This study analyzed fact-check stories (N = 1,530) published in four legacy news media organizations in the United States – The Associated Press, CNN, The New York Times, and The Washington Post – in 2017, 2018, and 2019 to understand: (1) which topics are more prominent; (2) what or whose claims are being fact-checked; and (3) sources of information used to adjudicate claims. It used a set of automated text analysis and machine learning tools to analyze the stories. Findings show that legacy news media’s fact-check coverage focuses primarily on the U.S. presidency and popular policy topics, and depends heavily on routine sources.
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Mohammad Yousuf (2023) studied this question.
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