Discovering the truth

Are they really facts?

Facts are important in the news. They supposedly give us solid information upon which we can rely in forming opinions about the issues being discussed. They also better help us interpret the opinions of sources that may be quoted in a news report.

But are all facts indisputable or do they themselves require interpretation? Apparently so.

During the 2011 political campaign, the Washington Post hosted a column called the Fact Checker. Columnist Glenn Kessler's job was to investigate political comments and advertisements and check them for accuracy.

In a Dec. 6 column, Kessler investigated an advertisement made by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and concluded "This particular ad clearly has misleading elements -- 'significant omissions and/or exaggerations' -- but it does not cross some new and dangerous line in political image-making. The Romney campaign, both in the ad and its communications to reporters, clearly highlighted this was a truncated Obama quote from the past, not the present. So they were not trying to hide anything, as is typical of such ads." As a result, he rated it two out of four Pinocchios.

Kessler also notes that another fact checker, PolitFact, reviewed the same ad, giving it a "Pants on Fire" rating -- their highest level of inaccuracy.

So, as news consumers, how can we hope to get accurate information when those charged with reviewing the facts can't agree on the truth?

We can't. The strength of a fact is a matter of opinion and the journalists who are charged with bringing us information form opinions about facts all the time. They judge some sources are more credible than others and decide which facts are needed to provide a balanced report and which never make it into a story.

We trust their professionalism to make informed choices, but they must choose in order to tell us the story they are reporting. That job is made even more difficult by the 24-hour news cycle created by cable television and the Internet.

What we can do is find reporters we trust, get our news from many different sources and bring our own skepticism to the news we read and watch.

Facts may not always be facts and when journalists fail to bring us credible information, we must hold them accountable.

However, in the end, it is our responsibility to make sure we are fully informed.