Fact-checking in the Echo Chamber Nation
At a Republican campaign rally a few years ago, I asked one of the attendees how he got his news. "I listen to Rush and read NewsMax," he said. "And to make sure I'm getting a balanced view, I watch Fox." My liberal friends get their information from distinctly different sources — Huffington Post, Daily Kos and Rachel Maddow. To make sure they get a balanced view, they click Facebook links — from their liberal friends. This is life in our echo chamber ... Full Story »
Posted by Fabrice Florin - via Memeorandum, PolitiFact, Huffington Post (Health Care)
It is becoming apparent that one of the major problems in factchecking is funding. It's an unfortunate reality that most of the funding available comes from the right(or center-right) where the excessive weight of special interests takes its toll on the public interest. There is a lot about medicare that needs reform but vouchers are the slow kiss of death and failure to perceive that is a bit like leaving your mother with Dr Kevorkian for a cure. The fact that there was a loony tunes lineup of Republicans with outrageous claims this year makes "the lie of the year" equally outrageous.