Fact-checking is not what we need

Jonathan

Aug 25, 2024 — 1 min read

Fact checkers are getting a lot of, well-deserved, criticism. But the criticism is missing the forest for the trees. Even if fact checking were done well, it would not provide what voters need. What they need is something that goes beyond individual facts and looks at roll lies, and true-but-misleading statements are being used.

An example of what we need appeared in the NY Times on August 23 under the headline " Trump's Made-Up 'Kamala Crime Wave' ". The column noted that Trump's claims were widely at odds with the facts, but more importantly, it focused on the pattern of lies, the reasons for the lies, that they were racist. Most essential, that it is deliberate and being used as a campaign strategy.

The report wasn't perfect, by any means. The biggest flaw was that it was not labelled "News Analysis" – which is really what it was – but was on the opinion page, authored by Paul Krugman. Good that it was labelled as "racism" – a word not used often in the august NY Times – but "an element of" weakens it.

But, it illustrates what is needed in response to the strategic use of lies, deception, distraction, etc. Fact checking, even if it were done perfectly, is totally inadequate. Tackling the lies one-by-one can be overwhelmed with a 'Gish gallop'. True statements can be used to mislead. But, most importantly, all of it misses the context – which is really what needs to be explained and exposed.

So, let's see more of the big picture of the racist strategy – in News Analysis on Page 1.

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