Facts, schmacts? Not while Politifact and This Week's Jake Tapper are watching! (Mr. Media)

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By BOB ANDELMAN

If you’re going to get called on the carpet for something you did right, might as well be by Stephen Colbert on Comedy Central’s whirlwind of truthiness, “The Colbert Report.”

That’s what happened about a week ago to Bill Adair, Pulitzer Prize winning editor of Politifact.com, the online fact-checking operation spawned by the St. Petersburg Times.

In case you missed this story, Jake Tapper, interim host of ABC’s Sunday morning political chat fest, “This Week,” announced his guests’ most questionable claims would be subject to fact checking by Politifact.

Meanwhile, over at NBC’s venerable “Meet The Press,” host David Gregory dismissed the need for fact-checking his guests. I understand his point; does anyone fact-check the wrestlers’ claims on "WWE Smackdown"? Of course not. It’s pure, scripted entertainment. Not something anyone takes seriously.

Colbert even invited Tapper and Adair on his show to discuss their work.

Politifact uses a series of truth-o-meters to declare politicians’ boldest statements either true, untrue, half-true or “pants-on-fire” lies. It won a Pulitzer Prize for its work in 2009, which was the first time Bill Adair was on Mr. Media. Now that he’s been discovered by Colbert, he’s a tougher guest to book, but we’re always delighted to have him.

BILL ADAIR AUDIO EXCERPT: "The result is some good fact checking that wouldn't have been done before." 

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You can LISTEN to this interview with BILL ADAIR, editor of POLITIFACT.com, by clicking the audio player above!

Copyright 2010 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

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Florida State Senator Videotaped Surfing Porn Mid-Session Threatens Reporter (Mediaite)

By Colby Hall
May 3rd, 2010

If ever there were a news story that sums up the strange times we now find ourselves, this is it. Elected official acting inappropriately? Check. Digital communications devices used in a private manner but revealed publicly? Check. An invasive news media getting a salacious shot at an unaware public figure? Yup. For more about the Florida State Senator who was videotaped surfing pornographic images mid-session, and the reporter who he later threatened, please continue…


First the video of Senator Mike Bennett was first reported in a story entitled “Sen. Mike Bennett Caught Looking at Porn on Senate Floor”

Click HERE to keep reading!

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American Spectator Hitting Readers Up for $26,000 in Donations (Media Matters)

by Joe Strupp

May 03, 2010 

The American Spectator is asking its subscribers to pony up some $26,000 in donations to help it offset increased printing costs.

A letter sent out to some 60,000 e-mail subscribers last week states that the money is needed to "fill the $26,000 shortfall created by the perverse incentives of the liberal agenda. Our paper costs are rising for NEXT MONTH'S ISSUE."

But it does not really explain how liberal policies are increasing paper costs. An American Spectator development director confirmed to Media Matters that the donation request was genuine, but also could not explain the link to liberal policies.

Click HERE to Keep Reading!

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Mashable: White House Correspondents’ Dinner: Obama on “Socialized Media” [VIDEO]

By Pete Cashmore

Social media earned a mention in the annual White House Correspondents Dinner tonight, with President Obama quipping, ‘But even though the mainstream press gives me a hard time, I hear that I’m still pretty big on Twitter, Facebook … or as Sarah Palin calls it, the socialized media.’ [1:25 in the second clip below]

As in previous years, the decline of the newspaper at the hands of free online alternatives formed part of the narrative in the humorous 20-minute monologue. Obama said of the news industry’s transition, ‘People say to me, “Mr President, you helped revive the banking industry. You’ve saved GM and Chrysler — what about the news business? I have to explain, hey, I’m just the President. I’m not a miracle worker here.”‘

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