Over the past several years, PolitiFact has been totally devoted to teasing out the truth and covering themselves in buckets and buckets of glory while doing it. Here’s a quick refresher on some of their most recent achievements:
- ‘HE REALLY DID IT’: Christina Pushaw’s prediction on how Politifact would find a way to rule this DeSantis statement false comes to fruition
- PolitiFact explains ‘why it’s not ‘grooming” for teachers to talk to young kids about gender identity and sexuality behind parents’ backs
- PolitiFact: No, Stacey Abrams didn’t support pulling the MLB All-Star game out of Atlanta
They’ve worked very, very hard for their sterling reputation, and their damn proud of themselves.
And they will not just sit there and let the haters detract from everything they’ve contributed to the public political discourse, thank you very much:
Our reporters have recently faced online harassment. They have our complete support, and we proudly stand by their work. https://t.co/gx8GiVzprZ
— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) June 13, 2022
The actions of these anti-journalism forces are deeply concerning to everyone who cares about the independent practice of fact-finding. Disparagement of individual journalists has become an occupational hazard for PolitiFact’s staff and among journalists at media organizations around the country.
At PolitiFact, we’ve taken steps to help our journalists weather these unfair attacks with their sanity and dignity intact. We remind them that they have the support of our entire fact-checking organization and of our parent organization the Poynter Institute. We help them take breaks from social media to recharge and regroup. We connect them with peers who have suffered the same attacks and persevered. We take additional steps depending on the severity and specifics of each unique situation.
…
Our readers regularly tell us that they believe in what we’re doing. They say they appreciate the research we do to understand the reality of what is happening in our country, and that we help them navigate the nuances of consuming news. They tell us fact-checking is critical to a functioning democracy, and they appreciate that at PolitiFact, the truth matters.
These are the ordinary Americans we’re fact-checking for. And no amount of online harassment or intimidation will stop us.
And then everyone clapped.
This article needs a fact check. It's clearly "missing context".
— Liberty Toad 🇺🇸 (@LibertyToad) June 13, 2022
The missing context is that PolitiFact is absolutely and unequivocally a liberally biased partisan outfit. Maybe Angie left that out because she realized that it’s just understood.
People on the internet called me an incompetent buffoon
FACT CHECK: I am NOT an incompetent buffoon https://t.co/foXayCoQj2 pic.twitter.com/LHEm9OIx1a
— Nate Hochman (@njhochman) June 14, 2022
Heh.
https://t.co/rpOpgGyBNx pic.twitter.com/DvTTQSaYhR
— Doug Powers (@ThePowersThatBe) June 14, 2022
They’re not reporters they’re propagandists paid by left-wing dark money, doing irreparable damage to the institution of journalism.
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) June 13, 2022
Fact Check: COMPLETELY FALSE. Criticism is not harassment.
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) June 14, 2022
See, now that’s a fact-check.
Maybe they should try being honest and do a better job? https://t.co/vV48ZweqWo
— Number 24601 (@karndogs) June 14, 2022
But what fun would that be?
The genre of “journalists who have had their feelings hurt” really needs to go away https://t.co/uCjFYlwpa3
— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) June 14, 2022
Like honestly take it up with your shrink or find a new job — but please spare the readers!
— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) June 14, 2022
Is PolitiFact going to pull a Taylor Lorenz and cry on MSNBC, too?
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