Share Your Expertise on Fact Checks
It’s often said that journalism is the first draft of history.
That has become even more the case in the Internet era, where the first draft is being written even as events are unfolding.
At Civil Beat, we’re committed to helping you understand local issues. That means that we don’t just report what political candidates say; we also look into whether what they say is true.
Our new election Fact Check feature is off and running. We’ve already shown that former Mayor Mufi Hannemann‘s claim that he was the only candidate with an endorsement from a business group was false; and that his claim about what he — the city — does with our trash was mostly true. We’ve shown that a claim by his rival, former Congressman Neil Abercrombie, that the city is in the worst financial shape imaginable is false, but that it’s mostly true that history shows the election will be won on the neighbor islands.
On Wednesday, we started the day with five assertions by mayoral candidates labeled “In Progress.” One was a claim by Acting Mayor Kirk Caldwell, Caldwell: ‘The Number One Job of the City is To Create Jobs for All of Us.’. But before most people went home from work, we were in a position to tell them that that their jobs weren’t thanks to City Hall.
Here are the four Fact Checks that are in progress on the site:
- Caldwell: Honolulu Will Spend $150 Million Paving Roads This Year
- Prevedouros: Trash Solution is Simple – Send it Back to Mainland in Empty Shipping Containers
- Caldwell: Property Taxes and Fees Are Tapped Out
- Carlisle: ‘We Need More Jobs in the Private Sector and Fewer Jobs in the Government’
There will be more Thursday, these from a debate Wednesday between Hannemann and Abercrombie.
The In Progress label is a way for us to tell you what we’re working on — and to ask for your help. The Fact Checks are a place where you can share your expertise and help inform your fellow voters. Just post a comment either directing us to a good source to answer a question or providing your own insight.
We think working together we’ll better serve all our readers.
