PolitiFact
| PolitiFact | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | St. Petersburg, Fl. and Washington, D.C. |
| Type: | News Media |
| Affiliation: | Nonpartisan |
| Top official: | Katie Sanders, Editor-in-Chief |
| Founder(s): | Bill Adair and Matthew Waite |
| Year founded: | 2007 |
| Employees: | 26 |
| Website: | Official website |
PolitiFact is a political fact-checking website founded in 2007 with offices in St. Petersburg, Florida and Washington, D.C.. PolitiFact was originally a project of the Tampa Bay Times but was transferred to the Poynter Institute, which owns the newspaper, in 2018.[1] On its website, PolitiFact says that it is focuses "on looking at specific statements made by politicians and rating them for accuracy."
Background
Journalist Bill Adair and news technologist Matthew Waite launched Politifact on August 22, 2007. Adair said he was frustrated about having to report false statements made by politicians, and that this frustration motivated the two to create a site that pointed out these falsehoods.[2] He talked about his frustration in an interview published on the National Press Foundation website in October 2011:[3]
| “ | The epiphany came after the 2004 speech by [former] Sen. Zel Miller (D-GA), who endorsed George W. Bush at the Republican National Convention. He made a lot of claims about John Kerry - particularly about how Kerry had voted on defense bills. He said Kerry was weak on defense because he had voted against a lot of weapon systems. I heard that speech and I thought, 'Well, that's not true. I know how Washington works- the Democrats vote for the Democratic bills, the Republicans vote for the Republican bills and in the process they give each other opportunities to attack [the opposing party] and make these claims.[4] | ” |
Waite helped Adair develop his idea into a proposal for an online database of fact check stories. The Tampa Bay Times, then known as the St. Petersburg Times, backed the idea.[5]
During PolitiFact’s first election season in 2007-2008, it partnered with another news organization then owned by the Poynter Institute, Congressional Quarterly. Writers from CQ contributed stories from 2007 through the end of the 2008 election season. That partnership ended when PolitiFact resumed fact-checking in 2009, and the Poynter Institute sold CQ shortly thereafter.[6][7]
The Poynter Institute acquired PolitiFact in 2018.[1] Poynter released a statement that said PolitiFact's move to Poynter would allow it to "expand its fact-check training and leadership in best practices, and to be engaged in the real time journalism that it teaches."[8]
Staff
- Katie Sanders, Editor-in-Chief[9]
- Aaron Sharockman, Executive director
- Monique Curet, Managing editor
- Rebecca Catalanello, Assistant managing editor
- Miriam Valverde, Assistant managing editor
- Josie Hollingsworth, Audience director
Work and activities
Methodology
PolitiFact explained how it decided which claims to verify:[10]
| “ |
Each day, PolitiFact journalists look for statements to fact-check. We read transcripts, speeches, news stories, press releases, and campaign brochures. We watch TV and scan social media. Readers send us suggestions via email to truthometer@politifact.com; we often fact-check statements submitted by readers. Because we can't feasibly check all claims, we select the most newsworthy and significant ones.[4] |
” |
PolitiFact developed a Truth-o-Meter accuracy scale to judge claims. The scale runs from TRUE to PANTS ON FIRE, with four intermediate ratings that account for degrees of accuracy and missing context.[11]
Editorial positions
PolitiFact describes itself as a "nonpartisan fact-checking website to sort out the truth in American politics."[12] It does not take editorial positions or endorse candidates or policies.
Affiliations
The Poynter Institute acquired PolitiFact in 2018.[1] PolitiFact had, over the years, partnered with a variety of newspapers around the country, including the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Dallas Morning News. PolitiFact had also established relationships with social media platforms like TikTok.[13]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Politifact, "The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter: PolitiFact’s methodology for independent fact-checking," August 14, 2025
- ↑ TampaBay.com, "Background: PolitiFact team," accessed September 15, 2015
- ↑ National Press Foundation, "Just the Facts: An Interview with Bill Adair, Founder and Editor of PolitiFact," October 3, 2011
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ PolitiFact.com, "The truth, 1,000 times," August 21, 2015
- ↑ News on 6, "St. Petersburg Times and CQ Launch PolitiFact.com," accessed September 15, 2015
- ↑ Wall Street Journal, "Roll Call Buys Congressional Quarterly," July 22, 2009
- ↑ Poynter, "Poynter Expands Fact-Checking Franchise by Acquiring PolitiFact.com," February 12, 2018
- ↑ PolitiFact, "Meet the PolitiFact staff," accessed August 28, 2025
- ↑ PolitiFact, "The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter: PolitiFact’s methodology for independent fact-checking," August 14, 2025
- ↑ PolitiFact, "The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter: PolitiFact’s methodology for independent fact-checking," August 14, 2025
- ↑ PolitiFact, "Who Pays For PolitiFact?" accessed August 28, 2025
- ↑ PolitiFact, "The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter: PolitiFact’s methodology for independent fact-checking," accessed August 28, 2025
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