5,000!
By Bill Adair
Published on Friday, February 24th, 2012 at 9:19 a.m.
PolitiFact reached a milestone this week -- we published our 5,000th Truth-O-Meter item!
It's a sign of how we've grown since we launched in August 2007. We started with just a few reporters and editors and focused exclusively on the presidential campaign. Today we have five people on our national staff and 30 others who work for our partners in 10 states (Florida, Texas, Georgia, Rhode Island, Ohio, Wisconsin, Oregon, Virginia, New Jersey and Tennessee). We check local, state and national politics -- everyone from the mayor of Portland to the president of the United States.
To celebrate our 5,000th item, here's a look at a few highlights and statistics for the past four and half years:
Truth-O-Meter items that had highest readership
Our top 10 fact-checks since 2007
1. Jon Stewart says those who watch Fox News are the most consistently misinformed - False
2. Glenn Beck says less than 10 percent of Obama Cabinet has worked in private sector - False
3. Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina said Obama lied - False
4. Rep. Michele Bachmann claims Obama's trip to India will cost the taxpayers $200 million - False
5. Obama says Reagan raised debt ceiling 18 times; George W. Bush seven times - True
6. Steve Doocy, Glenn Beck and others repeat claim that White House Political Director Patrick Gaspard worked for ACORN - False
7. Chain email says "you will be required to pay taxes" on "the value of whatever health insurance you are given by the company" - Pants on Fire
8. Bloggers claim photo shows millions at tea party protest - Pants on Fire
9. Chain email says Obama sworn in on Koran - Pants on Fire
10. Nancy Pelosi's chart shows Obama increased debt 16 percent compared with 116 percent for Bush - Pants on Fire
Truth-O-Meter tally
(National items)
| True | 19% |
| Mostly True | 17% |
| Half True | 21% |
| Mostly False | 14% |
| False | 20% |
| Pants on Fire | 8% |
Person checked the most: Barack Obama (343 times)
First Pants on Fire: Joe Biden, on his claim that President George W. Bush "is brain-dead."
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