With a primary election today and state general elections on the horizon, a new tool has emerged to help ensure candidates are staying true to their word.
AZ Fact Check, a service that verifies statements made by Arizona candidates, is the product of a partnership among The Arizona Republic, 12 News and ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
The online service, run by Republic reporters and ASU student interns, launched Aug. 16.
“The Arizona Republic came to us with this idea,” said Kristin Gilger, associate dean of the Cronkite school.
AZ Fact Check covers Arizona candidates in both state and federal elections.
The service allows readers to go online and submit a “fact” that he or she wishes to be checked. The AZ Fact Check team then researches the submission and posts the final analysis online.
Planning for the project started in the spring semester and students began working in July, Gilger said.
Seven selected interns from the journalism schoolwork alongside Republic reporters to identify the factual basis of the candidates’ literature, said John Leach, a journalism instructor and adviser to the interns. The internship was first announced in May.
“We write about what the candidates are saying … and research if it’s factually correct,” said journalism sophomore Vaughn Hillyard, a current intern.
He said he decided to participate in the internship because he had a “very keen interest in Arizona politics.”
Hillyard, a former Downtown student government senator, said he feels any government body should be held accountable.
For registered voters, this can be a very useful tool, journalism senior Maycie Thornton said.
“It is important because we need a way to know if politicians are being honest,” Thornton said.
The future of the project following the November elections has not yet been determined.
“We want to keep [AZ Fact Check] going,” said Arizona Republic executive editor Nicole Carroll, who also pitched the project idea to the journalism school.
However, it depends on the audience’s feedback and budgeting issues, Carroll said.
Reach the reporter at uriel.garcia@asu.edu
