PBS News and PolitiFact Announce Partnership Through 2024 Election Cycle

Arlington, VA (July 12, 2024) — PBS News and PolitiFact, the political fact-checking website operated by the nonprofit Poynter Institute, today announced a partnership that will run through the 2024 election cycle, including for next week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

As the rise of misinformation and disinformation continues, fact-based and impartial journalism is more important than ever during this historic election. Together, PBS News and PolitiFact share a mission of equipping their audiences with the information they need to discern fact from fiction and hold elected officials accountable.

Through this partnership, PolitiFact will share content and resources with PBS News, including PolitiFact’s award-winning Truth-O-Meter, which rates the accuracy of individual statements made by elected officials and others. PolitiFact’s fact-checking reporting and research will appear across PBS News programming and digital platforms during major political events such as the Republican National Convention, the Democratic National Convention and all upcoming presidential and vice presidential debates. The news organizations will also explore opportunities to co-produce content. 

“We’re excited to have PBS News as a national television and online partner. Their engaged audience is a natural fit for PolitiFact’s thoroughly researched reports and fact-checking,” said Katie Sanders, editor-in-chief of PolitiFact. “Working with a trusted brand like PBS News will expand the reach of our work at a time when voters are seeking out factual information to help them make decisions.” 

“Trust and accuracy are the coin of the realm in journalism. Efforts to erode that trust and cast doubt on media accuracy does profound damage to our democracy and we in the media are duty bound to protect and build that trust up,” said Sara Just, senior executive producer of NewsHour Productions and WETA senior vice president. “By working with PolitiFact, PBS News broadcasts and our online journalism will provide transparency to the audience to appreciate how facts are assessed and evaluated by journalists, especially during our heated election season. I’m delighted that our partners at PolitiFact will help PBS News platforms reinforce the reasons to have faith in the news we provide in the public interest.”

About PolitiFact

PolitiFact, a Pulitzer Prize-winning website, started in 2007 as an election-year project of the Tampa Bay Times (then the St. Petersburg Times). Since 2018, PolitiFact has been part of the Poynter Institute, a global leader in journalism that is also home to the International Fact-Checking Network, the Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership and the MediaWise digital media literacy project. Learn more at politifact.com.

 

About PBS News

PBS News is the consolidator news brand within NewsHour Productions LLC, a wholly-owned non-profit subsidiary of WETA Washington, D.C. Major corporate funding is provided by BDO, BNSF, Consumer Cellular, and Raymond James, with additional support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Ford Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the National Science Foundation, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation, Friends of the News Hour and others. More information on PBS News is available at www.pbs.org/newshour. You can watch and find PBS News programming on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. News Hour Productions produces PBS News Hour, PBS News Weekend and Washington Week with The Atlantic.

 

Media Contact: Ella Richardson, erichardson@newshour.org