We asked readers a few weeks ago whether the name for our Fact Check rating called “Barely True” should be changed to “Mostly False.” We’ve decided to stick with Barely True.
We considered the shift after PolitiFact, the highly successful website with a similar fact checking mission, made the shift from Barely True to Mostly False. Years of complaints and overwhelming support from readers finally convinced PolitiFact’s editors.
Our readers didn’t seem to care one way or the other. We polled readers on this blog, Twitter and Facebook. The few that responded all agreed with the switch, but it wasn’t such an overflow that convinced us the change was needed.
Barely True also balances our ratings system. Our definitions and scale isn’t exactly like PolitiFact, though they are similar. PolitiFact has a category called Half True while we have one called Misleading. Our worst category is called Huckster Propaganda while PolitiFact has Pants on Fire.
Some PolitiFact readers argued for the shift to Mostly False since it would even the scale. The site now has two good ratings (True and Mostly True), a middle rating (Half True), two bad ratings (Mostly False and False), and the worst rating (Pants on Fire).
In our spectrum, we basically have three ratings on each side. True, Mostly True and Barely True fall on one side, while Misleading, False and Huckster Propaganda balance out the more dubious side.
But that certainly doesn’t mean we’re not open to changing it in the future. You can still let us know what you think by sending an email or commenting below. You can also review the recent statement’s we’ve rated Barely True by clicking here.
Keegan Kyle is a news reporter for voiceofsandiego.org. He writes about public safety and handles the Fact Check Blog. What should he write about next?
Please contact him directly at keegan.kyle@voiceofsandiego.org or 619.550.5668. You can also find him on Twitter (@keegankyle) and Facebook.
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