdog of the news media that critiques botched and bungled news stories and sets the record straight on important issues that have received slanted coverage." Sounds pretty good until one takes a look at some of things it "sets straight", like things Michele Bachmann says. [Added 8/15/2011]
Bearing Drift describes itself as "Virginia's Conservative Voice" and appears (because of some accidental website re-direction) to be part of the conservative PAC/website FreedomWorks. In this anti-factchecker article, writer Brian Schoeneman asks "Who watches the watchers?" [Added 9/18/2012]
Counterirritant is the red hot chili pepper of conservative anti-PolitiFact blogs (capsaican, a “hot rub” derived from chili peppers is the best known example of a counterirritant). Fairly simple and straightforward, it offers a refreshing (not hot) alternative to the deeply obfuscating, deliberately confounding crocks of crap at PolitiFact Bias and Sublime Bloviations. But it may cause more irritation like it says because it doesn’t always get it right. [Added 5/20/2012]
A blog called “Ethics Alarms” which appears to be authored by Jack Marshall, borrows the “PolitiFact Bias” from PolitiFact Bias, although there’s no good substantiation of his claim(s) except that PolitiFact “drives him crazy” with its “ridiculous display of biased reporting.” Strange that he says FactCheck.Org is the only reliable fact-checker, even though it arrives at the same conclusions as PolitiFact when checking the same claims the great majority of the time. [Added 7/12/2012]
MediaTrackers.org is "a non-profit, online site dedicated to providing readers conservative research and news, while tackling and bringing to light any misinformation and bias in the mainstream media" and of course, they claim to have already done so with Po [litiFact on a piece by Collin Roth called "PolitiFact's Rating of Half True only Tells Half the Story." [Added 7/10/2011]
Collin Roth of MediaTrackers.org also published a 5-part series dealing with PolitiFact Wisconsin, concluding rather even-handedly that PolitiFact does not have an "overt bias" but has a problem with "their inconsistent application of scrutiny, the questions surrounding their story selection, and their often criticized methods for gathering facts." [Added 8/23/2012]
Politi-Fail on Glenn Beck’s “Stu Blog.” While they included a nice big photoshopped jpeg of PolitiFact’s Truth-0-Meter with “Utter Fail” on top of where they had (poorly) blocked out “False”, I can’t find if this is a singular review or if this is an ongoing blog of PolitiFails. Beck seems to have more of a conspiratorial obsession with Media Matters. Stu tries to be fair, however, saying “Look, Politifact is too far left for my taste, but I think they do some good work.” OMG! The good work, of course, was a “False” ruling on something Obama said. (There’s also this PolitiFail at a blog called “The Right-Wing Liberal.”)
Accuracy in Media (AIM), headed by Logan Churchwell, describes itself as "a non-profit, grassroots citizens watchdog of the news media that critiques botched and bungled news stories and sets the record straight on important issues that have received slanted coverage." Sounds pretty good until one takes a look at some of things it "sets straight", like things Michele Bachmann says. [Added 8/15/2011]
Bearing Drift describes itself as "Virginia's Conservative Voice" and appears (because of some accidental website re-direction) to be part of the conservative PAC/website FreedomWorks. In this anti-factchecker article, writer Brian Schoeneman asks "Who watches the watchers?" [Added 9/18/2012]
Counterirritant is the red hot chili pepper of conservative anti-PolitiFact blogs (capsaican, a “hot rub” derived from chili peppers is the best known example of a counterirritant). Fairly simple and straightforward, it offers a refreshing (not hot) alternative to the deeply obfuscating, deliberately confounding crocks of crap at PolitiFact Bias and Sublime Bloviations. But it may cause more irritation like it says because it doesn’t always get it right. [Added 5/20/2012]
A blog called “Ethics Alarms” which appears to be authored by Jack Marshall, borrows the “PolitiFact Bias” from PolitiFact Bias, although there’s no good substantiation of his claim(s) except that PolitiFact “drives him crazy” with its “ridiculous display of biased reporting.” Strange that he says FactCheck.Org is the only reliable fact-checker, even though it arrives at the same conclusions as PolitiFact when checking the same claims the great majority of the time. [Added 7/12/2012]
MediaTrackers.org is "a non-profit, online site dedicated to providing readers conservative research and news, while tackling and bringing to light any misinformation and bias in the mainstream media" and of course, they claim to have already done so with Po [litiFact on a piece by Collin Roth called "PolitiFact's Rating of Half True only Tells Half the Story." [Added 7/10/2011]
Collin Roth of MediaTrackers.org also published a 5-part series dealing with PolitiFact Wisconsin, concluding rather even-handedly that PolitiFact does not have an "overt bias" but has a problem with "their inconsistent application of scrutiny, the questions surrounding their story selection, and their often criticized methods for gathering facts." [Added 8/23/2012]
Media Research Center (MRC) bills itself as "America's Media Watchdog" which combats the main stream media's "strident liberal bias" by publishing a "Bias Alert," for example, protesting that ABC and CBS (and PolitiFact) treat Obama differently (better) than Michele Bachmann, using PolitiFact's rulings. [Added 10/20/2011]
The Republican Party of Virginia published a gigantic 86-page opus which starts with "An Open Letter to the Commonwealth of Virginia" and is chock full of talking points, links and spin about why PolitiFact Virginia is guilty of liberal bias. But they make a few errors in the heart of their case against PolitiFact which even my conservative counterpart agrees with. [Added 7/26/2012]
The Wall Street Journal's James Taranto occasionally reviews PolitiFact's rulings, such as making some points about presidential contender Rick Perry's repeating claim in his beginning debates that Obama's Stimulus package created zero jobs. Taranto says the only thing PolitiFact proved is that the Stimulus created ONE job.
The Republican Party of Virginia published a gigantic 86-page opus which starts with "An Open Letter to the Commonwealth of Virginia" and is chock full of talking points, links and spin about why PolitiFact Virginia is guilty of liberal bias. But they make a few errors in the heart of their case against PolitiFact which even my conservative counterpart agrees with. [Added 7/26/2012]
The Wall Street Journal's James Taranto occasionally reviews PolitiFact's rulings, such as making some points about presidential contender Rick Perry's repeating claim in his beginning debates that Obama's Stimulus package created zero jobs. Taranto says the only thing PolitiFact proved is that the Stimulus created ONE job.
The PJ Tattler is part of "Pajamas Media" which exists "to pull off the disguises of cunning, vanity and affectation." It calls PolitiFact an "alleged fact-check website targeting political figures operated by the St. Petersburg Times (FL)." It also likes to call it "Politi-Fail" like other conservative media monitors. [Added 10/20/2011]
Travis Rowley, Chairman of the Rhode Island Young Republicans, composed this well-written piece called “PolitiFact is Politically Biased” at golocalprov.com, a Providence, Rhode Island based news site, aimed at PolitiFact Rhode Island. Of course, one of the rulings he evaluated was on him, which makes his article “politically biased” too. (Added 5/20/2012)
Peter Schiff, a radio talk show host and CEO of two financial advisory firms specializing in gold and silver, used an interview with PolitiFact Virginia's Jacob Geiger to push gold and silver investing, which was published on YouTube. You can get a shorter, bottom-line synopsis from my own post on it rather than listening to the 19-minute interview. [Added 6/18/2011]
Then there are separate occasional, non-serial reviews, many having to do with PolitiFact's 2009-10 "Lie(s) of the Year."
The conservative Cato Institute has what appears to be a blog called Cato-at-Liberty; this post called “Why I’m Boycotting PolitiFact” by Michael F. Cannon declares there are logical errors in some of PolitiFact’s rulings (primarily the “Lies of the Year”) summarized thus:
Update: Michael Cannon may have decided to go a step beyond declining PolitiFact interviews, as I came across a ("full blown') website coincidentally called Boycott PolitiFact which featured his article above and links to the Cato Institute. However, like Politihack Tracker in Texas, it must have been a 2012 New Year's resolution gone bust, as there is not much to it. I'm starting to think about doing a "Bright Stars which burn out the Fastest" section of this page, if this keeps up. (added 7/26/12)I have concluded that the errors in those two fact-checks, plus the fundamental (and rather ironic) error at the heart of PolitiFact’s Lie of the Year award, are serious enough that until PolitiFact addresses them I can no longer serve as a resource for PolitiFact in good conscience. Since January, I have declined maybe four requests for help from PolitiFact reporters, and will politely continue to do so until they address these errors. (added 4/30/11)
There’s PolitiFact’s Fixers at Spectator.org, written in 2009 by Matthew Vadum which sort of kicked things off for PolitiFact bashers.
One of the first reviews on the Eric Ostermeier analysis of PolitiFact rulings (I've made a very in-depth analysis of his article comparing it to my own statistics on PF rulings) concluding with allegations of selection bias was written by Ed Morrissey at the website Hot Air. They also had something to say about "PolitiFact's Biggest Lie."
There’s the conservative Matt Hoy of Hoystory.com (along with my response to something he wrote on PF and "fungibility" way back, and another one where he compared two seemingly conflicted "job-growth"-related PF rulings on Mitt Romney and Adam Hasner). He started tracking how PolitiFact "[didn't] make the case" in 2009. Here's one of his latest in 2012.
More formidably, there's a Time Magazine website blog called “Swampland” taking PolitiFact to task for bias.
Among the well known right-wing pundits, there’s Michele Malkin, who made no bones about telling Lou Jacobson, PF's busiest writer, that PolitiFact was nothing but "opinion journalists who masquerade as neutral arbiters of fact."
Among the well known right-wing pundits, there’s Michele Malkin, who made no bones about telling Lou Jacobson, PF's busiest writer, that PolitiFact was nothing but "opinion journalists who masquerade as neutral arbiters of fact."
EducationNews, a website which describes itself as "A Global Leading News Source covering educational, political, business and environmental issues" published a piece in September, 2010 (authored by Donna Garner) entitled "Who is Behind PolitiFact Truth-O-Meter?". It called the Truth-O-Meter a "farce" as well as "undoubtedly left-leaning"--"What Truth-o-Meter actually does is to nitpick at various statements made by candidates in an attempt to discredit them while at the same time Politifact.com pretends to be a non-prejudicial referee upon whose statements voters can lean." Sounds like they agree with Michele Malkin.
Newsbusters functions as the Media Matters of the right, although it reports any negative PF rulings on prominent Democrats, especially if it supports their own claims.
BigJournalism.com, which appears to be associated with the controversial Andrew Breitbart, the "king" of right-wing websiters, has an interesting critique of PolitiFact's 2010 Lie of the Year. [Added 7/17/2011]
National Review’s Rich Lawry calls PolitiFact a “discredited, leftist mouthpiece.”
National Review Institute (which appears to be a different website than the National Review above), run by conservative pundit Mona Charen, published what it claims to be a contradiction between Factcheck.org and PolitiFact on abortion, in a section called "Media Malpractice." [Added 7/17/2011].
It seems no matter where PolitiFact goes, there’s someone there accusing it of liberal bias.
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| Biased...left! |
Or, at “Blog New Jersey” otherwise known as blog.nj, we have this opinion from one Paul Mulshine:
"Critics on the national level have long charged that PolitiFact has a pronounced liberal bias, that it picks up on minor conservative miscues and ignores big blunders by liberals. That seems to be the case judging from the piece I read the other day." [added 12/8/11]
There’s also a lot of blogs such as this one called “The Iconic Midwest” which is graphically presented in much the same awful, difficult to read way as Jeff Dybert’s BNV.
Finally, PolitiFact Bias, which is a joint effort of Bryan White of Sublime Bloviations (SB) and Jeff Dyberg of “Bewz, Newz ‘n’ Vewz” (BNV). While BNV is a sloppily done, short sighted (and perhaps short-lived) website filled with Dyberg’s protesting too much of liberal hypocrisy , SB, as is shown by the many write-ups on my blog, is a truly useful conservative compendium of commentary. On the other hand, if PolitiFact is the Media Matters of fact-checkers, SB is the Fox News of checking the fact-checkers.
The PFB Anecdote-O-Meter is PolitiFact Bias’s link listing to Sublime Bloviations "Grading PolitiFact" series of responses to/critiques of many of PolitiFact’s rulings (approximately 150+ as of the end of June, 2011). But as my blog has analyzed some of his posts and found a few to be true, but most to be wanting, there's not only just a tag (Lil White Lies) where you can link to read them, but a page called the Grading PolitiFact Review Roll with a descriptive list you can read over and link to any review which interests you.
PolitiFact Detractors: Liberals...
...who say PolitiFact has a Conservative bias!
PolitiFact detractors who are liberal and consider PolitiFact biased right or at least pandering to the right to appear non-partisan got a considerable boost to this view by PolitiFact's 2011 Lie of the Year. You can go to my post done early in January which contains at least 20 links in alphabetical order to most of the various articles and posts. Some are actually ones from conservatives. [added 1/20/12]
Sam Seder at Majority Report makes his case on how "PolitiFact Becomes Not-So-Fact."
Other than PolitiFact's 2011 Lie of the Year, the liberal side isn’t quite as noisy as the conservative, but they still complain of errors and bias by PolitiFact. While some say that PolitiFact is like a fact-checking Media Matters, Media Matters itself does publish some items critical of PolitiFact. There are many more at the link, but this sampling of titles should clearly convey Media Matters’ opinion:
Other than PolitiFact's 2011 Lie of the Year, the liberal side isn’t quite as noisy as the conservative, but they still complain of errors and bias by PolitiFact. While some say that PolitiFact is like a fact-checking Media Matters, Media Matters itself does publish some items critical of PolitiFact. There are many more at the link, but this sampling of titles should clearly convey Media Matters’ opinion:
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| Biased...right! |
--(Some) Facts Checked (which sounds like selection bias? 7/12/10)
--So who's going to fact-check PolitiFact? (12/21/09) [added 5/5/11]
--So who's going to fact-check PolitiFact? (12/21/09) [added 5/5/11]
A project of Media Matters called "Political Correction" fact-checks statements made on the Sunday political news shows like "Meet the Press." It uses its own analysis gleened from sources such as the CBO, and other fact-checkers like PolitiFact and FactCheck.org. Because Media Matters is a liberal-progressive website, I'm not including it under "Other Fact Checkers." (added 11/8/11)
Uppity Wisconsin.org, for “Progressive News from the Cheddarsphere”, has an entire section devoted to PolitiFact rulings. I wrote about its critic Jed Lounsbury's efforts in February. Here’s some similar Media-Matters-type by-lines from them:
--PolitiFact Can't See the Forest for the Trees (6/12/11) responding to a PolitiFact ruling of Mostly True on a statement by the largest business group in Wisconsin on the potential income from an iron ore mine. [added 6/17/11]
--Tax Cuts don’t cost Money? Huh? PolitiFact Flunks Economics (1/26/11)
--PolitiFact Can't See the Forest for the Trees (6/12/11) responding to a PolitiFact ruling of Mostly True on a statement by the largest business group in Wisconsin on the potential income from an iron ore mine. [added 6/17/11]
--Tax Cuts don’t cost Money? Huh? PolitiFact Flunks Economics (1/26/11)
--Maddow is a Must-See for Wisconsin Context (2/26/11)….on “Her low-key refutation of the national Politifact operation, which gave her a "false" reading for a… statement she dramatically demonstrates she didn't make…”
"PolitiFact Goes Right" proclaims the blog Somersplace with a detailed explanation similar to the four writers below, all on the same topic of RyanCare. [Added 5/2/11]
--Journal Sentinel’s PolitiFact has a clear GOP Bias (9/22/10)...this one included the cartoon displayed at the top of this page.
--WisFactCheck Gives PolitiFact a "Pants on Fire" for "Claiming that Sen. Taylor's Criticism of Walker's Job Growth Was False" (5/9/11) and begins with "Another day, another outrageous claim from right-leaning PolitiFact." [added 8/23/12]
The “Official Site of Milwaukee Magazine” called Inside Milwaukee, told readers that, in regard to PolitiFact’s fact-checking investigations (PolitiFact Wisconsin), “leaders of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin say they will no longer respond to inquiries from the fact-checking operation’s reporters” because they claim there is “persistent (Republican) bias.” [Added 6/17/11]
A website called Blue Virginia published a very detailed analysis proclaiming a PolitiFact Barely True rating as Barely True...or should that be Mostly False? Or just an "F"? [Added 7/6/11]
Nicole Belle, a writer for Crooks and Liars, another liberal political website, took exception to the same PolitiFact ruling on Rachelle Maddow that Uppity Wisconsin did above, concerning a statement she made about Wisconsin’s budget woes. Her article (dated 2/25/11) was entitled “Just ‘Cuz You Have ‘Fact’ in Your Name doesn’t mean You’re Telling the Truth.” A blogger at Wordpress has a done a nice writeup in regard to this as well.
The Daily Kos is a liberal website which publishes infrequent criticisms of PolitiFact such as one by Kaili Joy Gray, which begins "Fulfilling its weekly quota of unbelievably stupid conclusions, PolitiFact birngs us this gem...." [Added 8/23/12]
Chris Mooney of Desmogblog "tested" the WaPo Pinnochio-Meter (not the Truth-o-Meter, but he makes mention of it as well) and concluded that there’s even “More Evidence that Republicans are more factually challenged” and that “there has to be an explanation.” So, what is it? He suggests a few possibilities. [Added 7/11/12]
The Left Call, which has a byline of "We don't break the news; it's already broken" stated that PolitiFact's 2011 Lie of the Year "illustrates...the media's over-reaction to charges of media bias." [Added 8/23/12]
No Politi-whats(?), it’s just a blog called XBeyondX with a Milwaukee-resident writer who charges PolitiFact Wisconsin not just with “bad methodology” but with a “bias and shoddiness” that only serves to “tarnish the good name of PolitiFact.” Note, that's three pieces he's written; I've published a response to two of his reviews of PF rulings, one which was shared with Uppity Wisconsin.
--WisFactCheck Gives PolitiFact a "Pants on Fire" for "Claiming that Sen. Taylor's Criticism of Walker's Job Growth Was False" (5/9/11) and begins with "Another day, another outrageous claim from right-leaning PolitiFact." [added 8/23/12]
The “Official Site of Milwaukee Magazine” called Inside Milwaukee, told readers that, in regard to PolitiFact’s fact-checking investigations (PolitiFact Wisconsin), “leaders of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin say they will no longer respond to inquiries from the fact-checking operation’s reporters” because they claim there is “persistent (Republican) bias.” [Added 6/17/11]
A website called Blue Virginia published a very detailed analysis proclaiming a PolitiFact Barely True rating as Barely True...or should that be Mostly False? Or just an "F"? [Added 7/6/11]
Nicole Belle, a writer for Crooks and Liars, another liberal political website, took exception to the same PolitiFact ruling on Rachelle Maddow that Uppity Wisconsin did above, concerning a statement she made about Wisconsin’s budget woes. Her article (dated 2/25/11) was entitled “Just ‘Cuz You Have ‘Fact’ in Your Name doesn’t mean You’re Telling the Truth.” A blogger at Wordpress has a done a nice writeup in regard to this as well.
The Daily Kos is a liberal website which publishes infrequent criticisms of PolitiFact such as one by Kaili Joy Gray, which begins "Fulfilling its weekly quota of unbelievably stupid conclusions, PolitiFact birngs us this gem...." [Added 8/23/12]
Chris Mooney of Desmogblog "tested" the WaPo Pinnochio-Meter (not the Truth-o-Meter, but he makes mention of it as well) and concluded that there’s even “More Evidence that Republicans are more factually challenged” and that “there has to be an explanation.” So, what is it? He suggests a few possibilities. [Added 7/11/12]
The Left Call, which has a byline of "We don't break the news; it's already broken" stated that PolitiFact's 2011 Lie of the Year "illustrates...the media's over-reaction to charges of media bias." [Added 8/23/12]
No Politi-whats(?), it’s just a blog called XBeyondX with a Milwaukee-resident writer who charges PolitiFact Wisconsin not just with “bad methodology” but with a “bias and shoddiness” that only serves to “tarnish the good name of PolitiFact.” Note, that's three pieces he's written; I've published a response to two of his reviews of PF rulings, one which was shared with Uppity Wisconsin.
"PolitiFact Goes Right" proclaims the blog Somersplace with a detailed explanation similar to the four writers below, all on the same topic of RyanCare. [Added 5/2/11]
Steve Benen of the Washington Monthly (which appears to be a sort of counter to the conservative Washington Examiner) headlines his criticism "When PolitiFact Becomes PolitiFalse." (added 4/30/11)
“PolitiFact has Pants on Fire in their rating of Democratic Claims about Medicare” says David Dayen of FireDogLake, a "a U.S. collaborative blog which primarily specializes in covering news from a left-progressive/left-liberal stance." (added 4/30/11)
Jane Hamsher at FireDogLake makes her case that PolitiFact is wrong about finding Jon Stewart’s claim False that Fox Viewers are consistently misinformed. (added 8/15/11)
Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo (TPM): “Knowledge Counts”-- “This is why Republicans are spinning this issue [Republican Paul Ryan's proposal for drastically changing Medicare] so hard and bamboozling folks at places like Politifact.” (added 4/30/11)
“PolitiFact has Pants on Fire in their rating of Democratic Claims about Medicare” says David Dayen of FireDogLake, a "a U.S. collaborative blog which primarily specializes in covering news from a left-progressive/left-liberal stance." (added 4/30/11)
Jane Hamsher at FireDogLake makes her case that PolitiFact is wrong about finding Jon Stewart’s claim False that Fox Viewers are consistently misinformed. (added 8/15/11)
Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo (TPM): “Knowledge Counts”-- “This is why Republicans are spinning this issue [Republican Paul Ryan's proposal for drastically changing Medicare] so hard and bamboozling folks at places like Politifact.” (added 4/30/11)
And Brian Beutler at Talking Points Memo makes a mild claim, “PolitiFact Insists Republicans Don't Want To End Medicare”. (added 4/30/11)
Cinematical, a writer at the liberal website Daily Kos, came up with his own Politi-Score calculated somewhat differently than mine. Of course, nowhere did I see the word “selection bias” as in the similar exercise done by Eric Ostermeier at Smart Politics. More recently, “Hunter” at the Daily Kos claimed in January, 2012, that PolitiFact may have published a ruling that “may be the single most ridiculous ruling among PolitiFact's growing history of ridiculous rulings."
Here’s another very early PF ruling count analysis from 2009 from the Daily Kos, appearing to use those ubiquitous Excel screen-snips that are the core of my own analysis, by WizKid, as a basis of trying to show Democrats are more truthful than Republicans. [Added 7/13/2011]
And other than Rachel Maddow, there are others like Ariana Huffington who wrote that PolitiFact “embrace[d] equivocation” in the Huffington Post, awarding her a Half True ruling last year. Although she says PolitiFact is not truthful, she does not call it biased.
Finally, here is a list of my ruling-by-ruling responses to the blog Sublime Blovations and its series called "Grading PolitiFact" called "Grading PolitiFact Liberal Style." It uses the same methods but it's done with a PolitiFact-is-conservatively-biased bias, without the harsh grades and caustic invective.
Here’s another very early PF ruling count analysis from 2009 from the Daily Kos, appearing to use those ubiquitous Excel screen-snips that are the core of my own analysis, by WizKid, as a basis of trying to show Democrats are more truthful than Republicans. [Added 7/13/2011]
And other than Rachel Maddow, there are others like Ariana Huffington who wrote that PolitiFact “embrace[d] equivocation” in the Huffington Post, awarding her a Half True ruling last year. Although she says PolitiFact is not truthful, she does not call it biased.
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| Did you notice it's the "donkey" saying that? More liberal bias! |
PolitiFact Detractors: Non-Partisan?
Then there's a few places you can't really call conservative or liberal that have published some interesting criticisms of PolitiFact. Here's a sampling, although I'm sure there are more:
According to a fairly lengthy article on fact-checkers in USA Today by Martha Moore, with the exception of PolitiFact's Pants on Fire category (and maybe even the Washington Post Fact Checker's Four Pinnochios), most fact-checkers "stop short of calling anyone a liar." [added 3/29/2012].
Dan Kennedy of the Huffington Post (although some might call it liberal) writes that the "problem" with PolitiFact has not to do with alleged bias but with "supply and demand": because of the "finite supply" of facts, fact-checkers are "shifting from judging facts to indulging in opinion." [added 7/1/2012]
David Brauer at the “MinnPost” writes an interesting comparison of PolitiFact and the Minnesota PoliGraph, with a few words about Eric Ostermeier’s infamous study on PolitiFact's "selection bias". [added 7/12/2012]
Andrew Phelps of thee Nieman Journalism Lab website followed PolitiFact around for a couple days and watched how it reached its decisions for rulings, and published a somewhat flattering article called "Inside the Star Chamber: How PolitiFact Forges Truth in the World of Make Believe." [added 8/23/2012]
Glenn Greenwald, at what is also considered a liberal website Salon, mounts a blistering attack on PolitiFact as that “Beacon of Bias-Free Objectivity”—although his piece only looks at one ruling on Republican Ron Paul concerning homeland security, which he argues should be a “True” because the experts PolitiFact consulted were known neo-conservative ideologues. [added 12/8/11]
A contributor to the "Projo" Providence Journal (which has its own PolitiFact fact-checking team for local Rhode Island politics) by the name of Bill Felkner has written his own critical, well-detailed, even-handed essay on a singular PolitiFact ruling, called “In Attack on Us, PolitiFact got its own facts wrong.” You can also read PolitiFact Bias’ take on it here. The “Us” being attacked is OSPRI, the Ocean State Policy Research Institute. PolitiFact ruled their statement from January, that “Rhode Island's estate tax is the most significant reason people leave the state” was False. [added 5/1/11]
The Columbia Journalism Review has an interesting piece called "Testing the Truth-o-Meter" by Joel Meares. In this one, he has a conversation with Bill Adair, PolitiFact's Editor, who offers a candid admission: "The tradeoff...is that sometimes complexity doesn’t fit neatly into our six ratings.” However, Meares concludes that the Truth-o-Meter "does not act in isolation—it is bolstered by solid, transparent reporting, and through its very webby and gimmicky reductiveness draws attention to that more substantive reporting." [Added 4/25/11]
Mediaite is a media-analysis website founded and run by former MSNBC-er/NBC legal analyist Dan Abrams (which means it could be liberal but it's hard to say) whose writer Noah Rothman published a piece on a PolitiFact ruling on a statement by Senator Harry Reid which was found Pants on Fire even though it could be true, which led Rothman to say "fact-checking can sometimes be a subjective exercise." [Added 8/23/12]
The Providence Phoenix' David Scharfenberg takes another criticism by William Jacobson of the blog Legal Insurrection to task, finding his review "less than persuasive" but concludes this is "not the best use of PolitiFact's time", on a statement by Kenneth McKay, who was running for chairman of the Rhode Island Republican Party.
According to a fairly lengthy article on fact-checkers in USA Today by Martha Moore, with the exception of PolitiFact's Pants on Fire category (and maybe even the Washington Post Fact Checker's Four Pinnochios), most fact-checkers "stop short of calling anyone a liar." [added 3/29/2012].
Dan Kennedy of the Huffington Post (although some might call it liberal) writes that the "problem" with PolitiFact has not to do with alleged bias but with "supply and demand": because of the "finite supply" of facts, fact-checkers are "shifting from judging facts to indulging in opinion." [added 7/1/2012]
David Brauer at the “MinnPost” writes an interesting comparison of PolitiFact and the Minnesota PoliGraph, with a few words about Eric Ostermeier’s infamous study on PolitiFact's "selection bias". [added 7/12/2012]
Andrew Phelps of thee Nieman Journalism Lab website followed PolitiFact around for a couple days and watched how it reached its decisions for rulings, and published a somewhat flattering article called "Inside the Star Chamber: How PolitiFact Forges Truth in the World of Make Believe." [added 8/23/2012]
Glenn Greenwald, at what is also considered a liberal website Salon, mounts a blistering attack on PolitiFact as that “Beacon of Bias-Free Objectivity”—although his piece only looks at one ruling on Republican Ron Paul concerning homeland security, which he argues should be a “True” because the experts PolitiFact consulted were known neo-conservative ideologues. [added 12/8/11]
A contributor to the "Projo" Providence Journal (which has its own PolitiFact fact-checking team for local Rhode Island politics) by the name of Bill Felkner has written his own critical, well-detailed, even-handed essay on a singular PolitiFact ruling, called “In Attack on Us, PolitiFact got its own facts wrong.” You can also read PolitiFact Bias’ take on it here. The “Us” being attacked is OSPRI, the Ocean State Policy Research Institute. PolitiFact ruled their statement from January, that “Rhode Island's estate tax is the most significant reason people leave the state” was False. [added 5/1/11]
The Columbia Journalism Review has an interesting piece called "Testing the Truth-o-Meter" by Joel Meares. In this one, he has a conversation with Bill Adair, PolitiFact's Editor, who offers a candid admission: "The tradeoff...is that sometimes complexity doesn’t fit neatly into our six ratings.” However, Meares concludes that the Truth-o-Meter "does not act in isolation—it is bolstered by solid, transparent reporting, and through its very webby and gimmicky reductiveness draws attention to that more substantive reporting." [Added 4/25/11]
Mediaite is a media-analysis website founded and run by former MSNBC-er/NBC legal analyist Dan Abrams (which means it could be liberal but it's hard to say) whose writer Noah Rothman published a piece on a PolitiFact ruling on a statement by Senator Harry Reid which was found Pants on Fire even though it could be true, which led Rothman to say "fact-checking can sometimes be a subjective exercise." [Added 8/23/12]
The Providence Phoenix' David Scharfenberg takes another criticism by William Jacobson of the blog Legal Insurrection to task, finding his review "less than persuasive" but concludes this is "not the best use of PolitiFact's time", on a statement by Kenneth McKay, who was running for chairman of the Rhode Island Republican Party.
“Reason provides a refreshing alternative to right-wing and left-wing opinion magazines by making a principled case for liberty and individual choice in all areas of human activity.” It is actually a libertarian website, but one of the website's blogs by Peter Suderman describes PolitiFact’s Lie of the Year for 2010—that “Obamacare” is a government takeover of healthcare—as what I’ve been saying all along, that government takeover is just another Republican reductio ad absurdum argument. Its "the-whole-show" conclusion is “So no, it’s not a gub’mint takeover. It’s just pretty damn close.”
Time Magazine's website has a conservative blog called "Swampland" described in the conservative PolitiFact detractors, but also has an Entertainment section which published a fairly positive review of PolitiFact on the limits of fact-checking, written by James Poniewonic. [Added 8/23/12]
"The US Report" which describes itself as "commentary" on "congress, government, military and lifestyles" did this very even-handed synopsis of one of PolifiFact's rulings (although I suspect they are conservative).
The website The Daily Beast has also jumped on the PolitiFact scoring bandwagon complimented with a gallery pictorial 1 to 10 ranking review of what it describes as the “Most Ignorant Politicians.” I beg to differ with that, as I believe those that are listed may just be dumb…like a fox, as they say. Here is my review of its ranking methodology and how it compares to the Politi-Score. Although the list, which includes Democrats Howard Dean, Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi, appears to be non-partisan, I believe it may lean liberal because of its association with Newsweek Magazine. [added 5/22/11]
Andrew Sullivan, also with the Daily Beast (with a logo of “The Dish—Biased and Balanced”) did a compilation of PolitiFact rulings contributed by somebody (like me) he did not link, who he said had “too much time on his hands.” (Ha ha!) While the charts are well done, nothing tells the story like the overall Truth Index, which is not included. [added 7/13/2012]
"Thales" with Yahoo's Associated Content has written several posts critical of PolitiFact's methodology and "misuse of its rankings" although I would not say he (or she) is left or right-leaning. [Added 10/20/2011].
This down and dirty review of 13 "Mostly True" PolitiFact rulings done by me (who leans Democrat but considers herself a fiscal conservative) I consider to be non-partisan , since I took both sides to task in evaluating the rulings. This is the start of an analysis of rulings on "numbers" claims to see if PolitiFact is treating both Democrats and Republicans the same. These rulings, so far, indicate they probably do.
Here is a review of six (6) "Half True" PolitiFact (number-related) rulings, which show how PolitiFact kind of gets itself into trouble with statements where the evidence supporting it is lacking or contradictory, as well as incorporating another fact-checking website's rating scale just for kicks. [Added 4/29/11]
The website The Daily Beast has also jumped on the PolitiFact scoring bandwagon complimented with a gallery pictorial 1 to 10 ranking review of what it describes as the “Most Ignorant Politicians.” I beg to differ with that, as I believe those that are listed may just be dumb…like a fox, as they say. Here is my review of its ranking methodology and how it compares to the Politi-Score. Although the list, which includes Democrats Howard Dean, Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi, appears to be non-partisan, I believe it may lean liberal because of its association with Newsweek Magazine. [added 5/22/11]
Andrew Sullivan, also with the Daily Beast (with a logo of “The Dish—Biased and Balanced”) did a compilation of PolitiFact rulings contributed by somebody (like me) he did not link, who he said had “too much time on his hands.” (Ha ha!) While the charts are well done, nothing tells the story like the overall Truth Index, which is not included. [added 7/13/2012]
"Thales" with Yahoo's Associated Content has written several posts critical of PolitiFact's methodology and "misuse of its rankings" although I would not say he (or she) is left or right-leaning. [Added 10/20/2011].
This down and dirty review of 13 "Mostly True" PolitiFact rulings done by me (who leans Democrat but considers herself a fiscal conservative) I consider to be non-partisan , since I took both sides to task in evaluating the rulings. This is the start of an analysis of rulings on "numbers" claims to see if PolitiFact is treating both Democrats and Republicans the same. These rulings, so far, indicate they probably do.
Here is a review of six (6) "Half True" PolitiFact (number-related) rulings, which show how PolitiFact kind of gets itself into trouble with statements where the evidence supporting it is lacking or contradictory, as well as incorporating another fact-checking website's rating scale just for kicks. [Added 4/29/11]
AND lastly, a review of four "Barely True" PolitiFact rulings which resulted in my asking: Isn't Barely True more like Mostly False? It seems that way when you read the rulings. I should note, a month or two later, PolitiFact changed the Barely True to Mostly False. [Added 5/14/11 and updated 8/23/11]
Other Fact-Checkers and State-to-State (scroll down)
Factcheck.org is the best known and most respected fact-checking counterpart to PolitiFact. Click here for a comparison of recent PolitiFact rulings with reviews of the same claims by Factcheck.org. Click here for a comparison on healthcare claims.
Snopes.com is mentioned in the above review (along with a pic of its liar-meter), although they check more "urban myths" and over-the-top claims not in the political arena.
The Fact Checker is featured at the Washington Post (Glenn Kessler) with a "Gepett-O-Meter" ("pinnochio noses" measuring truth, like PolitiHack Tracker).
Check A Fact has the by-line "You deserve the truth. We'll help you check it out." It is an excellent resource website featuring links to PolitiFact and Snopes and other sources of information. [Added 7/19/11]
Just Facts is a "fact" website founded and run by libertarian James Agresti, and the facts it has seem to be those which respond to liberal talking points, or defend conservative ones. But it is well documented and presented. [Added 8/22/12]
Truthorfiction.com is a website a bit like Snopes where you can subscribe and “[be] among the first to know about new eRumors, viruses, Internet hoaxes.” It has a “Politics/Politicians” tab, where, for example, there’s a 46-point-by-point rebuttal of “Obama Lies” it says were “circulated” during his presidential run in 2008. [Added 8/23/11]
WikiFactCheck is a project started in 2011 inspired by Wikipedia "to provide rapid, crowd-sourced fact checking of news events and verification of factual data." [Added 5/3/12]
The following are state/regional specific fact-checkers, with the PolitiFact links included. As I find out about more regional or local fact-checking websites, they will be added.
The Fact Checker is featured at the Washington Post (Glenn Kessler) with a "Gepett-O-Meter" ("pinnochio noses" measuring truth, like PolitiHack Tracker).
Check A Fact has the by-line "You deserve the truth. We'll help you check it out." It is an excellent resource website featuring links to PolitiFact and Snopes and other sources of information. [Added 7/19/11]
Just Facts is a "fact" website founded and run by libertarian James Agresti, and the facts it has seem to be those which respond to liberal talking points, or defend conservative ones. But it is well documented and presented. [Added 8/22/12]
Truthorfiction.com is a website a bit like Snopes where you can subscribe and “[be] among the first to know about new eRumors, viruses, Internet hoaxes.” It has a “Politics/Politicians” tab, where, for example, there’s a 46-point-by-point rebuttal of “Obama Lies” it says were “circulated” during his presidential run in 2008. [Added 8/23/11]
WikiFactCheck is a project started in 2011 inspired by Wikipedia "to provide rapid, crowd-sourced fact checking of news events and verification of factual data." [Added 5/3/12]
The following are state/regional specific fact-checkers, with the PolitiFact links included. As I find out about more regional or local fact-checking websites, they will be added.
Alabama: Alabama has it's own fact-checking site called "Bama Fact Check" (put an "O" at the front and it's a whole different animal!) which is a "partnership of statewide news organizations." [Added 7/19/11]
Arizona. AZFactcheck 11 has a lead byline of “Keeping Arizona Honest” on a website called AzCentral or Arizona’s Home Page. They use a “star” system for their fact checking system going from No Stars for “unsupported” to four stars for “True.” This one actually appears as a new feature, started May 2, 2011, of other fact-checkers called “Beyond the Truth-o-Meter” on the PolitiFact website. [added 5/6/11]
California (San Diego). This Fact-Checker is done in cooperation with the local NBC-TV affiliate. The Truth-O-Meter designations are an improved version of the WaPo's Pinnochios, with one that looks like Abe Lincoln for "True" and for "Pants on Fire" Pinnochio's nose breaks off with the descriptor "Huckster Propaganda." [Added 7/19/11]
Florida. PolitiFact and the Miami Herald.
Florida (Orlando) The Malarkey Meter is a fact-checking service of the Taking Names column of Scott Maxwell of the Orlando Sentinel. There's also a Jacksonville wing of Fact-Checking with Carole Fader. She uses PolitiFact rulings to support items she checks, which often appear to be in response to e-mails she receives.
Georgia. PolitiFact and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Michigan. In 2011, a political fact-checking website made its debut called The Truth Squad with the message "Help us blow the whistle on false and misleading Michigan political speech in 2011." If this site turns out not to be an ongoing concern beyond 2011, it will be removed. [Added 7/19/11]
Minnesota. PoliGraph is a fact-checking feature of Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) News. It uses a simple “Accurate-False-Misleading-Inconclusive” graphic to represent its “ruling” on statements by Minnesota politicos. It’s very similar in the methodology of its reviews to PolitiFact, and is also a featured fact-checker of “Beyond the Truth-o-Meter.” [Added 5/6/11]
Nevada (Reno). The Fact-Checker of the Reno Journal-Gazette cross references (and quotes) other fact-check sources like PolitiFact and FactCheck.org, and does both local and national fact-checks. [Added 7/20/11]
Ohio. PolitiFact and the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Oregon. PolitiFact and the Portland Oregonian.
New Hampshire. This PolitiFact branch was started in mid-2011, in affiliation with the Nashua Telegraph. It began as a sort of extension of PolitiFact National in conjuntion with the Nashua Telegraph, Valley News and New Hampshire Public Radio, covering the Republican primaries. It took a brief hiatus when it was clear Mitt Romney was the nominee, and then began to publish rulings again, but of a local nature like the other PolitiFact regions.
New Jersey. PolitiFact and the Newark Star-Ledger.
Rhode Island. PolitiFact and the Providence Journal, also known as "Projo (PolitiFact)."
Tennessee. PolitiFact has a joint effort between the Memphis Commercial Appeal and the Knoxville News Sentinel which began in early 2012.
Texas. PolitiFact and the Austin American-Statesman.
Utah. Utah has a well-kept blog called Fact Check Utah which it states "is an effort by Utah Citizens to report on the truthfulness of our state’s Representatives and Senators on the national stage, our Governor, and other state leaders, and even your local Mayors and City Councilmen." Don't know if PolitiFact could partner with them. [Added 7/19/11]
Vermont. PolitiFact New Hampshire covers Vermont through the Valley News, a "family-owned daily covering the Upper Valley region of New Hampshire and Vermont, which includes Dartmouth College and the communities of Hanover, Lebanon and Claremont." [Added 7/20/11]
Virginia. PolitiFact and the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Washington. Beginning in 2011 the Seattle Times started a fact-checker called the "Truth Needle" featuring the landmark Space Needle as its Truth-o-Meter. [Added 8/19/11]
