OK, fact-checking is not an Olympic sport (yet). But the games do inspire their fair share of bombastic claims and fakery — and fact-checkers are close behind. From the science of “cupping” to the speed of Usain Bolt and the more ponderous issue of the economic impact of the Games, check out this fact-checked overview of the Olympics.
Quote of the week
“I think one of the great sins of cable news is that we tend to make everything two-sided. We ask questions like ‘some say,’ or ‘critics will say,’ except that the answer is it’s just not true. And if it’s not true, let’s call it not true.” — Dan Abrams on CNN’s “Reliable Sources”
Why Reported.ly closing down matters
First Look Media has decided to discontinue funding of Reported.ly, a social media reporting and verification outfit. Its travails raise important questions for all those interested in the truthfulness of information on social media. Read about it on Poynter.org.
Front page fact-checking
Africa Check fact-checked scaremongering reports that a medicine against the common cold was banned in France but still available in Senegal. The fact check was wildly popular and made the front page of a Dakar paper.
How a billionaire fooled fact-checkers
A science writer says that even people who aren’t scientists should have seen the trouble behind the claims of Elizabeth Holmes, founder of the now-disgraced Theranos medical company. The clues are here.
Some fact-checking fun
In politics, it seems, it’s always “opposite day.” Watch Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show” monologue as he fact-checks the relationship between U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin.
How to raise a fact-checking child
Two words: Harry Potter. A North Carolina mother and author says the popular book series can help kids understand “what lies upon the surface of the written word is not all there is.”Read it — Harry Potter can help grown-ups too.
Fact-checking the Google Maps Palestine controversy
Did Google really erase Palestine from its maps? Not really. Le Monde’s Decodeurs deconstruct what actually happened.
Great local fact-checking
If you’ve ever wondered where your state’s lottery money goes, read Ballotpedia’s fact check for a lesson in research. And here’s Reboot Illinois’ fact check on an official’s disturbing statement about heroin-related deaths.
Quick fact-checking links
(1) Africa Check gets a lengthy profile on Spain’s El Pais. (2) That totally inappropriate Supergirl poster was totally fake. (3) Is “post-fact” a “smear on the masses”? Maybe. (4) How not to start a fact check. (5) Read what readers are saying after PolitiFact changed its rating on a statement about evolution. (6) Turkish fact-checkers Dogruluk Payi are now publishing some content in English.
The post The Week in Fact-Checking: Olympics and the truth appeared first on American Press Institute.
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