Truth serum - online fact checking sites for political open season
I get a small sense of satisfaction that I'm doing my part to stanch the lies, rumors and trickery during political open season. Below are some nonpartisan fact checker sites to help you determine fact from fiction. Game on!
FactCheck.org - powered by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, this site is nonpartisan, nonprofit, and aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. It accepts no funding from corporations, unions, political parties, lobbying organizations or individuals.
Politifact.com - has a neat "Truth-O-Meter" so you can see at a glance what's up with the candidate's claims. Content is nicely organized with tabs like "Chain E-Mails," "Flip-O-Meter," (shows candidates position flipping), and "Attack File," which reviews candidate's attacks and discusses their legitimacy or not. It is run by the St. Petersburg Times and Congressional Quarterly to help determine the truth of the respective presidential campaigns.
Fact Checker - a blog from the Washington Post which aims to be a truth squad in the national political debate. Its goal is to shed light on controversial claims involving important national issues and the records of the various presidential candidates.
Snopes.com - a site devoted to dispelling urban legends that also runs a good bit of political fact checking. Try not to let the bad graphics and ads run you off as there's lots of fun content to review.
I didn't include partisan fact checking sites for reasons that I believe are, well - obvious. What are some of your favorite non partisan ones?
