Journal of the European Economic Association · 2025 · [{"name": "Charles Louis-Sidois", "affiliation": ["Vienna University of Economics and Business"]}]
中文摘要
摘要：本文首次对事实核查机构之间的政治差异进行统计研究。我收集了截至2021年7月法国六家主要综合性事实核查机构发表文章的完整数据集，并识别了被核查实体的政治倾向。法国事实核查机构承诺保持无党派立场，然而它们各自隶属于某一媒体机构。我发现事实核查机构的政治内容存在差异，这些差异反映了其所属媒体机构的政治倾向，这意味着事实核查机构并非政治中立。具体而言，它们对意识形态一致的实体进行核查的可能性较低；而当它们确实进行核查时，更倾向于选择其评估为正确的陈述。此外，与政府有关联的事实核查机构核查执政党的频率较低。最后，政治差异在选举前会扩大。将该分析复制到美国事实核查机构以检验外部有效性，得到了类似的结果。
Abstract
Abstract This paper provides the first statistical study of political differences between fact-checkers. I collect a comprehensive dataset of articles published by the six main general-interest French fact-checkers up until July 2021 and identify the political orientations of entities that are fact-checked. French fact-checkers commit to non-partisanship. However, they are affiliated with a media outlet. I find differences in fact-checkers’ political content, which reflect the media outlets’ slant. This implies that fact-checkers are not politically neutral. In particular, they are less likely to fact-check ideologically aligned entities; when they do, they are more likely to select statements that they assess as correct. Moreover, fact-checkers with connections to the government fact-check the incumbent party less often. Finally, political differences increase before elections. Replicating the analysis for U.S. fact-checkers to test the external validity yields similar results.