{"id":1314587,"date":"2026-02-25T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wisconsinwatch.org\/?p=1314587"},"modified":"2026-02-25T09:09:28","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T15:09:28","slug":"wisconsin-watch-milwaukee-journal-sentinel-fact-brief-check-gigafact-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wisconsinwatch.org\/2026\/02\/wisconsin-watch-milwaukee-journal-sentinel-fact-brief-check-gigafact-election\/","title":{"rendered":"Wisconsin Watch partners with Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to produce more Fact Briefs","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/b><\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>\n

Wisconsin Watch has a new partner in the fight for facts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahead of another pivotal election year, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Wisconsin Watch are teaming up to produce more Fact Briefs, 150-word answers to yes\/no questions based on claims made in the infosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wisconsin Watch has partnered with Gigafact since 2022 to produce more than 600 bite-sized fact checks. We\u2019re part of a network of 18 nonprofit newsrooms across the country working to equip the public with accurate information to inform civic discussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tfact briefs<\/a><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t
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Is a claim that a massive data center will use only 4 Olympic swimming pools of water per year accurate?<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/article>\n\n\t\t\n\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Can\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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Can employers fire workers for any reason in Wisconsin and nearly every other state?<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/article>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\n

The Journal Sentinel, part of the USA Today Network and the largest newsroom in Wisconsin, was an early adopter of PolitiFact, the Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checking nonprofit founded in 2007.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Journal Sentinel Editor Greg Borowski writes in a column today at jsonline.com<\/a>, the switch to Fact Briefs will appeal to readers seeking accurate information quickly and with a clearer true-or-false format, rather than PolitiFact\u2019s six-tiered \u201cscore card\u201d for assessing whether a claimant is telling the truth. Fact Briefs focus less on the claimant, and more on the claim itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis partnership will increase the number of Wisconsin-focused items and allow us to present them more quickly and in ways we think readers most want to get them,\u201d Borowski writes.<\/p>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tRelated Stories<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t
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A look back at the Wisconsin Watch fact briefs from 2025 with lasting value<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/article>\n\n\t\t\n\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Wisconsin\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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Wisconsin Watch makes audio fact briefs available to partner radio stations<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/article>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\n

The facts matter, even more so in a world where politicians and media influencers seem to habitually get away with bending, breaking or simply disregarding the truth. Fighting for the facts isn\u2019t about picking a political side or committing to a particular worldview, it\u2019s about nurturing a shared reality that forms the basis of a free and civilized society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why the courts, teachers, scientists, the folks managing your investment accounts and even the refs checking the instant replay cameras take the facts so seriously. Why should our political discourse be any different?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re excited to grow our capacity to keep the public informed, but we continue to need the public\u2019s support. Whether this new partnership will continue after the November election will depend on support from Wisconsin Watch donors. Click here<\/a> to find out more about how you can support the fight for facts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Wisconsin Watch<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our\u00a0newsletters<\/a>\u00a0for original stories and our Friday news roundup. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The newsrooms will deliver more bite-sized responses to yes\/no questions in the lead-up to the 2026 election.<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":532,"featured_media":1314590,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single-feature.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"gigafact_has_fact_brief":false,"gigafact_remote_fact_brief_post_id":0,"gigafact_remote_sync_timestamp":"","gigafact_remote_sync_status":"","gigafact_remote_sync_response":"","gigafact_has_been_published":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2026-02-25T15:10:19Z","apple_news_api_id":"30865bef-3205-43ee-9f81-eebc25f07d81","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2026-02-25T15:10:19Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AMIZb7zIFQ-6fge68JfB9gQ","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","newspack_content_restriction_is_exempt":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"large","newspack_post_subtitle":"The newsrooms will deliver more bite-sized responses to yes\/no questions in the lead-up to the 2026 election","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[6717,6],"tags":[19284,5117,248,3656,3617],"partner":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"type-of-work":[],"coauthors":[3521],"class_list":["post-1314587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fact-briefs","category-news-about-wcij","tag-election-2026","tag-hidert","tag-milwaukee-journal-sentinel","tag-news","tag-wisconsin-watch","entry"],"fact_brief":null,"apple_news_notices":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/wisconsinwatch.org\/2026\/02\/wisconsin-watch-milwaukee-journal-sentinel-fact-brief-check-gigafact-election\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Wisconsin Watch partners with Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to produce more Fact Briefs","url":"http:\/\/wisconsinwatch.org\/2026\/02\/wisconsin-watch-milwaukee-journal-sentinel-fact-brief-check-gigafact-election\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/wisconsinwatch.org\/2026\/02\/wisconsin-watch-milwaukee-journal-sentinel-fact-brief-check-gigafact-election\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wisconsinwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/asse6558499-scaled.jpg?fit=140%2C93&quality=100&ssl=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wisconsinwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/asse6558499-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&quality=100&ssl=1"},"articleSection":"Fact Briefs","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Matthew DeFour \/ Wisconsin Watch"}],"creator":["Matthew DeFour \/ Wisconsin Watch"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Wisconsin Watch","logo":"https:\/\/wisconsinwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/ww-logo-footer-1.png"},"keywords":["election 2026","hidert","milwaukee journal sentinel","news","wisconsin watch"],"dateCreated":"2026-02-25T12:00:00Z","datePublished":"2026-02-25T12:00:00Z","dateModified":"2026-02-25T15:09:28Z"},"rendered":"