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Is it a hoax? How to spot bogus claims in email

As the holidays approach, with their inevitable dinner-table debates among friends and extended family, FlackCheck.org has released a short video that can help people sort fact from fiction when considering email and viral social-media claims. In “Spotting Bogus Claims,” FlackCheck.org, the political literacy site, runs down seven key characteristics of bogus email claims. The three-minute

Political Attack Ads and Lincoln’s 1864 Campaign

What would the 1864 presidential campaign have looked like if Abe Lincoln and Gen. George B. McClellan had used today’s deceptive campaign techniques and video attack ads? Lincoln was reelected 150 years ago on Nov. 8, and his campaign against McClellan has been reimagined by the political literacy website FlackCheck.org through a video timeline of ads that use humor, parody, and contemporary deceptive approaches.

Abraham Lincoln

Could Lincoln Be Reelected Today?

Could Lincoln be reelected today? What sort of attack ads might he encounter? What deceptive ads, false claims, and out-of-context quotations might the Illinois Republican face from the likes of Democratic nominee Gen. George B. McClellan and third-party Super PACs? Using a variety of political-campaign techniques, along with parody and humor, FlackCheck.org has reconceived the bruising 1864 campaign in a video timeline.

FlackCheck.org videos receive 2013 Telly Awards

Two FlackCheck.org videos about an imagined 1864 campaign against Abraham Lincoln using today’s technology and methods are the recipients of 2013 Bronze Telly awards: Steamboat Veterans for Truth and Battle Hymn.   The Telly Awards honor excellence in film and video productions, online video content, and local, regional, & cable TV commercials and programs. The

Annenberg Study Finds Wide Variability in Stations’ Fact Checking Practices and Understanding of FCC Regulations

To better understand how local broadcast stations deal with third party ads and fact checking of political content in news and on line, 260 local broadcast television station managers and executives were surveyed from March 26 through June 8, 2012. The 260 included those responsible for stations under corporate ownership and locally owned stations. Because

Cable News Networks Increase Amount and Public Accessibility of Incivility, Annenberg Public Policy Center Study Finds

For Immediate Release March 27, 2012 Contact: Kathleen Hall Jamieson (info@flackcheck.org) Jamieson is Director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, home of FlackCheck.org, a site whose “They said WHAT?” page flags extreme rhetoric of both the left and right and includes a video illustrating these findings.   Background: When the

APPC’s FlackCheck.org Launches “Stand by Your Ad” to Fight Deception in Super PAC and Other Third Party Political Advertising

For Immediate Release: February 21, 2012 Contact: Kathleen Hall Jamieson, 215.898.9400 or kjamieson@asc.upenn.edu Jamieson is director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. Penn’s Annenberg Public Policy Center’s FlackCheck.org Launches “Stand by Your Ad” to Fight Deception in Super PAC and Other Third Party Political Advertising TV and radio stations are

FlackCheck.org launches today

FlackCheck.org, a counterpart to APPC’s award-winning program FactCheck.org, made its official debut today. The website produces original video parodies that debunk false political advertising, poke fun at extreme language, and hold the media accountable for their reporting on political campaigns. Among the newest additions to FlackCheck.org’s growing library of videos are the first two in

FlackCheck.org will use parody and humor to debunk false political advertising

This week the Annenberg Public Policy Center previewed a new project – www.FlackCheck.org– a companion site to its award-winning FactCheck.org that will use parody and humor to debunk false political advertising in the 2012 campaign. FlackCheck.org Director Kathleen Hall Jamieson spoke with ABC, MSNBC, The Washington Post, WHYY, and Minnesota Public Radio about the preview,