The Fact Checker Who Doesn't Check Facts

Back in the early days of blogging, the mainstream news media boasted that their "layers of editors and fact checkers" made their reporting more reliable. To see how well that's been working out, check out NBC. 

One of the more amusing episodes of fact checking comes from the Washington Post. Almost simultaneously with their fact checker's debunking of an Obama regime claim that Mitt Romney got rich by shipping US jobs overseas, the "news" division of the Washington Post launched its part of the coordinated attack. 

Glenn Kessler, the Post's fact checker gave Obama four Pinocchios, the highest level possible. Even the left-leaning Factcheck.org called bullshit on Obama. But the Washington Post clung bitterly to its lies. 

We now learn that, when it comes to checking facts, Glenn Kessler doesn't bother checking his own paper.

In your meta moment of the day, Glenn Kessler, the Washington Post’s Fact Checker, announced today that he will not grade comments made by political candidates about stories reported in the Washington Post, largely because he refuses to fact check stories published in his newspaper.

Kessler has announced he is not going to issue any Pinocchios based on claims that President Obama’s campaign has made based on a disputed Washington Post story — although he says the Obama campaign misquotes the WaPo story.

Why? Because “The Fact Checker does not check the facts in the reporting of Washington Post writers or columnists.” He does this in a column that defends the Post’s reporting.