The truth is taking a back seat to false claims in the U.S. election campaign because journalists canât keep up, according to an American political science professor.
University of Pennsylvania professor Kathleen Hall Jamieson says Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton arenât being held as accountable as they should be, because journalists arenât knowledgeable enough to catch them when they make untrue statements on the campaign trail. Politicians also have a broader range of media outlets to speak to than ever before, meaning they can âgo place to place and deceive,â Hall Jamieson told CTVâs Canada AM on Tuesday.
And while Republican presidential nominee Trump might claim the media is aligned against him, heâs actually getting away with a lot.
âThe media are challenging him occasionally, but theyâre not challenging him often enough to catch up with the facts that are distorting his record,â Hall Jamieson said.
Hall Jamieson runs the website , which attempts to keep up with all the claims politicians make on the campaign trail. But while she tries to hold Trump and his opponents to the facts, Trump has been claiming on a regular basis that journalists are aligned against him.
The media is on a new phony kick about my management style. I spend much less money & get much better results! What we need as Prez!
â Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
Don't believe the biased and phony media quoting people who work for my campaign. The only quote that matters is a quote from me!
â Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
Amazingly, with all of the money I have raised for the vets, I have got nothing but bad publicity from the dishonest and disgusting media.
â Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
She said a number of Trumpâs claims have been untrue, but he hasnât been taken to task on enough of them. For instance, Hall Jamieson refuted Trumpâs claims that there were cheering in New Jersey after 9-11, and pointed out that the judge adjudicating a case against Trump in California is not Mexican, despite Trumpâs claim. Additionally, she highlighted the fact that Trump has incorrectly suggested there is a â an incorrect bit of misinformation that has been repeatedly proven false.
But Trump isnât the only one presenting misinformation on the campaign trail. Hall Jamieson says many politicians routinely exaggerate problems, which makes it tough to evaluate whether their solutions are appropriate.
âWe canât really determine what the problems are if we donât agree on the facts,â Hall Jamieson said.
âFor example, (Democratic presidential candidate) Bernie Sanders is saying that people are working longer hours for lower pay. Well actually theyâre working longer hours but theyâre being paid more. So if weâre going to talk about income inequality, we need to diagnose the problem in order to determine the solution.â
Hall Jamieson also suggests part of the problem is that the public, particularly in the U.S., has lost some of its trust in institutions, including journalism, so fewer people are paying attention when someone challenges a politician.
âThe voices of authority are having more difficulty correcting when misinformation is out there,â she said.
Hall Jamieson says itâs not an easy societal problem to address, but the way to fix it is through education.
âTeach people how to understand what evidence is, why we should trust sources of authority and when we should be skeptical of them,â she said.