Factcheck.org provides a unique service. TV and print news continue to be reluctant to run adwatches and to identify false claims made in candidate speeches and advertising. There's a long debate in the journalist community about whether their job is such or not. Yet, there is a real need for someone who is independent of the parties/candidates to determine whether claims made by candidates are grounded in truth or are misleading in some way. Journalists, pundits, and citizens continually harbor the feeling the candidates lie to us, but it would be nice to know if and when that happens. In terms of dissemination, the Internet saves the day! Although Brooks Jackson was fairly successful in getting the major networks to adwatch some ads, and was able to get some major newspapers to adwatch, it's been a constant struggle. The Internet makes it easy for him to produce articles on the inconsistencies and misleading claims. And, it's easier for voters to read. No longer are those who have access to the Internet beholden to the publication of the adwatches in print or broadcast on TV. If they miss an adwatch, they can log on and catch up on what they've missed. Maybe Annenberg could produce a print newsletter to disseminate the fact checking. Harvard Medical School produces a monthly newsletter on women's health for a small fee, for example. But, the timeliness of the fact checking would be lost in a monthly publication. When the primary cycle is as lightening-paced as this year's is going to be, by the time I received my monthly report from Annenberg in snail mail, the bulk of the primaries would be over! ~JSG
-----Original Message----- From: air-l-admin@aoir.org [mailto:air-l-admin@aoir.org] On Behalf Of Christian Nelson Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2004 9:04 AM To: air-l list Subject: [Air-l] factcheck.org
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completed.) As far as I can tell, this is something new on the Internet, that could really only happen with the Internet. Clearly, this project couldn't get off the ground if it had go to teh expense of distributing its product like a newspaper. And it seems differenet than other Internet political sites, in that it strives to be independent and is independently funded. Am I right about its uniqueness? --Christian Nelson
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