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Fact-checking Kamala Harris and Donald Trump's 1st presidential debate

Opinion via GreenPolicy360:

The US presidential campaign debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump and produced by ABC News on September 10, 2024. Some 67 million watched via broadcast stations and additional millions of viewers watched on PBS and online streaming including ABC News Live, Disney+, Hulu, CBS News 24/7, CBSNews.com, and Paramount+.

One striking element of the televised production was live fact checking provided by debate moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis.

Many readers, followers and sharers of the GreenPolicy360 network also have seen our ongoing fact checking coverage and advocacy for increasing the importance given to facts in an era of political dis- and mis-information.

GreenPolicy360 has, as one of our projects, continued for years to share the growth of the work of the Poynter Institute with its PolitFact and the International Fact-Checking Network, beginning in St. Petersburg, Florida. The independent journalism of Poynter and its educational resources that have been made available throughout the US and nations globally to advance democratic institutions are key to an effective free press.

The September 10th Harris-Trump debate benefited in substance by having fact checkers from various news organization using their own fact-checking guidelines to assess and report on the statements the candidates made.

We have gone so far now as to recommend a fact-checking app that can utilize AI technology to transcribe candidates statements and via an onscreen scrolling window provide immediate factual analysis.

The business of fact checking has advanced greatly in a period of approximately ten years since its introduction (see the reports tracking this fact-checking progress here at GreenPolicy360). The importance of facts in democracies, as policies are debated and political issues assessed 'on the merits' or not, is a subject for everyday consideration.

We speak of the "3Ds, discussion, debate and decision-making" and facts are the basis for a working democratic process and living democratic institutions.

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