PolitiFact and WLRN form Florida partnership with statewide public media

Poynter’s PolitiFact, a Pulitzer Prize-winning fact checking media organization, is partnering with WLRN, an award-winning public radio station and digital website serving South Florida, to broadcast and publish PolitiFact content and share it with other public radio stations throughout Florida.

The two media outlets signed a two-year partnership agreement that began May 1.

"PolitiFact’s Truth-O-Meter has been keeping Florida politicians and candidates honest since 2007. We are so excited that WLRN sees the same value in our work as we do, and that so many more Floridians will have access to high-quality information," said PolitiFact Executive Director Aaron Sharockman. 

"WLRN is thrilled to team up with PolitiFact because it shares our core principles of fact−checking journalism: independence, transparency, fairness, thorough reporting and clear writing," said WLRN General Manager John LaBonia.

"It’s an ideal partnership for our WLRN audience on air and on the web because of PolitiFact’s strong journalistic reputation," said WLRN Vice President for News Sergio Bustos.

PolitiFact reports on specific statements made by politicians and rates them for accuracy on its Truth-O-Meter. PolitiFact started in 2007 as an election-year project of the Tampa Bay Times (then named the St. Petersburg Times), Florida’s largest daily newspaper. Since 2018 it has been part of the Poynter Institute, a nonprofit that teaches journalists and journalism around the globe. It reports on specific statements made by politicians and rating them for accuracy.

WLRN, a public radio station with more than 360,000 weekly listeners, serves a South Florida audience that extends from the Florida Keys to Palm Beach, and includes coverage of Miami and Fort Lauderdale. Its reporters cover politics, education, the environment, the Americas and local governments.