A while back I explained why “fact-checks” such as Politifact should be viewed with suspicion. The “facts” may be no more than the reporter’s opinion dressed up with factual-sounding language.
Here’s another example of Politifact’s ability to contort the truth so it appears false. In this case, the target of Politifact’s disinformation is Rand Paul, as the Washington Examiner’s Mark Hemingway explains:
Here’s what Rand Paul said: “The average federal employee makes $120,000 a year. The average private employee makes $60,000 a year.”
Here are the facts: “Federal civil servants earned average pay and benefits of $123,049 in 2009 while private workers made $61,051 in total compensation, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The data are the latest available.”
Here’s how Politifact rated Rand Paul’s statement: “False.”
Read Hemingway’s entire piece to see what mental gymnastics PolitiFact uses to make a factual statement seem false.
The proliferation of self-proclaimed fact-checks is really not about facts, it’s about marketing. Fact checks give the appearance of rigor without actually requiring it.
When someone says “trust me,” that’s the time to be on guard, including when that someone is a journalist.
Caveat lector.
H/t to Hoystory for pointing this out.