Fact-checking at the AP
Getting the facts right has been core to AP’s mission since our founding in 1846. When a public figure says something questionable, it is our job to investigate it and offer the facts. You’ll find some of those stories here.
In addition, when a false story gains traction online, we create a separate fact-checking item that tells the true story. This is where you’ll find those stories and our weekly roundup of untrue headlines that have been shared widely on social media.
As with all AP staff, AP fact checkers must adhere to the company’s Statement of News Values, which states: “AP employees must avoid behavior or activities - political, social or financial - that create a conflict of interest or compromise our ability to report the news fairly and accurately, uninfluenced by any person or action.”
Learn more from AP’s Statement of News Values and Principles.
AP Fact Check has for years been a member of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), a unit of the Poynter Institute dedicated to bringing together fact-checkers worldwide.
AP FACT CHECK TEAM:
The AP Fact Check team includes the staffers listed below. However, fact-checking is deeply integrated into our whole global operation and we rely on the expertise of our journalists on a wide variety of topics to inform our fact-checking work. Therefore, it is not uncommon to see two bylines, or contributor lines, on a fact check. In addition, any staffer may choose to do a fact check in text or visuals with reporting help and guidance from the Fact Check team.
BARBARA WHITAKER leads the fact-checking team. She is based in New York. During her 30 years in journalism, she’s worked nationally and internationally for publications including The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, New York Newsday and The Dallas Morning News. Whitaker has held several editing positions at the AP, including on the International Desk, Top Stories and the news desk.
MELISSA GOLDIN is a reporter/editor based in New York. Prior to joining the AP, she was a newsletter editor and staff analyst at NewsGuard Technologies where she wrote enterprise reports covering misinformation, and reviewed news and information sites for credibility and transparency with a focus on politics and conspiracy theories. Goldin has also analyzed misinformation for Factstory, a subsidiary of the Agence France-Presse news agency, and written for media outlets including Smart Cities Dive, Mashable, WXXI News and The Brooklyn Paper. She has a B.A. in English (Language, Media and Communication) from the University of Rochester.
DAVID KLEPPER is an election misinformation reporter based in Washington. He worked for newspapers in South Carolina and Kansas City before joining the AP in 2011. A native of the Chicago suburbs, he earned degrees from the University of Illinois and the University of Missouri School of Journalism.
CAL WOODWARD has been fact-checking public figures for more than 20 years under an AP initiative that took form in the 1996 election, advanced in 2000 and became a key component of our accountability journalism through that decade. A national writer, editor and essayist, he has been writing and coordinating Washington-based fact checks as his primary work since before the 2012 election. In this time, AP’s effort has greatly expanded beyond campaign and top presidential rhetoric to include statements from all manner of public figures. In the lead-up to the Iraq war, Woodward’s fact checks stood as a rare voice calling attention to the unverified rationales for the invasion. In the 2008 campaign, he worked with our health policy reporter to inform voters that Barack Obama’s proposed health overhaul did not substantiate his claims that people would see lower premiums and maintain the right to choose their own doctors. Woodward came to AP from The Canadian Press, where he covered U.S. politics, the United Nations, culture and sports from New York and Washington, after serving as a regional news editor and reporter in Canada.
OUR WORK:
We produce fact checks when we are presented with a claim from a newsmaker – in any format – that deserves further explanation or scrutiny. The AP Fact Check team, along with our experts in the field, investigates and reports out that claim to present the facts around it. These claims can come from newsmakers from any news department, and they are fact-checked by our AP experts, with oversight, guidance and reporting help from the AP Fact Check team.
The AP Fact Check team also produces items that debunk misleading or false information and visuals that are gaining significant traction online. This includes collaborative projects with Facebook and Twitter to add factual context to misleading posts on their platforms.
CORRECTIONS
The fact-checking team follows the AP correction policy.
COMMENTS/SUGGESTIONS/CLAIMS TO SUBMIT
Want to reach out with a comment or fact-checking suggestion? Do you see something that needs a correction? Email us at [email protected].
You can also file a complaint with the International Fact Checking Network if you feel that AP or any other IFCN member has violated the fact-checkers’ code of principles.
ABOUT THE AP
The AP is an independent, not-for-profit news cooperative composed of newspapers and broadcasters. The vast majority of AP’s revenue comes from licensing content to news outlets and other organizations. The AP Fact Check team is funded by AP’s general news budget and has previously received funding from the Knight Foundation.
Read more about the AP.