The Most Dishonest Campaign Ever? with Politifact's Katie Sanders

The US election, which takes place the day after this episode releases, has been the most fact-challenged election in recent memory. Compared to, say, four years ago, truth is very much on the run.  Social media platforms, most people’s source of information, have pulled back on flagging falsehoods. In the case of X, the platform’s owner actively solicits and spreads them.

But there are a few hardy organizations that remain dedicated to debunking the most damaging rumors in our civic conversation. One of the most determined is Politifact, run out of the journalism education and research center, Poynter Institute. Politifact’s editor in chief Katie Sanders is a long-time journalist who took an evening away from stemming the tide of falsehood to address my University of Chicago class on disinformation and the election a couple days ago. One thing is sure: The election will end but the lies won’t. You’ll still need a strategy to find your way to the truth, and truth tellers like Politifact will be more needed than ever.

QUESTIONS FOR KATIE SANDERS

1. Could you say it’s a truth o meter statement. The statement that Trump is a fascist. How about Trump shares many of the characteristics of a fascist leader. 
2. When do you permit your own team to use emotionally charged words like fascist. I noticed that Hincliffe’s joke about Puerto Rico was called racist in the PoitiFact story.
3. Origin story. Started well before the Trump era, when political lying was of the garden variety exaggerations and omissions. What was the fact-checking like in those days? 
4. How is this election different fom those days and even the more recent years of 2022 and 2020.  
   1. Russian interference? 
5. How do you decide what to cover. There’s such a torrent of falsehoods to choose from. 
6. Take us through a fact check. Let’s say, to consider one that passed through Politifact recently: 
   1. FEMA gives only $750 to families affected by hurricane, but illegal migrants get credit cards loaded with $3,500. 
   2. What was the rating on that and what does it mean?  
   3. How long does process this take? 
7. Can you use AI to expedite things? 
8. What’s your agreement with Meta and TikTok. Have they pulled back on content moderation? 
9. Have you noticed that AI is increasing the degree of misinformation? 
10. What’s the best advice for someone to navigate this information environment? SIFT? 

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