Examining the problems with the contemporary fact-checking industry and advancing ideas for fact-checking reform to increase transparency.
August 2, 2021 The authors of "The Facts About Shakespeare" – William Allen Nelson and Ahsley Horace Thorndike, sound like trusthworthy fact-checkers for all things Shakespeare. I was recently directed to an interesting blog post by a pseudonymous blogger who goes by NearCyan titled "Fact-Checking Is Not Easy." In the post, Mr. NearCyan addresses the "very hard problem" that is fact-checking. I found the post to be mostly agreeable. While I encourage you to read Mr. NearCyan's blog for yourself, I will briefly summarize some of the key points of his post before offering my own thoughts on fact-checking reform and sound fact-checking principles. (Note: Returning readers have likely noticed that I use honorifics when referring to living and recently deceased individuals in New Leaf Journal posts, Victor V. Gurbo exempted. Although Mr. NearCyan uses a pseudonym, I saw no reason to diverge from that standard here.) Mr. NearCyan on Fact-Checking Mr. NearCyan listed five difficulties inherent in fact-checking. I encourage you to read his blog in full, but I will summarize the key points below. First, Mr. NearCyan stated that there is "no such thing as an unbiased fact-checker." I mostly agree, but as I will discuss later in the essay, there are ways to guard against interpretive bias in fact-checking. Second, he asserted that even if one assumed arguendo that there is a non-biased fact-checker, the non-biased fact-checker must still decide which content to assess. Mr. NearCyan uses the phrase "someone has to cherry-pick the content." The point holds even if we state, more benignly, that even the least biased and most diligent fact-checker has a finite amount of time and resources. Third, Mr. NearCyan asserts that many people will not trust fact-checking, even if it is done well, or at the very least will not consume good fact-checking. While I agree, my essay will focus on principles for sound fact-checking separate from whether there is a substantial audience…