OPINION | BRENDA LOOPER: Truth or myth?

It's been too long since I've talked about fact-checking, especially one particularly important bit: primary sources.

When I've talked about fact-checking operations like FactCheck.org and PolitiFact (as well as news services like Reuters that publish fact-checks), I usually note that one of the reasons I prefer them is that they link to their sources. Allowing the reader to see the contemporaneous news coverage, actual documents and other primary source materials that led to the fact-checkers' findings is a layer of accountability that gives more weight to the fact-check. That plus being open about where funding comes from goes a long way toward determining trustworthiness (as opposed to linking back only to your own reporting/opinion and keeping mum on money matters).

Primary sources are often the difference between truth and myth.