Political Fact Checking: Fact Check Sources

FactCheck.org is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. According to their mission statement, they are "a nonpartisan, nonprofit “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics." Fact Check monitors the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases. Their goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.

PolitiFact is run by the Tampa Bay Times. PolitiFact is an independent fact-checking website that aims to help people find "truth in politics" by monitoring statements from U.S. politician and advocacy groups. PolitiFact won a Pulitzer Prize in 2009 for its coverage of the 2008 Presidential election.

Media Matters is a Liberal swaying fact check source. According to their website, they are "dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. Media." They define "Conservative misinformation" as "news or commentary that is not accurate, reliable, or credible that forwards the conservative agenda."

News Busters is a Conservative swaying fact check source. It is a project of the Media Research Center, which labels itself as an "American Media Watchdog." According to their website, they aim to "expose and combat the Liberal Media bias."

ABC Fact Check determines the accuracy of claims by politicians, public figures, advocacy groups and institutions engaged in the public debate. All verdicts fall into three color-based categories: In The Red, In The Green or In Between - red being a negative ruling, and green being a positive.

The Center for Responsive Politics is a research group that tracks money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy. Open Secrets is nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit. The organization aims to create a more educated voter, an involved citizenry and a more transparent and responsive government.

Project Vote Smart, also called Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in six basic areas: background information, issue positions (via the Political Courage Test), voting records, campaign finances, interest group ratings, and speeches and public statements.

Smart Voter provides voters with comprehensive nonpartisan information about the contests on their ballot in an easy-to-use presentation. Smart Voter also provides a means for candidates to publish information about themselves and their candidacy directly to voters. This service is made possible through partnerships with the League of Women Voters and election officials of various states and local communities around the U.S.

The Washington Post Fact Checker's purpose "is to “truth squad” the statements of political figures regarding issues of great importance, be they national, international or local." They "seek to explain difficult issues, provide missing context and provide analysis and explanation of various “code words” used by politicians, diplomats and others to obscure or shade the truth."