Facts And Friction

There's no such thing, unfortunately, anymore as facts.

-Donald Trump surrogate Scottie Nell Hughes on the Diane Rehm Show, November 30, 2016

Many, many people disagree. America, circa 2017, may be a land of fantastical thinking and “fake news” (whatever that is), but fact checking is big business.

Whether with Truth-O-Meters or Pinocchios — which the president says he doesn’t like — news organizations have become ever-vigilant in monitoring for any sign of fire around political pants. Even Snopes, a website that once mostly dealt in debunking urban legends and bizarre Internet claims, is now a player in serious journalism.

But how do they tell truth from fiction, and claims from opinions? And who fact-checks the fact checkers?

GUESTS

Glenn Kessler, Columnist, “The Fact Checker” for The Washington Post.

David Mikkelson, Founder and CEO of Snopes.com

Yvonne Rolzhausen, Senior editor & head of The Atlantic’s fact-checking department

Michelle Ciulla Lipkin, Executive director of the National Association for Media Literacy Education

For more, visit http://the1a.org.

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