======BULL Hotline Guide====== This is a guide to questions that could come up on Hotline, Candidate Line, or any outward-facing emails (research@, comments@, etc.) about BULL. If the conversation progresses beyond these, and you’re not sure how to answer, transfer to the Officials Research Director or a Public Statements researcher. **Do not make promises to the caller about removing a fact-check from the site.** >>==BULL Hotline Guide - Table of Contents== =={{anchor target="whatisBULL" text="What is BULL?"}}== =={{anchor target="whatisBULLnot" text="What is BULL not?"}}== =={{anchor target="whatdoesBULLmean" text="What does BULL mean?"}}== =={{anchor target="factcheckingpartners" text="Who are our fact-checking partners?"}}== =={{anchor target="BULLcollectioncriteria" text="What are the criteria for Vote Smart’s BULL collection?"}}== =={{anchor target="whyfalsestatements" text="Why only false statements?"}}== =={{anchor target="rulingdisagreements" text="Questions or disagreements on rulings"}}== =={{anchor target="scopeoflie" text="Questions on the scope of the fact-checks"}}== =={{anchor target="partisanaccusations" text="Partisan accusations"}}== =={{anchor target="missingstatements" text="Questions on statements we didn't take"}}==>> {{anchor name="whatisBULL"}}==What is “BULL”?== - A new [[FactcheckingData fact-checking]] tool that allows users to see when and how many times a politician has lied according to reputable fact-checking partners. Users can read the statements found to be inaccurate by PolitiFact, FactCheck.org, and the Washington Post Fact Checker and can click a link to the fact-checker’s article questioning the statement. {{anchor name="whatisBULLnot"}}==What is “BULL” not?== - BULL is **not** a collection of every fact-checked article on a politician in our database, but rather a project focusing on exposing lies and misleading statements from politicians. Articles finding statements to be true, mostly true, or half-true have not been included-- we’re focusing on statements that have been found to be false or mostly false. - Vote Smart researchers are **not** fact-checking **every statement** by **every politician**, but rather collecting fact-checked articles from our partners (see below). Any determinations on the accuracy of a statement have been provided by those partners. {{anchor name="whatdoesBULLmean"}}==What does “BULL” mean?== - It means what you think it means! It’s bullcrap-- statements from candidates lying to or misleading Americans. {{anchor name="factcheckingpartners"}}==Who are our fact-checking partners?== - Washington Post Fact Checker (factchecker@washpost.com) - Politifact.org (truthometer@politifact.com) - FactCheck.org (Editor@FactCheck.org) - We do have permission from all three sources to link to their articles from our site. {{anchor name="BULLcollectioncriteria"}}==What are the criteria for Vote Smart’s BULL collection?== - A fact-check article from one of our partners (see above) that corresponds to data in the Vote Smart database. See more on the fact-check collection criteria on the [[FactcheckingData Factchecking]] wiki, and see the Public Statements regular collection criteria at [[SpeechesDataStandards Speeches and Public Statements Data Standards]]. - We collect statements from: - The president - The vice president - Congress - Governors - Candidates running for these positions - At least one fact-check partner has found the statement to be false or mostly false {{anchor name="whyfalsestatements"}}==Why only false statements?== - BULL indicates when a politician has lied to or misled voters, so we’re focusing on statements found to be false or mostly false. {{anchor name="rulingdisagreements"}}==If someone disagrees with the ruling on the fact-check:== - Explain that we’re not fact-checking in house, but rather providing a link to our partner’s fact-check of the statement - Direct the user to the fact checker’s article for more context - You can also direct them to contact the fact checkers at: - PolitiFact: truthometer@politifact.com - FactCheck.org: Editor@FactCheck.org - Washington Post Fact Checker: factchecker@washpost.com - Please note that we will not remove a link to a fact-check article from our partners-- don’t make promises here about removing anything from the site! {{anchor name="scopeoflie"}}==If someone is confused about the scope of the “lie” (one part of the statement versus the entirety of the statement):== - Skim the fact-check article (put the caller on hold if necessary) - Direct the user to the fact-checker’s article for more context and identify the part of the statement identified as false, if applicable {{anchor name="partisanaccusations"}}==Partisan accusations:== -Related to specific BULL entries: - Direct to the fact-check article on our partner’s website - Explain collection criteria (see above) -Related to partnering publications: - Partners selected based on their nonpartisanship and quality of reporting - In-depth investigations, covering politicians from all parties and political beliefs - If the caller suggests an additional fact-checker, pass along to the Officials Research Director or a Public Statements researcher, but again, do not make promises about adding new fact-check sources {{anchor name="missingstatements"}}==If someone asks about statements we didn’t take (ex. a tweet from someone in Congress but not a congressional leader):== - Current resources in Public Statements allow us to collect: - Official statements from .gov sites - TV transcripts from select shows - Tweets from the president, vice president, presidential candidates, and congressional leaders - If you believe that we’re missing a fact check that fits our criteria, or if you or a user believe that we should step outside of our regular collection to take a fact check on a statement we wouldn’t regularly collect (a tweet from someone outside of congressional leadership, for example), let a Public Statements researcher and/or the Director of Officials Research know.