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Senior Citizen Politics
Senior Citizens will Like New Site Monitoring Claims
by Presidential Candidates
Site by CQ and St. Pete Times helps voters uncover
the truth
 Aug.
28, 2007 Senior citizens, an age group well-known for their interest
in politics and their desire for factual political information, will
probably enjoy a new Website that features a truth-o-meter that scores
the truthfulness of specific claims by the presidential candidates.
The St. Petersburg Times of Florida and
Congressional Quarterly of Washington, D.C. -- two of America's most
trusted, independent newsrooms -- have launched the unique Web site to
help voters separate fact from falsehood in the claims made during the
2008 presidential campaign.
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The official launch date is Tuesday, Sept. 4
although, the site is live now.
The site, called PolitiFact.com, will publish new
findings every weekday on
http://www.politifact.com/, and sources of the information will be
listed for all to see.
"Each election year, citizens across the country
suffer a barrage of campaign rhetoric and lament: 'just gimme the
truth'," said Neil Brown, Executive Editor and Vice President of the St.
Petersburg Times. "Now we'll have a site that separates fact from
fiction."
Journalists and researchers from the Times and CQ
will fact-check the accuracy of many speeches, TV ads, interviews and
other campaign claims and communications.
PolitiFact is bolder than previous journalistic
fact-checking efforts because the editors will make a call, declaring
whether a claim is True, Mostly True, Half True, Barely True, or False.
There is a special category for the most ridiculous claims called "Pants
on Fire."
That may seem risky to many editors, but the
independence and reputation for journalistic excellence of both the St.
Petersburg Times and Congressional Quarterly make this ambitious effort
possible.
"PolitiFact will offer readers the choice of quick
scorecards or longer stories explaining the issues and rulings," said
Mike Riley, senior vice president and editor of CQ Publications. "It
will be driven by an extensive database that allows users to search for
candidates' records of accuracy based on their names, issues, or the
rulings of the 'truth-o-meter'."
PolitiFact journalists will also publish an "attack
file" -- a home for fact-checking the attacks candidates make against
each other. In a world of political bloggers and "independent" political
action committees, attacks don't just come from the candidates
themselves. So PolitiFact will also check out many of the claims that
enter the public discourse via a talk show host, a blogger, or even a
fictional character in a YouTube video.
PolitiFact's lead writer and editor is Bill Adair,
Washington Bureau Chief of the Times. He will work under the direction
of Times government/politics editor Scott Montgomery, himself a CQ
veteran. Items will be researched and written by more than a dozen
members of the award-winning staffs of the Times and CQ.
About the Publishers
The St. Petersburg Times is Florida's largest
newspaper with circulation of 324,899 daily and 430,893 Sunday (ABC
publisher's statement 3/31/07). Considered one of the top ten newspapers
in the country with six Pulitzer Prizes to its name, the Times is one of
the nation's last and largest independents.
www.sptimes.com
With more than 130 reporters, editors and
researchers covering Capitol Hill and Washington, Congressional
Quarterly keeps its readers updated in print and online on a weekly,
daily and real-time basis. CQ's readership includes nearly every member
of Congress as well as Executive Branch officials, leaders in business
and associations, top academic institutions and important media outlets.
www.cq.com
Both CQ and the Times are affiliates of the Times
Publishing Company, which is owned by the Poynter Institute, a center
for journalism education.
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