Difference between revisions of "Media Bias/Fact Check"

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|interests=fake news, bias, media
 
|interests=fake news, bias, media
 
|logo=Media Bias_Fact Check.png
 
|logo=Media Bias_Fact Check.png
|logo_width=360
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|logo_width=360px
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|titular_logo=1
 
|image=Media Bias_Fact Check wikispooks.png
 
|image=Media Bias_Fact Check wikispooks.png
 
|image_caption=The MBFC take on Wikispooks as of December 2019
 
|image_caption=The MBFC take on Wikispooks as of December 2019
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|image_width=480px
 
|start=November 2015
 
|start=November 2015
 
|own_words=Dedicated to educating the public on media bias and deceptive news practices
 
|own_words=Dedicated to educating the public on media bias and deceptive news practices
|description=Named as an outlet of "[[Fake News]]" by [[PropOrNot]].
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|description=A "fact checker" that announces it is "dedicated to educating the public on media bias and deceptive news practices"...  #2 on a list of [[Zero Hedge]]'s Top 9 “fakest ‘fake-news’ checkers.
 
|rationalwiki=
 
|rationalwiki=
 
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'''Media Bias/Fact Check''' ('''MBFC''') is a "[[fact checker]]" which scores websites on "[[conspiracy theory|conspiracy level]]", "[[pseudoscience|pseudo-sci level]]" and  "[[Political spectrum|left- or right wing]] [[bias]], and by quality of factual reporting. MBFC has browser extensions for both [[Firefox]] and [[Chrome]].
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'''Media Bias/Fact Check''' ('''MBFC''') is a "[[fact checker]]" which scores websites on "[[conspiracy theory|conspiracy level]]", "[[pseudoscience|pseudo-sci level]]" and  "[[Political spectrum|left- or right wing]] [[bias]]", and by quality of factual reporting. MBFC has browser extensions for both [[Firefox]] and [[Chrome]].
  
 
==Official narrative==
 
==Official narrative==
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==Endorsement==
 
==Endorsement==
The [[Atlantic Council]] have used data from MBFC.{{cn}}
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The [[Atlantic Council]] have used data from MBFC.{{cn}} Researchers at the [[University of Michigan]] used MBFC to create the "Iffy Quotient", which draws data from ''Media Bias/Fact Check'' and ''[[NewsWhip]]'' to track "[[fake news]]" on social media.<ref>https://campustechnology.com/articles/2018/10/16/u-m-tracker-measures-reliability-of-news-on-facebook-twitter.aspx</ref><ref>https://csmr.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/UMSI-CSMR-Iffy-Quotient-Whitepaper-810084.pdf</ref> The site was also used by a research group at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] in initial training of an [[AI]] to do "[[fact checking]]" and detect the [[bias]] of a [[website]].<ref>https://www.popsci.com/AI-fake-news</ref>
 
 
The site was used by researchers at the [[University of Michigan]] to create a tool called the "Iffy Quotient", which draws data from ''Media Bias/Fact Check'' and ''[[NewsWhip]]'' to track the prevalence of 'fake news' and questionable sources on social media.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Dian Schaffhauser|url=https://campustechnology.com/articles/2018/10/16/u-m-tracker-measures-reliability-of-news-on-facebook-twitter.aspx |title=U-M Tracker Measures Reliability of News on Facebook, Twitter -- Campus Technology |website=Campus Technology |language=en |access-date=2018-12-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://csmr.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/UMSI-CSMR-Iffy-Quotient-Whitepaper-810084.pdf|author1=Paul Resnick|author2=Aviv Ovadya|author3=Garlin Gilchrist|work=School of Information - Center for Social Media Responsibility|title=Iffy Quotient: A Platform Health Metric for Misinformation|publisher=University of Michigan|page=5}}</ref> The site was also used by a research group at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] in initial training of an AI to fact check and detect the bias on a website.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.popsci.com/AI-fake-news|title=This AI can help spot biased websites and false news|last=Verger|first=Rob|date=2018-10-04|website=Popular Science|language=en|access-date=2019-01-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite conference | author1 = Ramy Baly | author2 = Georgi Karadzhov | author3 = Dimitar Alexandrov | author4 = James Glass | author5 = Preslav Nakov | title = Predicting Factuality of Reporting and Bias of News Media Sources | booktitle = Proceedings of the 2018 Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing | year = 2018 | publisher = Association for Computational Linguistics | pages = 3528-3539 | location = Brussels, Belgium |url = http://aclweb.org/anthology/D18-1389}}</ref>
 
  
 
==Criticism==
 
==Criticism==
 
[[image:Media Bias_Fact Check cosmopolitan.jpg|480px|left|thumbnail|An image from the critical report by the [[Palmer Report]]]]
 
[[image:Media Bias_Fact Check cosmopolitan.jpg|480px|left|thumbnail|An image from the critical report by the [[Palmer Report]]]]
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Various sites have criticised MFBC.<ref>https://www.justfactsdaily.com/media-bias-fact-check-incompetent-or-dishonest/</ref>
 
The [[Palmer Report]] published an article in April 2017 entitled ''Scam site “Media Bias Fact Check” caught cribbing its ratings from Wikipedia''.<ref>https://www.palmerreport.com/politics/scam-site-media-bias-fact-check-caught-cribbing-its-ratings-from-wikipedia/2342/
 
The [[Palmer Report]] published an article in April 2017 entitled ''Scam site “Media Bias Fact Check” caught cribbing its ratings from Wikipedia''.<ref>https://www.palmerreport.com/politics/scam-site-media-bias-fact-check-caught-cribbing-its-ratings-from-wikipedia/2342/
 
</ref>
 
</ref>
  
The [[Poynter Institute]] wrote that "Media Bias/Fact Check is a widely cited source for news stories and even studies about misinformation, despite the fact that its method is in no way scientific."<ref>https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2018/heres-what-to-expect-from-fact-checking-in-2019/</ref>
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The [[Poynter Institute]], itself recommended by MFBC, wrote that "Media Bias/Fact Check is a widely cited source for news stories and even studies about misinformation, despite the fact that its method is in no way scientific."<ref>https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2018/heres-what-to-expect-from-fact-checking-in-2019/</ref>
  
 
The site was #2 on a list of [[Zero Hedge]]'s Top 9 “fakest ‘fake-news’ checkers.”<ref name=zh/>
 
The site was #2 on a list of [[Zero Hedge]]'s Top 9 “fakest ‘fake-news’ checkers.”<ref name=zh/>

Latest revision as of 06:19, 9 August 2021

A "fact checker" that announces it is "dedicated to educating the public on media bias and deceptive news practices"... #2 on a list of Zero Hedge's Top 9 “fakest ‘fake-news’ checkers.”

Media Bias Fact Check.png
The MBFC take on Wikispooks as of December 2019
Website.png https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/   FacebookRdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png
Started: November 2015
Founder: Dave Van Zandt

In its own words:
"Dedicated to educating the public on media bias and deceptive news practices"
Constitutes: “fact checker”

Main focus: fake news, bias, media

Media Bias/Fact Check (MBFC) is a "fact checker" which scores websites on "conspiracy level", "pseudo-sci level" and "left- or right wing bias", and by quality of factual reporting. MBFC has browser extensions for both Firefox and Chrome.

Official narrative

MBFC reports that it was started by Dave Van Zandt[1] in 2015[2] and has some volunteers who perform source research, writing and assist in fact checking. Van Zandt has a small internet footprint.[3]

Endorsement

The Atlantic Council have used data from MBFC.[citation needed] Researchers at the University of Michigan used MBFC to create the "Iffy Quotient", which draws data from Media Bias/Fact Check and NewsWhip to track "fake news" on social media.[4][5] The site was also used by a research group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in initial training of an AI to do "fact checking" and detect the bias of a website.[6]

Criticism

An image from the critical report by the Palmer Report

Various sites have criticised MFBC.[7] The Palmer Report published an article in April 2017 entitled Scam site “Media Bias Fact Check” caught cribbing its ratings from Wikipedia.[8]

The Poynter Institute, itself recommended by MFBC, wrote that "Media Bias/Fact Check is a widely cited source for news stories and even studies about misinformation, despite the fact that its method is in no way scientific."[9]

The site was #2 on a list of Zero Hedge's Top 9 “fakest ‘fake-news’ checkers.”[3]

Trusted websites

MBFC's most trusted fact checking websites, as of December 2019, were FactCheck.org, FactChecker, Flack Check, Hoax-Slayer, Open Secrets, PolitiFact, Poynter Institute, Snopes, Sunlight Foundation and Truth or Fiction.[10]

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References