Welcome, Redditors. Here’s how to suggest claims from pundits for us to check.
PunditFact is a fact-checking website launched by the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact in 2013. A simple way to think about PunditFact is that we’re just like PolitiFact, except that we mainly focus on the unelected talking heads on television, online and in print. We reached out to Reddit because we want to cast a wide net in our fact-checks.
We’d like to hear about claims that reach a fair number of people but that we might overlook. We are interested in statements about hard news, social issues, culture, business, media, etc. Anything that interests you might interest us.
And we need your eyes and ears.
Use this email link to point us to something you’ve seen or heard.
Here are few tips that will help us follow up on your suggestion:
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Tell us who, what, where and when. Include a link if at all possible.
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A checkable claim asserts a fact, not an opinion. Examples: “This is the largest tax hike we’ve ever seen” — statement of fact. “This is the most excessive tax hike we’ve ever seen” — statement of opinion.
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A checkable claim is one where we can find data to determine the accuracy.
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Pundits are free-standing explainers. They speak through some public channel — obviously traditional media, but also Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc. The main thing is, they aren’t hired by a political party, and they aren’t elected. If in doubt, send it along.
Look for our posts on /r/PunditFact. If we fact-check something you suggested, we’ll send you an email and, if you want, we’ll mail you a PunditFact pen and lanyard.
This is a new approach for us, and we expect to learn as we go. If you want to give us feedback or make a suggestion on our process, email staff writer Jon Greenberg at jgreenberg@politifact.com.
Thank you.