PolitiFact, which ABC News used to fact check its Sunday morning show, This Week, published its “procedures and principles” for making rulings about the veracity of statements made by “elected officials and others who speak up in American politics.”
As PolitiFact explained on its website Feb. 21, its purpose is to fact-check and “rate” statements. St. Petersburg Times editors and reporters “run” the national PolitiFact and local news organization partners help run the state PolitiFacts.
“We also check claims by groups involved in the discourse — political parties, advocacy groups and political action committees. We check claims by pundits, talk show hosts and columnists. We also examine claims in widely circulated chain e-mails.”
PolitiFact also explained how it chooses which statements to fact check. See the full list of “procedures and principles” here.
See iMediaEthics’ coverage of PolitiFact here.