Who woulda thunk it: AP is fact-checking, and it's popular!

[babylonsister]

This to me is fantastic news; I don't care why they're doing it, as long as they're doing it.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/05/who_woulda_thunk_it_fact-check.html#more

Who woulda thunk it: Fact-checking is popular!
Greg Sargent


Has anyone else noticed that the Associated Press has been doing some strong fact-checking work lately, aggressively debunking all kinds of nonsense, in an authoritative way, without any of the usual he-said-she-said crap that often mars political reporting?

I asked AP Washington Bureau Chief Ron Fournier about this, and he told me something fascinating, if not all together unexpected: Their fact-checking efforts are almost uniformly the most clicked and most linked pieces they produce.

Journalistic fact-checking with authority, it turns out, is popular. Who woulda thunk it?

The AP, and Fournier in particular, have taken no shortage of lumps from the left, with some still accusing him of being in the tank for Republicans. That said, it's a fact that the AP has lately done some very aggressive work in knocking down some of the most pernicious misinformation out there, much of it coming from the right.

The AP, for instance, definitively knocked down claims that Elena Kagan is an "ivory tower peacenik." It called out GOP Senators for their bogus "judicial experience" assault.

The AP also did an extensive investigation into Obama's handling of the Gulf spill, and concluded it "shows little resemblance to Katrina." As Steve Benen noted in lauding this effort, the AP definitively debunked a key media narrative as "baseless."

more...

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/05/who_woulda_thunk_it_fact-check.html#more

[Raine1967]

1. This is great but for the life of me I can't understand

how this should even be an issue -- I mean seriously -- IT"S JOURNALISM!

this is where Fact checking should be an automatic assumption!

K&R for this, Babylonsistah!

[zipplewrath]

3. Yup, an integral part of their business

It would be an easy way to get "additonal revenue" out of an existing work product. Kinda like selling a tour of the facility. Very little added cost, with an income stream to boot. All they have to do is structure the fact checking they already do in a way that it can be easily transformed into a public product.

Oh, wait a minute. They are already doing fact checking right?

[Raine1967]

5. Exactly Journalism IS FACT CHECKING...

It goes to show how far away from Journalism the "News" has really become.

I love that we have fact checking sites out there, but it simply should not be needed. I can see having it for things like sunday news shows where it's ALWAYS been about spinning and punditry -- but the news?

Look at media Matters, they have to correct papers like WaPo and the NYT so very often. It's a sad commentary on our society.

[zipplewrath]

7. Cronkite's book

He talked about cutting his teeth as a runner for the newspapers. His entire job was to get all the info correct. Of course, as a runner he was sent to the most mundane places, fires, robberies, etc. So his entire job was to get the right address, spell the cops name correctly, count the number of fire engines, etc. It was invauble to him as he moved up because as he reported on battles in WWII, or politics in the US, he would do the basics like counting ships in port, tanks in battle, troops in the bunker, etc. It made he far more effective as an interviewer because he could quickly identify a guy that was blowing smoke. And that's exactly what happened when he got to 'Nam.

[Jade Fox]

4. When the newspapers started loosing money....

back in the nineties, one of the first groups of people laid off were the low-paid fact checkers. How hard was it to figure out that was a bad idea?

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

9. I'm sure they understood that it was a bad idea.

But they were operating under the old paradigm - get the news out ASAP or your paper becomes irrelevant. Well, they couldn't compete with that in the first place, frankly. Cable news is 24/7 and bloggers can get the scoop out much faster than newspapers - it just took the newspapers about a decade to wrap their minds around this incontrovertible fact.

Now they're finally starting to see that their role can be different and yet even more valuable - don't just report the news, but actually check and write on what's being reported. If time isn't going to be on their side in terms of getting people the latest headlines, they might as well use that time to get beneath the headlines and provide people with the context that they're craving. Essentially, newspapers need to become a daily magazine.

[Jade Fox]

13. Excellent post.....

I hope you are right about the newspapers doing as you describe in your second paragraph. It almost makes me swoon to think about it!

[arcane1]

15. They have to do this to compete with the most popular fact-checker

Jon Stewart :)

[Cha]

10. Stupid move..they're nothing without facts &

it has built to a crescendo.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

6. Who woulda thunk it: Cars With Wheels in order to move. nt

[chill_wind]

11. +1

:-)

[Raine1967]

16. +1 I wish

I was that good at analogies!

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

22. .

:evilgrin:

[Jade Fox]

2. You'd think fact-checking would DEFINE journalism....

That being said, this is very good news.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

8. The AP is finally understanding their role.

Print media might be dead in its current form (killed by bloggers and 24-hour cable news), but I've held for a while now that they would be well served evolving into longer format, more in-depth features on the news of the day, rather than what was currently the standard of just reporting the news. They're finally coming to grips with the idea it seems.

[calimary]

12. I'm glad they do it. And I'm equally glad it's popular!

But the sad part is - this shouldn't be a stand-out feature worth its own little news featurette. It should be the meat & potatoes of EVERY journalist out there. You DO NOT just collect blathering from two opposing sides and stick that on the air as truth and say "that's that. There! Both sides! See? I've been objective!" There's a lot more to it than that. Especially when various spokesmouths out there do nothing but spin and distort.

Mark Twain once said - and it's AP legend: "There are only two forces that can carry light to all the corners of the globe — the sun in the heavens and the Associated Press down here." — Mark Twain, American writer and journalist, Spelling and Pictures, 1906 It's engraved on the plaque on the front of three AP Mark Twain trophies I won in various news competitions when I was in local radio.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

14. I have to say the Chicago Trib seems to be reinventing itself fairly well lately, too.

They're doing much more investigative stuff and deeper reporting than they have in a couple decades. I've subscribed out of habit since the early eighties but recently I've started to enjoy it again.

Now if they'd just dump John Kass and give Eric Zorn a more prominent spot I'd be really happy.

[dccrossman]

17. No WAY

I totally prefer baseless accusations and hyperbolic stories to get my blood ta boilin'!

Facts just get in the way of a good story.





For the too serious: :sarcasm:

K&R

[ljm2002]

18. Excellent news...

...and very encouraging that people are interested in the fact-checking, and that AP has noticed. It will encourage them to keep at it.

If only we can get back to a point where our discourse is not totally polluted by lies, to where we can get some trusted news sources again who strive to be both unbiased and factually correct, then we have a chance to turn things around.

If it's the bottom line that drives them, then it's a no-brainer to continue doing it seeing as how it is a popular feature and the more popular something is, the more ad revenue it generates.

Maybe other news organizations will follow suit. Here's hoping.

K&R

[old mark]

19. What an idea - I hope it catches on with TV!!! nt

[jenmito]

20. K&R. It shouldn't be necessary, but at least it's being done. n/t

[BrklynLiberal]

21. Thank you for this post.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

23. FINALLY!!

God, talk about needing to get back to basics!!

Thanks, babylonsister, this is encouraging. I'm SO glad to see it.

[ItNerd4life]

24. Sorry, don't trust AP's facts. They had 'facts' before that weren't true

so now that they call it 'fact check' it's suddenly true?