fact-checking

Clinton's Claim that Trump Is ISIS' Best Recruiter Not Precisely True

Brendan O'Connor · 12/20/15 02:26PM

During the third Democratic presidential debate, on Saturday, Hillary Clinton claimed that Donald Trump “is becoming ISIS’s best recruiter. They are going to people, showing videos of Donald Trump insulting Islam and Muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadists.” This is not exactly true.

Fact-Checking the 'Slut Vote' with the Christian Men's Defense Network

Mallory Ortberg · 11/07/12 10:39PM

Noted bloggist B-Skillet over at the Christian Men's Defense Network has taken a few moments away from guarding the perimeter of the last flagging Christian outpost from the Yuuzhan Vong invasion to explain exactly how Mitt Romney (apparently some kind of erstwhile candidate for political office) could have lost. B-Skillet blames "the Slut Vote" (Skillet has since put his WordPress on private; you can see Google's cache here):

Fact-Checking Nicki Minaj: Is She Really a Republican Voting for Mitt Romney?

Max Read · 09/04/12 11:15AM

"I'm a Republican voting for Mitt Romney/you lazy bitches are fucking up the economy," Nicki Minaj raps on Lil' Wayne's new mixtape Dedication 4. But is she really? While the credulous lamestream media is reporting on Minaj's pronouncement as the truth, we're more skeptical. So we've put the Gawker Fact-Checking Team (me) on the case and fact-checked her Romney endorsement — as well as the rest of her verse on the song:

Seven Inarguably True Things in Paul Ryan's Speech

Max Read · 08/30/12 12:15PM

We've heard a lot from the liberal press and so-called "fact checkers" — more like "fact chokers," am I right? — about the supposed "misleading statements" and "hypocrisies" and "outright lies" in Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan's big convention speech last night. But why won't the mainstream media report on the many different things Ryan said that were inarguably true? We've put the Gawker Fact Checking Team on the case and collected all seven of Ryan's true statements right here:

Politifact Is Bad for You

Jim Newell · 12/20/11 04:25PM

The lefty blogosphere is all hot and bothered at famous fact-checking website Politifact for naming Democrats' claim that the Paul Ryan "Path to Prosperity" would "end Medicare" its 2011 Lie of the Year. And yes, there's a solid argument to be made that Politifact is completely wrong. The bigger problem here, though, is why does anyone care what this gimmicky website has to say, ever?

Emily Brill's Wild Journalistic Adventure

Hamilton Nolan · 10/18/10 05:16PM

Journo-heiress and ultimate narrator Emily Brill is bursting back upon the media scene in a major way! She's under assault by Harvard University! She has a new blockbuster work of journalism on the way! Come, marvel!

Our New Factchecker: James Frey

Sheila · 12/10/08 12:22PM

So far, intern James Frey has brought us doughnuts (some with sprinkles!), fetched coffee and is now out on a beer run. But he completed his first assigned task: a factchecking report on this morning's Gawker posts. While we applaud our intern's effort, James Frey is surprisingly not the most reliable factchecker.

Why 'Newsweek' Might Require New Hire Background Checks

Maggie · 10/09/07 03:50PM

Now, if we've connected the proper dots, we know why they may be insisting on those criminal background checks for what we think are $80K-a-year assistantships over at Newsweek! It seems that the "World Famous Magazine" made a wee hiring error when it brought on Keely Tillona as assistant to Newsweek senior editor Lally Weymouth. Tillona had been released from Riker's Island the month before, where she'd been incarcerated on charges relating to ID fraud. Then the recidivist bilked her boss Weymouth, who is the daughter of Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham, out of $4,000 over the summer. Chanel, Lord & Taylor and Tory Burch were the beneficiaries of Newsweek's apparent inability to check out references.

Rosie O'Donnell Shocks World By Angrily Complaining About Current Project On Blog

seth · 09/07/07 02:51PM

Rosie O'Donnell's next project, a memoir about the trials and tribulations of a reluctant TV personality called Celebrity Detox, has inadvertently become the source of much hand-wringing and stress for the Elisabeth Hasselbeck-targeting headshot vandal. O'Donnell has thus returned to the one true friend she can rely on to never tire of her constant, eardrum-rupturing complaining—her blog—and vented her frustrations upon its virtual pages: