PolitiFact.com began in August 2007 as a political fact-checking service by the St. Petersburg (FL) Times. In January 2010, PolitiFact expanded to the Austin (TX) American-Statesman, and then to several other newspapers. There is a national PolitiFact (for presidential statements, for example) along with local PolitiFacts (such as PolitiFact Texas).
 
Both the political left and the political right have claimed that PolitiFact shows bias and is not correct in its conclusions. The PolitiFact nickname of “PolitiFarce” has been cited in print since at least April 2010.
 
 
Wikipedia: PolitiFact.com
PolitiFact.com is a project that is operated by the St. Petersburg Times, a project in which its reporters and editors “fact-check statements by members of Congress, the White House, lobbyists and interest groups….” They publish original statements and their evaluations on the PolitiFact.com website, and assign each a “Truth-O-Meter” rating. The ratings range from “True” for completely accurate statements to “Pants on Fire” (from the taunt “Liar, liar, pants on fire”) for outright lies.
 
The site also includes an “Obameter”, tracking President Barack Obama’s performance with regard to his campaign promise and a “GOP Pledge-O-Meter.” which tracks promises made by House Republicans in their “Pledge to America.”
 
History
PolitiFact.com was started in August 2007 by Times Washington Bureau Chief Bill Adair, in conjuction with the Congressional Quarterly. Adair remains PolitiFact.com’s editor.
 
In January 2010, PolitiFact.com expanded to its second newspaper, the Cox-owned Austin American-Statesman in Austin, Texas; the feature, called Politifact Texas, covers issues that are relevant to Texas and the Austin area.
 
In March 2010, the Times and its partner newspaper, The Miami Herald, launched Politifact Florida, which focuses on Florida issues. The Times and The Herald share resources on some stories that relate to Florida.
 
Since then, PolitiFact.com expanded to other papers, such as The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Providence Journal, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The Plain Dealer, Richmond Times-Dispatch, and The Oregonian.
             
Harris County Almanac
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Politifarce
Opinion presented as fact, sourced by media dinosaurs who dare not question the opinion of other media dinosaurs.
 
Rick vs. Kay
Friday, April 30, 2010
Defending Kay from Politifarce…
Politifarce is at it again… this time slamming Kay for this statement…
     
Rick vs. Kay
Monday, May 3, 2010
Politifarce strikes again… on health care…
Politifact once again screws up… labels their check incorrectly… I am not going to link to it because that just gives them more satisfaction.
 
Eye on Wisconsin by Cory Liebmann
Monday, September 27, 2010
PolitiFarce Infects Post Crescent
While “PolitiFact” continues to fancy itself as the arbiter of all things “fact”, they also continue to get it consistently wrong. I know that it may be personally cathartic for them to bestow a “pants on fire” designation on a campaign, but they should really avoid the urge when the actual facts and simple math do not support their cause.
 
PolitiFact Bias
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Anchor Rising introduces “PolitiFarce” tag
Rhode Island bloggers Anchor Rising have produced a number of high-quality critiques of PolitiFact, and the good folks there have added a new post category to make it easier to link to their content via PolitiFact Bias.  Look for a new link in the “PolitiFact’s Detractors” section in the sidebar.
 
Cognitive Dissidence
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
PolitiFarce Part V: PolitiFail
The controversial PolitiFact in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has done it again.