Poynter and The National Press Club Journalism Institute Host Media's Top Pundits to Discuss PunditFact and the Influence of Fact-Checking

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Feb. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Poynter Institute and the National Press Club Journalism Institute (NPCJI) will co-host a Feb. 10 forum at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. to take an in-depth look at the impact of PunditFact. As the fact-checking unit of the Tampa Bay Times, PunditFact published more than 350 fact-checks of pundits in 2014, from newspaper columnists to television commentators.

The event will feature a panel of some of the nation's top political pundits, including CNN and ABC Contributor Donna Brazile, CNN Political Contributor Ana Navarro, Kathleen Parker from The Washington Post, and the Daily Beast's Jackie Kucinich. They'll share their perspectives as columnists and commentators and will discuss how fact-checkers like PunditFact have influenced their work.

"Especially as we head into another presidential election season, it's vital that citizens get accurate information from experts, insiders and journalists that they see and read," said Poynter president Tim Franklin. "PunditFact has been a valuable voice in holding these folks accountable for what they say. This panel will be a rare and insightful look inside the world of political commentary, and the role it plays in our discourse. It promises to be a fascinating discussion."

Poynter senior faculty Al Tompkins and PunditFact editor Aaron Sharockman will moderate the discussion and will examine how the fact checking of pundits can improve and help ensure an informed electorate.  The event will also feature a live, interactive free broadcast hosted by Poynter's News University, which will begin at 12:15 p.m. Eastern time.

The forum was made possible through the generous support of The Democracy Fund and the Ford Foundation.

To register for the event or for more information, visit NPCJI's registration page here.  To enroll in the live broadcast, visit NewsU's registration page here.

About The Poynter Institute The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is a global leader in journalism education, and a strategy center that stands for uncompromising excellence in journalism, media and 21st century public discourse. Poynter faculty teach seminars and workshops at the Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., and at conferences and organizational sites around the world. Its e-learning division, News University, www.newsu.org, offers the world's largest online journalism curriculum in 7 languages, with more than 400 interactive courses and 300,000 registered users in more than 200 countries. The Institute's website, www.poynter.org, produces 24-hour coverage of news about media, ethics, technology, the business of news and the trends that currently define and redefine journalism news reporting. The world's top journalists and media innovators come to Poynter to learn and teach new generations of reporters, storytellers, media inventors, designers, visual journalists, documentarians and broadcast producers, and to build public awareness about journalism, media, the First Amendment and protected discourse that serves democracy and the public good.

About the National Press Club Journalism Institute:  The National Press Club Journalism Institute is the non-profit affiliate of the National Press Club.  Its mission is to train communications professionals in a changing media environment, provide scholarships to the next generation of journalists, recognize excellence in journalism and globally promote a free press, the cornerstone of a free society.

CONTACT: Kim Tobin, 1-727-553-4707, [email protected]

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SOURCE The Poynter Institute

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