Context matters -- We examine the claim in the full context, the comments made before and after it, the question that prompted it, and the point the person was trying to make.
--Principles of PolitiFact and the Truth-O-Meter
The issue:
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| (clipped from PolitiFact.com) |
The fact checkers:
Zack McMillin: writer, researcher
Bill Adair: editor
Tom Chester: editor
Analysis:
Is this fact check a slam dunk falsehood? Did Tennessee legislator Stacey Campfield claim that AIDS originated when a man had sex with a monkey before subsequently having sex with other men?
Fact checks like this one tend to draw my attention because journalists often display a difficulty in reporting science and because of a widespread journalistic sympathy toward social liberalism.
PolitiFact:
Of the many controversial claims state Sen. Stacey Campfield, R-Knoxville, made in an interview on satellite radio last week with a gay-rights advocate, none was more sensational than his assertion that AIDS in humans came from "one guy screwing a monkey, if I recall correctly, and then having sex with men."Campfield supposedly asserts that AIDS came from "one guy screwing a monkey ... then having sex with men."
What does "assertion" mean?
Something declared or stated positively, often with no support or attempt at proof. (wordnik.com)And "stated positively" means what?
assert, claim: Careful writers distinguish between these verbs, though they are often used synonymously. Claim implies having evidence to back up an assertion, while to assert is to state one's position boldly. Some authorities declare this battle is now over, and those who find claim to be stronger than assert or contend are free to use it. But the word may imply a lack of foundation, so use it with care.PolitiFact, by describing the nature of Campfield's statement with variations of "claims" and "asserts," frames the legislator as though he is attempting to make an authoritative statement about the origin of AIDS. Unfortunately for PolitiFact, the immediate context of the quotation argues directly against that frame. Campfield was asked if he knew the origin of AIDS and offered his understanding according to his recollection. Campfield was not attempting to make any point associated with his proposed legislation apart from the harm caused by homosexual practices. That is, the spread of AIDS.
("The Right Word: How To Say What You Really Mean" page 37)
In short, PolitiFact is failing to give appropriate weight to the context.
If only that exhausted PolitiFact's blunders in this story.
