AS WELL AS everything else, 2016 was a confusing year, in many ways.
We had a momentous general election at home, and the most unusual US presidential election in many years, marked by constant factual claim and counter-claim, and allegations of lying from all sides.
There was a surge in online “fake news”, and some parts of the traditional news media also indulged in baseless rumour and misinformation about Brexit, the refugee crisis and many other issues.
You could be forgiven for feeling a bit lost, and agreeing with the Oxford English Dictionary that “post-truth” was indeed the word that best captures the spirit of 2016.
But at FactCheck, we’ve been doing our best every day since February to help clear away the weeds, and separate the TRUE from the FALSE, the Half TRUE from the UNPROVEN.
So before we leave 2016 behind, we want to know:
Is there anything you’ve heard a lot this year that you’re still not sure about?
Is there a fact, a statistic, or an allegation that you’ve seen over and over again, but you honestly don’t know if it’s true or not?
What did Donald Trump really say about Mexican people? Are Fianna Fáil for water charges or against them? How many people actually work at foreign companies in Ireland? Did Hillary Clinton break the law with her email server?
Whatever nagging questions you may have, let us know by 12pm Wednesday 7 December, and we’ll do our best to answer and clarify as many as we can.
And unlike our usual fact checks, we’ll look into claims from beyond Ireland, and we don’t need you to specify who made the claim, or where you heard it – we’re looking for factual claims that have simply been “everywhere” this year. By Wednesday,
So – what are you still not sure about?
TheJournal.ie’s FactCheck is a signatory to the International Fact-Checking Network’s Code of Principles. You can read it here.
For information on how FactCheck works, what the verdicts mean, and how you can take part, check out our Reader’s Guide here.
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