Do you trust the truth squads?
An article in the Christian Science Monitor reports that media truth squads are hard at work trying to gauge the accuracy of the presidential candidates’ campaigns claims.
To show how difficult that challenge is the article notes that:
“A recent Gallup poll shows that the public’s view of media coverage of Palin depends greatly on partisan affiliation. A majority of Republicans - 54 percent - say the coverage has been unfairly negative, while only 29 percent of independents and 18 percent of Democrats feel that way. So it is through that filter that voters will assess fact-checking.”
The article mentions FactCheck.org and PolitiFact.com as two online sites analyzing the candidates’ claims — and calling them out on falsehoods.
Have any of you visited these sites and do you trust what they tell you is true?
Have you found better sites for assessing what’s true and what’s false this campaign season?
FactChecko.org describes itself: “We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit, ‘consumer advocate’ for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. We monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases. Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.”
PolitiFact.com describes itself: “PolitiFact is a project of the St. Petersburg Times and Congressional Quarterly to help you find the truth in the presidential campaign. Every day, reporters and researchers from the Times and CQ will analyze the candidates’ speeches, TV ads and interviews and determine whether the claims are accurate. “
Steve Parker is the deputy managing editor for news, and oversees the Post-Dispatch's front page. STLtoday's online news editors are on his newsroom team. Parker has been at the paper since September 1980. 
29% of Independents and 18% of democrats believe Palin is being treated unfairly by the media? Hmmm.
Welcome to the era of spin when a politician is lying if his/her lips are moving.
Steve, I don’t trust anything written by anyone at the PD any longer. The PD has become the most dishonest paper in the country. Their only goal at this point is getting Obama elected even if that means the end of the the print newspaper.Then your readers can go watch Keith Olbermann to fill their void.
If anyone likes to see just how pathetically biased the media is, just check out this website every day. http://www.newsbusters.com
I see that StunnedbyReality and Acentric did not address the content of the article.
I took up the challenge and looked at both sites. Both looked fairly even keel and was willing to take on both sides as fairly and honestly as possible. Both listed times when Senators McCain and Obama were making assertions that were not truthful. Both site also show when maybe there is more “fudge factor” than outright lying.
Sadly, every newspaper needs to be doing this regularly throughout the campaign. Equally sad are the number of people on both sides whose “politics” preclude their ability to consider facts contradictory to their position.
I don’t believe any of the ‘information’ either side puts out.
I get most of my world view from the PD. I just assume that 99% of what they print is from their socialist Canadian owners (based in Davenport, Iowa). So after reading their editorials and obviously biased articles I take the opposite viewpoint.
Works for me.
I think it’s a wonderful thing these web sites are trying to do. I haven’t been able to look at them yet but look forward to doing so. Newspapers by their very nature will not bring unbiased reports to the consumer. Studies of a lot of history and a little journalism will tell you that newspapers were started by wealthy individuals who used them to express their political and moral beliefs. One reads the newspaper they do because they like what they read, hence I haven’t read the print news since the old Globe-Democrat went out of print.
The last truth squad that I trusted was the “Swift Boat Veterans” when they told the truth about John Kerry.