I always thought it was Goebbels who said “a lie is half way round the world before the truth has got its boots on” but it seems to have actually started with Jonathan Swift; which shows how important fact checking is.
Except that it isn’t, it is too late. The time to check whether someone is telling the truth is the second they say it. This has become increasingly difficult for broadcast journalists, as they have always based their work on the assumption no one would tell an outright lie. But politicians like President Trump lie all the time, about everything and it is very difficult to have every fact at hand to counter the next lie immediately. But interviewers really have to try harder, they have been found wanting time after time. They could always have experts in the studio or listening online to message the presenter with the detailed facts, for instance. Or read the briefings provided by diligent researchers, which not every presenter does do or even be experts on the subject they are asking questions about, which they often aren’t.
But the fact is the game has changed, liars have been and are getting away with lying and will therefore continue to do so. As President Trump has proved once you break the unspoken rules; that you can stretch the facts, choose the ones that suit you, bluster, prevaricate, hedge, avoid the question and be mealy mouthed but you can’t outright lie; they remain broken.
It gives the liars a huge advantage and they are making hay while the sun shines. Who is going to stop them?
https://jonty.substack.com/
Surely that is why Jonathan Swift wrote Gullibles travels? You might like my article on Jonathan Swift on Link in sometime.