FactCheck.org, the nonpartisan fact-checking site, has introduced a new feature, "SciCheck," to investigate science-based claims in political speech. In a blog post announcing the feature, Eugene Kiely, the director of FactCheck.org, said SciCheck "will focus exclusively on false and misleading scientific claims that are made by partisans to influence public policy."
Institutions of Democracy
FactCheck.org Gets High Marks for State of the Union Coverage
Since President Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday, FactCheck.org’s posts checking claims in the speech and the GOP responses have been republished on sites across the web and shared thousands of times on social media.
Colorado focus group voices concerns about dynasties, interest in Elizabeth Warren
Pollster Peter Hart conducted a focus group with a dozen voters in Aurora, Col., on Jan. 8 for the Annenberg Public Policy Center. Hart, director of APPC's "Voices of the Voters," convened the group just as a new, Republican-controlled Congress takes office and as candidates start emerging for the 2016 election.
New multiplayer game teaches students about the Bill of Rights
PHILADELPHIA — Just in time for Bill of Rights Day (Dec. 15), Annenberg Classroom has released the multiplayer version of a game for middle and high-school students that challenges them to apply their knowledge of the Constitution to everyday legal scenarios. Annenberg Classroom’s “That’s Your Right” game lets students compete against each other online in
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.
FactCheck.org collaborates with U.S. Vote to provide political news to voters
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Vote Foundation (US Vote) and the nonpartisan site FactCheck.org have developed an alliance through which FactCheck.org will provide relevant, timely and accurate political information to voters who create an individual “My Voter Account” on the US Vote website. The project, supported by the Democracy Fund, was created to make it easy for voters to find unbiased, fact-checked news from within their private Voter Accounts.
R.I. Gov. Lincoln Chafee talks about politics in a polarized world
Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee met with students and faculty at the Annenberg School for Communication on Thursday, Oct. 2, and spoke about navigating an increasingly polarized political environment. Chafee, who has been Governor since 2011, previously served as a Republican U.S. Senator representing Rhode Island from 1999-2007. He subsequently became an Independent, and in 2013 announced that he would register as a Democrat.