john maddente | midwestern clarity

Freepik image A fter reading a recent PolitiFact article published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ( “Trump, Musk claim ‘fraud’, show no proof”, Feb. 16, 2025 ), I was reminded of the sometimes blurry line between news reporting and editorial work.   A review of the so-called Truth-O-Meter ratings found at politifact.com/wisconsin   reveals a disturbing pattern.    Note: I have no issue with the information that the PolitiFact contributors presented as factual.  My concerns are about selection bias as evidenced by the subjects chosen for published scrutiny.  Consider the two most dubious labels that PolitiFact uses to rank questionable public assertions: “ Pants on Fire ” and “ False ”. Last year, PolitiFact Wisconsin allocated six out of its six 'fire pants' rankings to Republican office holders or Conservative commentators and zero such rankings to Democrat office holders or Progressive commentators.   A tally of their false rati...