The first presidential debate between Mitt Romney and President Obama takes place next Wednesday evening (Oct. 3). Earlier that day, fact-checkers from several news publications are meeting to discuss what claims they'll be keeping an eye out for.
From ABC News:
The top fact checkers from Politifact, FactCheck.org, The Washington Post’s Fact Checker blog and The Associated Press are putting their heads together this week to root out the less-than-factual lines President Obama and Mitt Romney are likely to spin. The four groups will forecast these debate deceptions during a panel at the Press Club in Washington, D.C., Wednesday.
Now's a good time to read up on what's been said about fact-checkers this election:
Media critic Mark Leccese wrote that fact-checkers are "blurring the line between facts and meaning."
USA Today editorialized that both the Romney and Obama campaign have altogether ignored fact-checkers.
Both campaigns do, however, have people specifically designated to respond to fact-checker questions, according to Mother Jones.
"I say to the press, ‘Fact check me.'"-- Vice President Joe Biden, Sept. 8.
“Fact-checkers come to this with their own sets of thoughts and beliefs and you know what? We’re not going let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers.”-- Neil Newhouse, Republican pollster for Romney's campaign, Aug. 28.
