The Week in Fact-Checking: Offbeat

 

Quote of the week
“If you already believe that immigrants are stealing your jobs and your money, you are more likely to nod when Donald Trump says the same thing, even if his face is obscured by the cloud of smoke coming from his flaming pants.” — Elizabeth Renzetti of the Globe and Mail, explaining the concept of motivated reasoning

Fact-checking: It’s not all politics
Just another reminder that there are plenty of other things besides election campaigns that need fact-checking. This week, we have journalists scrutinizing quirky, offbeat topics including…

…bananas
Some people just can’t stop talking about bananas in the European Union debate. The Spectator found some of that talk is just wrong.

…the side of a bus
False messages don’t only just fall from a politician’s mouth. Sometimes, they’re on a bus. The Guardian checks a questionable statement-on-wheels.

…your vacation
Are you adding to the housing shortage by renting out your home on Airbnb? The Voice of San Diego investigates.

…hairspray
And another fact-check on unintended consequences: Are you hurting the environment with your hairspray? FactCheck.org’s SciCheck explains.

…and that ‘Berning’ feeling
Have you seen the recipe for the “Bernie Sanders glowstick”?  Yes, someone is trying to hurt you. A Nebraska reporter fact-checks the recipe’s basic chemistry.

Live fact-checking 
Ojo Publico In Peru fact-checked the presidential debate live. Check it out.

Annotation is the future of fact-checking (maybe) 
Will Climate Feedback’s attempt to “peer review” the world’s climate journalism breathe new life in the hopes that annotation will turbo-power fact-checking? Annotation experts and fact-checkers share pros and cons of the instrument as used specifically for fact-checking. Read about it on Poynter.org.

The Post’s post-fact era
Is the U.S. living in an era of “post-fact” politics? The issue has inspired a cottage industry in media commentary (ICYMI). The latest in this space from Anne Applebaum on The Washington Post.

Fact-check of the week
Africa Day was May 25th; Africa Check celebrated by publishing 5 blunders about the continent (which is not a country, Kanye).

Quick fact-checking news & views
(1) Africa Check is hiring a researcher, deadline June 13 (2) In Sarajevo on Wednesdayfact-checkers from the region held a workshop with producers from some of the best TV fact-checking efforts in Europe (3) ABC colleagues lament the shuttering of the Fact Check unit.

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