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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

FactCheck Subscribers Find Us Clear, Unbiased, Reliable and Useful

More than 21,000 respond to our survey. A very few say we tilt left. Even fewer say we tilt right.


Summary

More than 21,000 FactCheck.org subscribers responded to our online survey conducted Nov. 13-19. That’s roughly 30% of all those who signed up to get our articles emailed to them. Overwhelmingly, those who responded found our articles clear and easy to understand, politically unbiased, reliable, and helpful in forming opinions about the candidates and their positions.

Journalists make up only 2 percent of respondents, but most of them found our articles helpful and nearly half quoted us as an authority. Teachers made up 10 percent of the respondents, and one in three used our articles in class.

One in six who responded worked in the 2004 presidential campaign at some level. Few Kerry nor Bush workers thought our articles made their opponent more careful about stating the facts, however.

A note of caution as you read these results. Our subscribers are not a random sample of everybody who visits our site, and the subscribers who chose to respond to our invitation to take this survey are not a random sample of all subscribers. So we don’t pretend that these results are anything like a scientific sample of all who visit our site. But with that said, we are gratified at what we consider a very high response rate for such a survey and at the very favorable results.

Analysis

For a .pdf version of this report click here.

 

FactCheck.org Subscriber Survey Results
(21,586 respondents;
Conducted Nov. 13-19, 2004)

 

99% found us “clear and easy to understand.”

I found the information on the site clear and easy to understand.

 

94% found us “free of political bias.”

I found the information on the site to be free of political bias.

 

Of the 6% who saw bias, most thought it was liberal, but nearly one in four said it was conservative.

Was the bias you detected pro-Democrat/liberal or pro-Republican/conservative, or some other?

 

Those seeing liberal bias were mostly GOP or Independent; those seeing a rightward tilt mostly Dems.

 

99% found us “reliable and accurate.”

Did you find the information to be reliable and accurate?

 

93% found us helpful in forming an opinion of the candidates.

How helpful did you find the information in forming your opinion of the candidates and their positions on the issues?

 

97% voted in the presidential election.

Did you vote in the presidential election of 2004?

 

Among those who voted, 78% said we made them more confident in their choice.

Did FactCheck.org’s information make you more confident that you had made the right choice, less confident, or did FactCheck.org’s information make no difference at all?

 

90% shared FactCheck articles with others.

Did you share FactCheck.org articles with others?

 

Of those who shared articles, 43% did so once a week or more. . .

How often did you share FactCheck articles?

 

. . . but most didn’t use the “email to a friend” feature.

Did you use the “email to a friend” feature?

 

Only 2% said they are journalists, but . . .

Are you a journalist?

 

. . . nearly two-thirds said we were helpful to them in preparing news reports, and . . .

Did you find FactCheck information useful in preparing news reports?

 

. . . nearly half said they quoted FactCheck as an authority. . .

Did you cite FactCheck.org as an authority in news reports?

 

. . . usually after verifying our information for themselves.

10% said they are teachers. . .

Are you a teacher?

 

. . . mostly at the high school and college level.

About one teacher in three used FactCheck material in class.

Did you use FactCheck material in any of your classes?

 

High-school teachers were most likely to use FactCheck in class.

One in six worked on a presidential campaign. . .

Did you work in a presidential campaign in 2004, for a candidate, a party or an independent group?

 

. . . eight out of ten for Kerry.

A few workers on each side said FactCheck made their opponent more careful about facts. . .

. . . but nearly three times as many said we made their candidate more careful.

More identified themselves as Democrats or Independents than as Republicans.

Do you consider yourself to be a Republican, a Democrat, an Independent, or what? (Optional)