Why Google News is adding a 'Fact Check' label
Perhaps inspired by the "fact check" election, Google News is introducing a new label for stories that rigorously vet politicians' statements.
Google, whose News feature aggregates content from news sites around the world, already labels some types of articles, such as 鈥淚n-Depth鈥� and 鈥淥pinion鈥� pieces. Earlier in the year, it added a 鈥淟ocal Source鈥� tag to feature local coverage of major news events. Now, the website and app have a new category 鈥� 鈥淔act Check鈥� 鈥� that highlights stories assessing the veracity of statements by public figures.
The new category may be a聽response to the 2016 US presidential election, which has been heavy on fact-checking. Though some don't see the value in media fact-checking, the wild ride of the campaign appears to have bolstered many readers鈥� interest.
鈥淥ur traffic is better than it鈥檚 ever been,鈥� Angie Drobnic Holan, editor in chief of the Pulitzer Prize-winning site PolitiFact.com, told 海角大神 in July. 鈥淢edia organizations are doing fact-checking in part because it鈥檚 very popular with readers.鈥�
In June, the Associated Press deployed during a speech by Donald Trump that attacked Hillary Clinton. And websites like PolitiFact have been mainstays in the effort to find the truth amid the campaign rhetoric. During debates against Mr. Trump, former Secretary of State Clinton has repeatedly urged viewers to do their own fact checking.
PolitiFact鈥檚 scorecard finds that, of , 207 鈥� or 70 percent 鈥� are less than "half true," with 17 percent receiving the harshest "Pants on Fire" rating. The organization has , finding 27 percent less than "half true," and categorizing 6 (or 2 percent) as "Pants on Fire" falsehoods.聽
Not everyone agrees with media fact checking. Jeffrey Lord, a former aide to President Reagan who offers a pro-Trump angle on the presidential election for CNN, has described media fact-checking as 鈥渆litist鈥� and 鈥渙ut-of-touch.鈥� He says the for each other聽because ordinary people are most interested in what Clinton and Trump have to say.
Others suggest that the truth of the candidates鈥� statements is less important to voters than the promise of action.
鈥淸Voters] don鈥檛 hear a pledge, they hear, 鈥業鈥檓 going to do something,鈥櫬犫�� Kathleen Hall Jamieson, the director of the University of Pennsylvania鈥檚 Annenberg Public Policy Center, told the Monitor. The Annenberg Center sponsored a focus group that found that, though few Republicans expected Trump to actually build a wall on the Mexican border, for instance, they supported him because they wanted to see action 鈥� and believed he did, too.
But for interested readers, the new tag will make it easier to find 鈥渇act-check鈥� stories, if all goes according to plan. Websites that alerts the Google algorithm to a 鈥淔act Check鈥� story. Eligible stories should contain the original claim, an assessment of the claim, and how that assessment was reached, Google says.
Of course, having a category for 鈥淔act Check鈥� stories doesn鈥檛 make any given story more likely to be accurate. Google is only aggregating the content, not providing a guarantee of its trustworthiness.
Fewer than 10 organizations used the ClaimReview schema at the time of writing, but this looks set to increase. The company is also taking feedback to help improve its algorithm and deliver content to readers.
Richard Gingras, the head of news at Google, said he hopes the new label will boost the work of fact-checkers and help readers find that kind of analysis.
鈥淲e鈥檙e excited to see the growth of the Fact Check Community and to shine a light on its efforts , wisdom from spin,鈥� he wrote in a Thursday blog post.
