Fact checking’s impact on public figures, institutions and the media

14 March 2020 | Research from Full Fact
View in your browser ([link removed])

Last week, we told you about how improving media and literacy can help to create a culture of accuracy among the public. But what about politicians, public institutions and the press? In the final of our 'fighting bad information' series, we explore the longer-term impact of fact checking.
You’ve just read our latest fact check debunking a serious health error in a front page headline. You digest the information it contains, and perhaps share it with your friends on social media. Now what?

Does fact checking eventually stop politicians, public institutions and the media who we hold accountable, from starting and spreading bad information?
[link removed]
download pdf in full ([link removed])

This is a new area of study for researchers. But the evidence we have so far is promising.

Politicians, public institutions and the media have different incentives

Many newspapers and broadcasters have a policy, at least in theory, of correcting errors. Readers are used to seeing a corrections column as they open their paper, for example, and Full Fact regularly asks newspapers ([link removed]) to update their articles when we find a mistake.

But recognising an inaccuracy can be considerably more delicate for elected officials.

Sometimes, public figures admit to getting it wrong (one MP made a correction video ([link removed]) on Twitter in response to a Full Fact fact check, while another clarified a mistake ([link removed]) after we corrected their figures).

In many instances, however, inaccurate claims are repeated, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary (claims from both the Conservatives ([link removed]) and Labour ([link removed]) were repeated in last year's election after they were shown to be wrong).

However, a recent US study has shown that sending politicians a direct warning about being fact checked can have an impact.

Warning US politicians about fact checking increased accuracy

An experiment conducted in the US one month before the 2012 election found that legislators who had been sent letters warning them of the reputational consequences of making inaccurate statements - were also less likely to be found making them.

Researchers assigned 1,200 legislators to three groups:
* One group received a letter which explained the process of fact checking, outlining the risks of making inaccurate statements. This was the “treatment” group.
* The second “placebo” group was sent a letter noting that campaign accuracy was monitored in general, with no mention of fact checking.
* The third “control” group received no letter at all.

Results:
* Participants in the treatment group were half as likely to be questioned by PolitiFact ([link removed]) or media outlets.
* Though the rate of inaccuracies was low across the board, 1.3% of legislators in the treatment condition had their accuracy questioned, compared to 2.8% in the placebo or control groups

The evidence base informing this briefing is at an early stage. But we should take these results seriously, and continue similar research.

Alongside this, fact checkers like Full Fact will continue calling out bad information, and encouraging our media and politicians to change their behaviour.

Read the briefing, and tell us what you think.
How can fact checkers help create a culture of accuracy? ([link removed])

Enjoying this email? Please get in touch (mailto:[email protected]) to let us know.
[link removed] Share this email ([link removed])
[link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fmailchi.mp%2Ffullfact%2Fis-a-worth-a-thousand-words-1056497 Tweet this email ([link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fmailchi.mp%2Ffullfact%2Fis-a-worth-a-thousand-words-1056497)
[link removed] Forward to a friend ([link removed])

============================================================
Many thanks from the Full Fact team
** Follow us ([link removed])
** Follow us ([link removed])
** Donate ([link removed])
** Donate ([link removed])
** Like us ([link removed])
** Like us ([link removed])
** Follow us ([link removed])
** Follow us ([link removed])
You can ** find out how we’re funded here ([link removed])
.
Copyright © Full Fact 2020 - All rights reserved

Our mailing address is:
2 Carlton Gardens, London, SW1Y 5AA

We use Mailchimp to send you our emails and to see which articles are most popular. ** Read our privacy policy ([link removed])
or ** Mailchimp's privacy policy ([link removed])

** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
** update subscription preferences ([link removed])