The entire existence of a media fact-checker is a reality of redundancy. If the press was in fact doing its job there would be no need for this subculture, as they would be expected to have already laid out the facts in the standard reporting. But years ago a number of news outlets developed their own fact-checking divisions as a means of beating back conservative media voices, becoming only more entrenched in the Donald Trump era.
As the press pounced on the numerous claims of presidential prevarications they became seen as a needed service. What has evolved however is these arbiters of the truth have become instead a tool of the narrative crafters. There are countless examples of these corrections agents declaring stories to be ‘’False,’ or ‘’Untrue,’’ despite the presence of verified details. The fact-checkers became story interpreters, declaring certain reports as inaccurate based on their own translation or projected influence it may have on the broader discussion.
Candace Owens has just displayed her personal battle with those policing the news landscape on social media. She recently had a video posting on Facebook become labeled as false information, and as a result it was suppressed on the platform. The language that got her pieces flagged stated, ‘’Joe Biden is literally and legally not the President-elect. So why is the media pretending that he is?’’ For the minds at Politifact, the Poynter Institute fact check division that aids Facebook in in its quest to ferret out ‘’misinformation” on its platform, this comment by Owens was too controversial.
Here is where you see the foibles in these fact-check scolds. Nothing in the Owens comment was factually incorrect. Her post was flagged as ‘’false’’ because of how it could be used in the broader political discussion.
Owens fought the ruling on her post, ultimately taking legal action. PolitiFact came back and actually issued a Correction on its appraisal.
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