I wonder if fact-checking agencies could evolve to some sort of “rating agencies”; I mean, they shouldn’t only screen for false statements, but actually provide information about who is accurate
Not sure if I understand the suggestion, or rather how you envision it adding value compared to the current system.
Fact-checkers already do say both that some statements are false and that others are accurate.
Also, at least some of them already have ways to see what proportion of a certain person’s claims that the fact-checker evaluated turned out to be true vs false. Although that’s obviously not the same as what proportion of all a source’s claims (or all of a source’s important claims, or whatever) are true.
But it seems like trying to objectively assess various sources’ overall accuracy would be very hard and controversial. And it seems like one way we could view the current situation is that most info that’s spread is roughly accurate (though often out of context, not highly important, etc.), and some is not, and the fact-checkers pick up claims that seem like they might be inaccurate and then say if they are. So we can perhaps see ourselves as already having something like an overall screening for general inaccuracy of quite prominent sources, in that, if fact-checking agencies haven’t pointed out false statements of theirs, they’re probably generally roughly accurate.
That’s obviously not a very fine-grained assessment, but I guess what I’m saying is that it’s something, and that adding value beyond that might be very hard.
Not sure if I understand the suggestion, or rather how you envision it adding value compared to the current system.
Fact-checkers already do say both that some statements are false and that others are accurate.
Also, at least some of them already have ways to see what proportion of a certain person’s claims that the fact-checker evaluated turned out to be true vs false. Although that’s obviously not the same as what proportion of all a source’s claims (or all of a source’s important claims, or whatever) are true.
But it seems like trying to objectively assess various sources’ overall accuracy would be very hard and controversial. And it seems like one way we could view the current situation is that most info that’s spread is roughly accurate (though often out of context, not highly important, etc.), and some is not, and the fact-checkers pick up claims that seem like they might be inaccurate and then say if they are. So we can perhaps see ourselves as already having something like an overall screening for general inaccuracy of quite prominent sources, in that, if fact-checking agencies haven’t pointed out false statements of theirs, they’re probably generally roughly accurate.
That’s obviously not a very fine-grained assessment, but I guess what I’m saying is that it’s something, and that adding value beyond that might be very hard.