| Enjoy this newsletter? Forward it to someone else who'd like it! If this email was forwarded to you, sign up here. Did you hear something fact-checkable? Send it here; we'll check it out. How to produce a statistic for a White House news release Every presidential administration hypes the numbers in economic deals. Bill Clinton, for instance, claimed the North American Free Trade Agreement would create 1 million jobs. Well, that was a mistake, a placeholder figure that was accidentally left in his prepared remarks, but it's emblematic of the phony math behind the figures that often dominate the headlines. During President Donald Trump's trip to the Middle East, the White House issued a news release titled "President Donald J. Trump Secures Historic $1.2 Trillion Economic Commitment in Qatar." The text said that he "signed an agreement with Qatar to generate an economic exchange worth at least $1.2 trillion." Economic commitment? Economic exchange? Those are meaningless buzzwords. No matter. The $1.2 trillion figure ended up in headlines across the world. Our tongue firmly in our cheek, we provide a guide to how you can create your own amazing statistic for a White House news release. To read the full report, please click this link. PLUS: The New York Post editorial board blasted The Fact Checker last week, calling us a "propaganda mill" and suggesting it was time to "close up shop." The sharp tone of the editorial inspired us to look back and assess three columns. Click the link below to read our response. |
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