| justfacts.com | factcheck.org | |
| Currency | Site was started in 1997 and periodically updated with the most recent article date of 01/18/2017. It has a professional appearance with working links. | Site was started in 2003 and periodically updated with the most recent article date of 02/02/2017. It has a professional appearance with working links. |
| Relevance | justfacts.com includes a wealth of in-depth facts that are easy to comprehend by most adults. I was unable to locate metadata for this site. | factcheck.org includes a wealth of in-depth facts that are easy to comprehend by most adults. I was unable to locate metadata for this site. |
| Authority |
President & primary researcher, James D. Agresti, BS in Mechanical Engineering. Chairman of the board of directors, Stephen F. Cardone, BS in Psychology. Reports cites by various respected institutions, and “notes of appreciation” from readers. The emblems of those they claim cited them do not hyperlink. |
Seven principles listed: investigative/political journalists, media watchdogs, science writers, researchers,professors and undergraduate fellows. Affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania. Recipient of numerous distinctions, including TIME magazine’s “25 Sites We Can’t Live Without” (2006); World E-Gov Forum as ‘one of 10 sites that “are changing the world”‘ (2006); PC Magazine‘s list of the “20 Best Political Websites” (2008); 2009 Clarion Award, 2010 Sigma Delta Chi Award (Society of Professional Journalists); and the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences Webby Awards in 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016 for “best Politics site.” |
| Accuracy |
Frequently cites their own work from other research articles as factual support. Facts are taken from valid primary resources but presented in such a way that can easily lead to false attributions of cause/effect. |
Cites are from primary or reputable/peer reviewed sources. Most are hyperlinked. |
| Purpose | Mission statement: “The mission of Just Facts is to research and publish verifiable facts about the leading public policy issues of our time.” | Mission statement: “We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics.” |
Analysis: Both websites present facts but the bias is palpable on the justfacts.com website. Their facts are presented to support their libertarian/conservative point of view. Their articles were strictly in opposition to Democrats and/or liberal policies. No facts were presented that conflicted with Republican/Libertarian views or statements. They present a lot of raw data but the reader is left to make false attributions to much of it. As a wise statistics professor once told me, how you present the data is almost as important as the data itself.
Conversely, factcheck.org is an equal opportunity watchdog. Are they liberal? Perhaps, as much of academia is often accused of liberal bias. However, they point out untruths and half-truths from all political persuasions on a wide range of topics. That is the purpose of a fact checker. I also support the financial disclosure policy of factcheck.org. It was unclear who funds justfacts.com. In political views, money matters.
Certainly most of us, if not all, have personal points of view. Presenting only the information that supports your worldview makes you a propagandist, not a fact checker.