Pundit Fact (by the Tampa Bay Times) checks the accuracy of statements and claims by the "talking heads" and pundits that appear on the three cable news networks (candidates and government officials are excluded). The then research those claims and rate them as to their truthfulness. Here is their rating system:
TRUE – The statement is accurate and there’s nothing significant missing.
MOSTLY TRUE – The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information.
HALF TRUE – The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context.
MOSTLY FALSE – The statement contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression.
FALSE – The statement is not accurate.
PANTS ON FIRE – The statement is not accurate and makes a ridiculous claim.
The chart below shows the latest findings of the networks throughout this summer. Once again, Fox News leads all three networks in the false claims they allow, and are last in the claims that were true. CNN has the most true claims and the least false one. MSNBC falls in the middle.But while Fox News is the worst, none of the three networks are as good as they should be in telling the truth, and in confronting false claims.
Yeah, but we are just talking about a subsection of PolitiFact, right? Given their prime directive -- "Never say conservatives are too much worse than liberals!" -- I'm not sure how much I buy it. I rather like the articles that PolitiFact writes -- they are usually very informative. But the ratings are very often ridiculous and have little to do with what their actual analysis shows.
ReplyDeleteBut anyone looking for accuracy on television deserves what they get!
None of the modern newsmen/women practice the ethical journalism of Edward R. Murrow or Bill Moyers anymore. Now we get what the corporations want us to see, and a lot of that is fluff or lies -- very little truth.
ReplyDelete