Factchecking: At NBC, That's a Job for the Viewer
04/13/2010 by Peter HartIn his stint as interim host of ABC's This Week, Jake Tapper has arranged for the fact-checkers at Politifact to review what the guests say on the ABC Sunday morning show. An idea worth applauding, it came to Tapper via NYU's Jay Rosen. The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz asked NBC Meet the Press anchor David Gregory if he'd consider a similar arrangement for his show:
An "interesting idea," Gregory allows, but not one the NBC show will be emulating. "People can factcheck Meet the Press every week on their own terms."
Tags: David Gregory, Jake Tapper, Politifact
Tags: David Gregory, Jake Tapper, Politifact
Posted in Washington Post | Permalink | Trackback | Share
Posted in Washington Post | Permalink | Trackback | Share
Diggit
del.icio.us
reddit
Yahoo
Facebook
StumbleUpon
April 13th, 2010 at 4:01 pm
[...] Factchecking: At NBC, That's a Job for the Viewer [...]
April 16th, 2010 at 5:26 pm
All too often guests being interviewed flat out lie or distort the truth to the point that it is tantamount to a lie. Why would NBC object to having guest's statements reviewed by fact checkers? My guess is that potential guests would chicken out if they thought they would be called on their lies.
April 16th, 2010 at 5:53 pm
Bravo Jake – we will continue to watch This Week, and wil not watch NBC except for entertainment. It's certainly not to be watched as "news." We loved Jon Stewart's response as well. Thanks for bringing ehtics back into the news and reducing the load of infotainment. We are not alone in being tired of hearing half truths and outright lies disseminated as facts.
April 16th, 2010 at 5:53 pm
I'm too busy fact-checking Fox News to have time for NBC too.
April 16th, 2010 at 5:55 pm
Re; Fact checking
We trust the media to do the fact checking. Tha't your job. What a shame that we can no longer trust you to do that. Re
April 16th, 2010 at 6:02 pm
Just as long as they still have staff to cover whatever happens with Tiger Woods, I'm happy!
April 16th, 2010 at 6:09 pm
Almost every week, propagandists appear on Meet the Press with David Gregory and I write to Gregory by e-mail, fat chance that he ever reads it, to complain that the guests were lying. I wonder why Gregory is well enough informed to question the guests on the spot. If he isn't why does he make a fat salary to interview people and to allow them to pass on propaganda as fact with nary a challenge? Jake Tapper is doing something that others should do. I favor getting them into a classroom and educating them on topics before their interview liars.
April 16th, 2010 at 6:44 pm
I refuse to watch Meet the press as long as gregory is on. He is a waste of airtime and oxygen.Rachel Maddow is excellent at fact checking. maybe she should host!
April 16th, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Tim Russert must be rolling in his grave. Gregory is a disaster.
April 16th, 2010 at 7:19 pm
Why don't Fox news and NBC fact check each other? Now THAT would be entertaining!
April 16th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
I thoroughly agree with those saying that Gregory must go, but who can replace him. Maybe Rachel?
April 16th, 2010 at 9:58 pm
We can't have the Liz Cheney BFF do any fact checking.
April 17th, 2010 at 7:30 am
"We don't fact check, we just present liars at face value." Either fact check, don't give liars a forum, or get off the airwaves.
Ideally, the interviewer should be well versed enough on the issues to catch 99% of the lies and misrepresentations in real time and have the integrity to call the liar out on the spot.
April 17th, 2010 at 9:09 am
@Gene W. Devaux:
David Gregory is an unqualified, unintelligent "fawning" oaf He got his job SOLELY because of family connections. Remember ABC's Bertina Gregory?? that's his mother. What can we expect? He has no intergrity and knows nothing and yet he is one of the arbiters of political events. No doubt the populace is so ignorant and are at the mercy of "crafty" and unscrupulous politicians and their operatives.
April 17th, 2010 at 11:16 am
I agree that the appointment of David Gregory to host "Meet the Press" was a mistake. He clearly isn't up to the challenge and the quality and relevance of the program has suffered. I thought that Tim Russert was too timid in challenging guests when they erred, but he seems a lion when compared to Gregory.
April 17th, 2010 at 5:47 pm
I haven't watched "Meet The Press" since Lawrence Spivak was the host, and the program was LIVE!
None of the Sunday so-called "Talk Show" are any good – they are all on tape so nothing is real. All the "warts" are blotted out! Consequently, I never watch any of them.
April 17th, 2010 at 11:53 pm
This is why I gave up my TV-too damn many irresponsible, unaccountable liars on it. Waste of time and money. If he can't be bothered to set fact checking in motion for his NBC show then is it responsible journalism? I think not. He is using our air waves, does he not owe us some ethical and moral concern?
Take unethical TV out of your life. Just unplug the damn thing and let it sit there until we have people working at the Walter Cronkiteor Edward R Murrow level again.
Screw these jerks. NBC, Fox, et al, good bye and good riddance.
April 20th, 2010 at 7:57 am
Just another example of why self serving, lazy ass, David Gregory can never compare with Tim Russert. Fact checking should be the basic cornerstone of reporting. Viewer’s assume that what we are being told are facts, presented by a credible individual, not “story time,” with some hack.
April 26th, 2010 at 10:52 am
Why target NBC or " Meet the Press". It is their job to present the "LIARS" to us in an electronic media. The purpose is to judge them ourselves through our own eyes, information and knowledge and recognise who are pathological liars, who are uniformed and who are not liars. They can and should not pass judgement. Everytime they appear, we know, learn and recognize thier agenda, cause and resources. The more frequently they appear, the more it becomes obvious to us that we should listen and not believe in what they say. Case in point, Fox news versus Rachel Maddow. Need I say more.
June 14th, 2010 at 4:43 pm
[...] recalling that Gregory not too long rebuffed the idea that Meet the Press needed any [...]
June 14th, 2010 at 5:02 pm
[...] recalling that Gregory not too long rebuffed the idea that Meet the Press needed any [...]
May 18th, 2011 at 9:50 am
[...] reminded me of Gregory's response last year when ABC's This Week started posting factchecks (courtesy of Politifact) of their guests on [...]
October 16th, 2011 at 10:59 am
would like to know why david gregory never discusses the Salandra scandal on his show. I assume it's because of his strong buddy buddy relationsips with Soros, and Obama. So much for objectivity. Tim Russert must be turning in his grave as to the mess his show has turned into.