Three stations have contributed suggestions for labels you can use to identify the accuracy of ad watches. Be sure to watch some of the video clips to see how they use these labels.
Ad Watch Labels
contributed by Mike Cate and Robert Mak, KING, Seattle
True
Its not enough to say a claim is true just because you cant find anything that contradicts it. Make sure you know why its true. One way to jumpstart the process is to make the campaign show you why its true, then double check their documents. If they dont play ball, point that out in your ad watch too. Remember, were trying to subject the election process to the same rules we want them to follow when theyre in office: if theyre going to make a claim, back it up with facts.
False
Reserve this judgment for claims that are unequivocally false, like Yellow is red. Dont use it for claims that could with a liberal interpretation be considered partially true, like Orange is red. You want to avoid arguments about whats really red and whats really orange. There are other labels we can put on these claims.
Misleading
A misleading claim is one that literally leads one to believe something thats untrue about a candidate even if the claim itself is not unequivocally false. For instance, candidate A could claim that candidate B voted to allow guns on school grounds, with the goal of leading voters to believe candidate B is a gun nut. But if the actual bill candidate B voted for restricts guns on school grounds more than the law it replaced candidate As ad has misled voters. Which leads us to a similar label&
Theres More
This works well when a claim needs further explanation. Lets say an ad claims a candidate voted ten times to raise taxes, but doesnt explain that four of those votes were for the same measure just in various stages of passage. This label is pretty much interchangeable with Not So Simple and Needs Clarification, but not with&
Fair?
This label works best when theres doubt in your mind about the claim. Just lay out the facts for the viewer and ask the question. This may seem like a cop out, but there truly are things that are&
Ambiguous
This label is similar to Fair? just not with the rhetorical weight. Maybe an ad claims that a candidate is in the pocket of the timber lobby because he took a lot of money and made certain votes. You may be able to verify the money and the votes, but the claim may be too ambiguous so leave it for people to judge themselves.
contributed by Brooks Jackson, CNN, Washington, D.C.
You have the ad, and you have the facts. Now what?
Calling a candidates ad False or Misleading is a serious step, not to be taken lightly. It violates the tradition of objective journalism to characterize a statement in any way. So, err on the side of caution. Constantly challenge your own judgment by asking yourself, Can I back that up? Can I prove that?
False
This is the most serious charge you can make about an ad, and I have used this word in only a very few cases. I use it when I can prove a statement is factually incorrect, and when there is no reasonable way it can be interpreted otherwise. In the 1996 presidential campaign Bob Dole ran an ad accusing Lamar Alexander of raising Tennessees sales taxes 85 percent while he was governor. In fact, sales taxes increased only 22 percent. Doles ad was false and I said so.
Misleading
Much more often an ad uses facts selectively, or quotes out of context, in a way designed to leave an incorrect impression. Not a lie, exactly. But the sort of dishonesty that might get a journalist fired in a heartbeat if presented as a news story. Example: in 1992 Pat Buchanan ran a primary ad accusing some key George Bush advisers of being foreign agents whose names appeared in Justice Department files. Wow! And it was all true! But the Bush aides were not spies or criminals, as the ad seemed to imply. They were merely lobbyists for foreign corporations, and had filed the required disclosure reports with an obscure office of Justice. A classic case of an ad that was factually true, but clearly misleading. And I said so. I probably use the word Misleading ten times more often than the word False.
Unfair
A good word to characterize ads that present facts seriously out of context, or that fail to mention pertinent information in order to create a false impression. Similar to Misleading.
Exaggeration
A much better word to use than False if the facts are only wrong but not terribly far off the mark. Did the ad accuse the opponent of wasting millions? Was the waste in fact a mere $1,200,000? Calling that False would be too harsh.
Not the Whole Story
This covers another common situation, when an ads statements are true - as far as they go. Perhaps it is true candidate Smith missed 47 key votes during the last session of the state legislature, as his opponent claims. Would it help to know that 40 of those votes took place while Smiths daughter was lying gravely ill in a hospital? You get the idea.
In Fact...
If you have done the research, pondered what to say, and still are not comfortable characterizing a statement one way or another, then dont. Just use the phrase in fact... and go on to give your viewers the additional facts they need to judge. This is the most neutral of all the phrases you can use. But be careful; by using it you are implying, even if not saying outright, that there is something fishy here that bears a closer look. Use it as appropriate.
True Hey, when theyre right, theyre right. And you should say so. Just be as sure as you would be before calling something False or Misleading.
Finally, judge each statement and each ad on its own merit. Just because you have called one candidates ad misleading does NOT mean that you must even the score by saying the same thing about one of the opponents ads. Be thorough, fair and honest about each story and each ad. Be open-minded. Set aside any personal biases. If in the end your stories criticize one candidates ads more harshly than those of another, then it is their fault, not yours.
contributed by Michael Geeser, KLAS, Las Vegas
True
If the ad claimed what really happened or what was really said.
False
An outright lie.
Misleading
Its not false, but its not true either. Its where an effort was made to mislead, not by accident but on purpose.
Spin
One level below misleading. Its not true, but its close. It might be another way of saying something to benefit the candidate.
Fine Print
The tiny print at the bottom of the screen that no human could ever read.
Flip Flop
When a candidate reverses his or her position on an issue.
