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While some organisations have disagreed with the ''Media Bias/Fact Check's'' rating of their political bias,<ref name="WND">{{Cite web |url=https://www.wnd.com/2017/02/phony-baloney-the-9-fakest-fake-news-checkers/ |title=Phony baloney: The 9 fakest fake-news checkers - WND |website=www.wnd.com |language=en-US |access-date=2018-12-02}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170506005825/http://www.dailynewsbin.com:80/news/phony-security-site-media-bias-fact-check-is-just-one-guy-running-a-malicious-scam/26758/ |title=Fake security site "Media Bias Fact Check" is just one guy running a malicious scam |date=2016-12-16 |website=Daily News Bin |access-date=2018-12-02}}</ref><ref name="JFD">{{Cite web |url=https://www.justfactsdaily.com/media-bias-fact-check-incompetent-or-dishonest/ |title=Media Bias Fact Check: Incompetent or Dishonest? - Just Facts |date=2017-04-24 |website=Just Facts |language=en-US |access-date=2018-12-02}}</ref> others, such as ''The Libertarian Republic'', agreed with the rating that they were given, saying that 'high' factual reporting and 'right-center bias' was exactly where they wanted to be.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170323221903/https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/libertarian-republic-bias-best/ |title=Bias Opinion: The Libertarian Republic is Bias in Best Way. |date=2017-03-23 |access-date=2018-12-02}}</ref>
While some organisations have disagreed with the ''Media Bias/Fact Check's'' rating of their political bias,<ref name="WND">{{Cite web |url=https://www.wnd.com/2017/02/phony-baloney-the-9-fakest-fake-news-checkers/ |title=Phony baloney: The 9 fakest fake-news checkers - WND |website=www.wnd.com |language=en-US |access-date=2018-12-02}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170506005825/http://www.dailynewsbin.com:80/news/phony-security-site-media-bias-fact-check-is-just-one-guy-running-a-malicious-scam/26758/ |title=Fake security site "Media Bias Fact Check" is just one guy running a malicious scam |date=2016-12-16 |website=Daily News Bin |access-date=2018-12-02}}</ref><ref name="JFD">{{Cite web |url=https://www.justfactsdaily.com/media-bias-fact-check-incompetent-or-dishonest/ |title=Media Bias Fact Check: Incompetent or Dishonest? - Just Facts |date=2017-04-24 |website=Just Facts |language=en-US |access-date=2018-12-02}}</ref> others, such as ''The Libertarian Republic'', agreed with the rating that they were given, saying that 'high' factual reporting and 'right-center bias' was exactly where they wanted to be.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170323221903/https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/libertarian-republic-bias-best/ |title=Bias Opinion: The Libertarian Republic is Bias in Best Way. |date=2017-03-23 |access-date=2018-12-02}}</ref>

Website ''American Greatness'' pointed out a discrepancy in ''Media Bias/Fact Check's'' characterisation of them as having 'mixed' factual reporting, despite not having failed a fact check, while other sources such as the ''[[Huffington Post]]'' were rated as having 'high' factual reporting, despite having failed fact checks in the past.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://amgreatness.com/2018/10/24/fact-checkers-without-evidence/ |title=Fact-Checkers Without Evidence – American Greatness |website=amgreatness.com |language=en-US |access-date=2018-12-03}}</ref>


== References ==
== References ==

Revision as of 10:22, 3 December 2018

Media Bias/Fact Check is a fact-checking organisation that reviews news and media organisations.[1]

Purpose and use

The site classifies media sources on a political bias spectrum, as well as on the accuracy of their factual reporting. Media Bias/Fact Check describes itself as "the most comprehensive media bias resource on the internet" and they list over 2500 media organisations on their web site.[2] The site is run by founder and editor Dave Van Zant,[3][4] but includes contributions by a team of about a dozen other writers, contributors, and researchers.[5][4]

Numerous media organisations have praised the site's utility in highlighting 'fake news' and other questionable sources, as well as enabling readers to more easily do thier own fact checking.[4][6][7][8] Based on the ratings by Media Bias/Fact Check, there are Firefox[1] and Chrome[2] browser extensions that highlight the reliability and bias of sources when visiting those sites.[9][10] The site's ratings are also widely used by media sources when discussing the reliability and bias of other media organisations.[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]

Data from the site has been used by researchers from MIT and the Qatar Computing Research Institute to train an artificial intelligence machine learning algorithm to identify 'fake news'.[23][24][25][26] The site has also been used by researchers at the University of Michigan to create a tool called the "Iffy Quotient", which draws data from Media Bias/Fact Check and NewsWhip to track the prevalence of 'fake news' and questionable sources on social media.[27][28][29][30]

Classifications and Methodology

Media Bias/Fact Check and NewsWhip is open about the methodology and scoring structure that they use to classify sources, describing it in-depth on their web-site.[31][4] Media Bias/Fact Check uses a rating system based on a political spectrum with the ratings for bias as 'extreme left', 'left bias', 'left-center bias', 'least biased', 'right-center bias', 'right bias', and 'extreme right'. For sources that don't fit on the political bias spectrum, the site also uses ratings such as 'pro-science', 'conspiracy/psuedoscience', and 'satire'. Each media source is also rated by the accuracy of their reporting, on a scale including 'very high', 'high', 'mixed', 'low', and 'very low'.[31][4]

Media Bias/Fact Check states that they adhere to the International Fact-Checking Network Fact-checkers’ Code of Principles.[31][32]

Criticism

James D Agresti, writing for Just Facts Daily criticised Media Bias/Fact Check for what he considered an inaccurate review of the sister site Just Facts.[33] Media Bias/Fact Check apologised for the original review, saying that "The [original] reviewer clearly zeroed in on one issue and did not look at the big picture";[33] later stating that the original reviewer is no longer affiliated with their organisation.[34] Just Facts was re-classified as 'least-biased' with a 'high' factual reporting score,[33] although this was later changed to 'right-center bias'.[35] Just Facts Daily holds a similar rating, but is listed separately.[34]

Media Bias/Fact Check was also criticised by World Net Daily (WND), who questioned the qualifications and expertise of the founder and reviewers for the site and listed them with 8 other online fact-checking sources that they called "The 9 fakest fake-news checkers".[36] Media Bias/Fact Check responded, saying that they were "thrilled to be included with Politifact, Snopes, FactCheck.org, and the International Fact-Checking Network (Poynter Institute). These are the best and most credible fact checkers in the business."; adding that WND had contacted Media Bias/Fact Check to complain about their 'far right bias' rating days before the story was posted.[37] The Washington Post also describes WND's political lean as alt-right or far-right.[38][39][40][41], a view shared by Michael Massing of the Columbia Journalism Review.[42]

While some organisations have disagreed with the Media Bias/Fact Check's rating of their political bias,[36][43][33] others, such as The Libertarian Republic, agreed with the rating that they were given, saying that 'high' factual reporting and 'right-center bias' was exactly where they wanted to be.[44]

Website American Greatness pointed out a discrepancy in Media Bias/Fact Check's characterisation of them as having 'mixed' factual reporting, despite not having failed a fact check, while other sources such as the Huffington Post were rated as having 'high' factual reporting, despite having failed fact checks in the past.[45]

References

  1. ^ "About - Media Bias/Fact Check". Media Bias/Fact Check. Retrieved 2018-12-02.
  2. ^ "Media Bias/Fact Check main page". Media Bias/Fact Check. Retrieved 2018-12-02.
  3. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions - Media Bias/Fact Check". Media Bias/Fact Check. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  4. ^ a b c d e "How One Website Sets Out to Classify News, Expose 'Fake News' – InsideSources". InsideSources. 2018-06-11. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  5. ^ "About - Media Bias/Fact Check". Media Bias/Fact Check. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  6. ^ Cobb, Vicki (2017-01-31). "How to Be Your Own Fact Checker". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  7. ^ Thorpe, JR. "Political News Sources You Can Trust (Besides Us)". Bustle. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  8. ^ Griep, John. "Media bias, fact checking and the echo chamber". The Star Democrat. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  9. ^ "How To Detect Fake News With These Tools and Techniques - MediaShift". MediaShift. 2017-09-07. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  10. ^ "How to spot fake news". Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  11. ^ "Inside the study showing conservatives retweeted Russian trolls 30 times more often than liberals". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  12. ^ "The online activists pushing Syria conspiracy theories". BBC News. 2018-04-19. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  13. ^ Rivers, Martin. "Kremlin-Run News Agency Hints At Political Motive For Air Belgium Delay". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  14. ^ "The Bulletin: Police to reopen Pike River case?". The Spinoff. 2018-06-18. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  15. ^ "US Media Bias is the Worst In the World, According to Pew Research Center · 71 Republic". 71 Republic. 2018-01-13. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  16. ^ Street, Chriss W. (2017-08-22). "Google Doubles Down on Purging Conservative Speech". Breitbart. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  17. ^ "特朗普为何如此High：探寻CNN撤稿事件背后的故事". finance.sina.com.cn. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  18. ^ Main, Thomas J. "What's the alt-right, and how large is its audience?". latimes.com. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  19. ^ "Trump wants to know all about the Seth Rich conspiracy, a new report claims". Newsweek. 2017-10-26. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  20. ^ "3 Chrome Extensions To Cut Fake News Out Of Your Life". The Daily Dot. 2016-11-15. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  21. ^ Resnick, Paul. "Unlike in 2016, there was no spike in misinformation this election cycle". The Conversation. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  22. ^ "Washington Examiner tweets that Trump is "going to hell"". Newsweek. 2018-11-05. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  23. ^ "AI as Fact Checker: Algorithm Identifies Fake News - Geek.com". Geek.com. 2018-10-04. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  24. ^ "AI as Fact Checker: Algorithm Identifies Fake News - Geek.com". Geek.com. 2018-10-04. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  25. ^ "MIT and Qatari scientists are training computers to detect fake news sites". Fast Company. 2018-10-03. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  26. ^ "This AI can help spot biased websites and false news". Popular Science. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  27. ^ "Novel tool to monitor fake news on Facebook, Twitter". The Economic Times. 2018-10-28. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  28. ^ "Misinformation is Down This Election - Inkstick". Inkstick. 2018-11-06. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  29. ^ Resnick, Paul (2018-11-07). "US midterm polls: Thanks to FB, no spike in misinformation unlike in 2016". Business Standard India. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  30. ^ "U-M Tracker Measures Reliability of News on Facebook, Twitter -- Campus Technology". Campus Technology. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  31. ^ a b c "Methodology - Media Bias/Fact Check". Media Bias/Fact Check. Retrieved 2018-12-02.
  32. ^ Slick. "IFCN Code of Principles". ifcncodeofprinciples.poynter.org. Retrieved 2018-12-02.
  33. ^ a b c d "Media Bias Fact Check: Incompetent or Dishonest? - Just Facts". Just Facts. 2017-04-24. Retrieved 2018-12-02.
  34. ^ a b "Just Facts Daily - Media Bias/Fact Check". Media Bias/Fact Check. Retrieved 2018-12-02.
  35. ^ "Just Facts - Media Bias/Fact Check". Media Bias/Fact Check. Retrieved 2018-12-02.
  36. ^ a b "Phony baloney: The 9 fakest fake-news checkers - WND". www.wnd.com. Retrieved 2018-12-02.
  37. ^ "Media Bias/Fact Check Makes WND's Fakest Fact Checkers List - Media Bias/Fact Check". Media Bias/Fact Check. 2017-02-20. Retrieved 2018-12-02.
  38. ^ "Introducing the 'alt-left': The GOP's response to its alt-right problem". Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-05-26.
  39. ^ Bruno, Debra; Bruno, Debra (February 21, 2016). "There's the major media. And then there's the 'other' White House press corps" – via washingtonpost.com. Les Kinsolving, a reporter for the far-right World Net Daily, was a familiar White House gadfly from the days of the Nixon administration on. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  40. ^ "The highly reliable, definitely-not-crazy places where Donald Trump gets his news". Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-05-26. WND is a leader in preserving murder cover-up theories, publishing 'exclusive reports' linking the Clintons to a plot to kill their longtime friend. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  41. ^ Posner, Sarah; Posner, Sarah (2017-03-09). "Want to know what 'deconstruction of the administrative state' looks like? Look at Trump's staffing". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2017-05-26. One of them is Curtis Ellis, a columnist for the far-right site WorldNetDaily, and now a special assistant to the secretary at the Labor Department. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  42. ^ Massing, Michael. "Un-American". Columbia Journalism Review. Far-right Web sites like World Net Daily and Newsmax.com floated all kinds of specious stories about Obama that quickly careened around the blogosphere and onto talk radio. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  43. ^ "Fake security site "Media Bias Fact Check" is just one guy running a malicious scam". Daily News Bin. 2016-12-16. Retrieved 2018-12-02.
  44. ^ "Bias Opinion: The Libertarian Republic is Bias in Best Way". 2017-03-23. Retrieved 2018-12-02.
  45. ^ "Fact-Checkers Without Evidence – American Greatness". amgreatness.com. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
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