Politicians - Journalism - Evaluating News and Information - Library Guides at University of Missouri Libraries

Politicians’ Claims and Stances

Politician’s website
Look for speeches, press releases, policy statements, etc.
Google Video
Videos of press conferences, speeches, etc.
American Archive of Public Radio
This collection contains speeches, debates and other recordings back to 1900.
Politifact
Fact checking of politicians’ statements.
PunditFact
Dedicated to checking the accuracy of claims by pundits, columnists, bloggers, political analysts, the hosts and guests of talk shows, and other members of the media.
Fact Check.org
They monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases.
Open Secrets
Nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit, the Center for Responsive Politics is the nation's premier research group tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy.
Politwoops
Deleted Tweets by public officials.
Snopes
Award-winning fact check site, focusing on information spread through social media.
Congressional Record
Transcripts of congressional sessions.

Voting Records

Ballotpedia.org
GovTrack
Congressional votes database.
Missouri House of Representatives
Missouri Senate
Project Vote Smart
U.S. Congress
U.S. House of Representatives
U.S. Senate
Washington Post US Congress Votes Database

Legislation

Congressional Record
For transcripts of congressional sessions.
GovTrack
View the status of federal legislation, information about your representative and senators in Congress including voting records, and original research on legislation and congressional oversight & investigations.
Legiscan
Provides real-time legislative tracking designed for both public citizens and government affairs professionals.
Open States
Track bills, review upcoming legislation, and see how your local representatives are voting in your state

Example: Snopes

Political Campaigns

Election Databot
Most Active Campaigns
Trending on Google
Independent Expenditures
Facebook Ads
Late Contributions Filings
538 Forecasts
News Articles
Official Statements
Candidate Statements
Deleted Tweets
Federal Exchange Commission
The duties of the FEC, which is an independent regulatory agency, are to disclose campaign finance information, to enforce the provisions of the law such as the limits and prohibitions on contributions, and to oversee the public funding of Presidential elections.
Open Secrets
Follow the money at the Center for Responsive Politics, an independent research center "tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy. Nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit, the organization aims to create a more educated voter, an involved citizenry and a more transparent and responsive government."
Project Vote Smart
Bios, votes, positions, ratings, speeches and funding information for over 40,000 politicians.

Example: Politifact

Politifact investigates politician's quotes to see if they are true. They then use the truth-o-meter to allow users to determine quickly whether the facts from the quote is true. Their analysis provides data and information used to verify or disprove the quote.

Journalism - Evaluating News and Information: Politicians