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Nonprofit Profile | A Watchdog for Political Ads

by Tom Durso on February 8th, 2008

Hey, have you heard that the United States is in the midst of a presidential campaign? And you know what that means: In addition to epic pandering, lofty promises, and countless charges and countercharges, the airwaves are now filled to the rafters with commercials making all sorts of extraordinary claims. Sometimes they’re positive ads, with the candidates bathed in soft light, serenaded by patriotic swells, and surrounded by firefighters and children. Sometimes they’re negative, with the candidates’ opponents pictured in grainy black and white, linked to discredited politicians, and targeted with ominous, bone-chilling music.

Making sense of it all is the Annenberg Political Fact Check, created in 1994 at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center.

We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit, “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. We monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases. Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.

The 2008 presidential election is far too important to be decided by misleading commercials and bogus claims. The for-profit media prefer to spend most of their ink and airwaves reporting on the horse race instead of holding the candidates accountable for what they and their minions say. Here’s hoping that Fact Check becomes more visible than ever this year. We need it.

“Nonprofit Profile,” a weekly look at an organization making nonprofit news, appears Fridays at the 501(c) Files. | 501(c)

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POSTED IN: Accountability, Politics, Worth a look