Sorting out the "truth" may seem a treacherous endeavor in such a politically polarized time. But we believe our journalists can play a greater role as an honest broker for voters bewildered by the barrage of campaign talk.
So in a move rare for a news organization, we're dedicating a team of reporters and researchers to meticulously examine the rhetoric of candidates and their partisans, and then make a call: Is the claim true or not?
You might think such work would be standard journalistic fare. But many news organizations can spend less money and get less grief if their political reporting sticks to stenography and puffery.
It's easier to record the words and claims of competing candidates than to vet their accuracy. It's easier to write about the strategy of using negative advertising than to do the painstaking research to sort out whether the claim is actually true or false.
— Neil Brown, Executive Editor of the St. Petersburg Times, announcing Politifact, a new project to determine whether candidate statements are actually true.
Correction on speeches
Hey there!
Just for clarification, no one spoke at the dinner prior to the start of the program. Both Congressmembers Clarke and Nadler did come by (thanks to both of them) but only had time to work the room and move on to their next events. As a matter of policy, the only non-honoree elected official who was allowed to speak was Senator Schumer. There simply would not have been time for them all!
Thanks for being there!