Instructify

In 1988, Public Enemy released their single “Don’t Believe the Hype”, which encouraged many of us to check our facts and beware of media spin. So it’s a strange twist of irony that about 18 years later, one of the most recognizable members of Public Enemy, Flavor Flav, began starring in the reality TV dating game show, Flavor of Love. Its difficult to find a better example of media being spun than reality TV… unless you consider politics.

PolitiFact.com, a service of the St. Petersburg Times and CQ, is a fact-checking site that examines the truth—and truthiness—behind many of the political messages that are being made. Not only do they examine major speeches, TV spots, and other high profile comments, they also show that nothing is too minor. Chain emails that are being passed around or comments made during off-the-cuff interviews also get vetted for accuracy.

You can view candidate profiles, look at their analysis of attacks made against candidates, and, my favorite, see who is caught Pants-on-Fire through their Truth-o-Meter breakdown.

Encourage your students to get involved in politics, at every level. Even more importantly, encourage your students to do their fact-checking (and then check the facts they’ve checked). A healthy dose of skepticism is the perfect compliment for youthful political ideals. –NICK YINGLING

PolitiFact.com

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