Examine individual changes

'{{short description|American journalist}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Glenn Kessler | image = GlennKessler1 (cropped).jpg | caption = | birthname = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|mf=yes|1959|07|06}} | birth_place = [[Cincinnati, Ohio]], U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | education = [[Brown University]] (BA); [[Columbia University]] (MA) | occupation = “Journalist” | credits = ''[[The Washington Post]]'' }} '''Glenn Kessler''' (born July 6, 1959) is a former American diplomatic correspondent who since 2011 has helmed the "Fact Checker" feature for ''[[The Washington Post]]''.<ref>{{cite web|last=Kessler |first=Glenn |url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker |title=The Fact Checker website |publisher=Voices.washingtonpost.com |access-date=January 3, 2012}}</ref> ==Career== Kessler is a member of the [[Council on Foreign Relations]] and the author of ''The Confidante: Condoleezza Rice and the Creation of the Bush Legacy''. The book, which revealed previously unknown details on the making of Bush administration's foreign policy, was described as "brilliantly reported" by ''[[The New York Times Book Review]]'' and generated news articles and reviews in two dozen countries around the world.<ref>{{cite news|last=Lewis |first=Anthony |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/25/books/review/Lewis.html?_r=1&ref=review |title=The New York Times 25 November 2007 – The Enabler By Anthony Lewis |work=The New York Times |date=November 25, 2007 |access-date=January 3, 2012}}</ref> Kessler's reporting played a role in two foreign policy controversies during the presidency of [[George W. Bush]]. He was called to testify in the trial of [[I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby]], in which he was questioned about a 2003 telephone conversation with Libby in which the name of [[Valerie Plame]], a [[CIA]] operative, might have been discussed.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/12/AR2007021200588.html |title=The Washington Post 13 February 2007 – Journalists Testify That Libby Never Mentioned CIA Officer |work=The Washington Post |access-date=January 3, 2012 |first1=Carol D. |last1=Leonnig |first2=Amy |last2=Goldstein |date=February 13, 2007}}</ref> (Libby recalled they had discussed Plame; Kessler said they did not.<ref>{{Harvnb|Stewart|2011|pp=245}}</ref>) Meanwhile, a 2004 telephone conversation between Kessler and [[Steve J. Rosen]], a senior official at [[American Israel Public Affairs Committee]] (AIPAC), was at the core of the AIPAC leaking case.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/11/AR2005111101649.html/ |title=The Washington Post 12 November 2005 – Media Tangled in Lobbyist Case |work=The Washington Post |access-date=January 3, 2012 |first=Howard |last=Kurtz |date=November 12, 2005}}</ref> The federal government recorded the call and made it the centerpiece of its 2005 indictment of Rosen and an alleged co-conspirator; the charges were dropped in 2009. ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' called Kessler "one of the most aggressive journalists on the State Department beat."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB119828051872946001?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB119828051872946001.html |work=The Wall Street Journal|title= The Striver |date=December 22, 2007 |access-date=January 3, 2012}}</ref> ''[[The Atlantic]]'', in a 2007 profile of [[Condoleezza Rice]], said that "week after week, Kessler asks the best questions, and the most questions, at the secretary’s press conferences." <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2007/06/grand-illusions/305904/?single_page=true |title=The Atlantic Monthly June 2007 – Grand Illusions |work=The Atlantic Monthly |date=June 2007 |access-date=January 3, 2012}}</ref> Kessler, a specialist on [[nuclear proliferation]] (especially in [[Iran]] and [[North Korea]]) and the Middle East, wrote the first article on the North Korea nuclear facility being built in [[Syria]] that was destroyed by Israeli jets.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/12/AR2007091202430.html |title=The Washington Post 13 September 2007 – N. Korea, Syria May Be at Work on Nuclear Facility |work=The Washington Post |date=September 13, 2007 |access-date=January 3, 2012 |first=Glenn |last=Kessler}}</ref> He was immediately attacked for spreading neoconservative propaganda<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2007/09/14/north_korea_syria_nuclear_ties_deja_vu_all_over_again |title=Foreign Policy magazine – Passport blog 14 September 2007 – North Korea-Syria nuclear ties: deja vu all over again? |publisher=Blog.foreignpolicy.com |access-date=January 3, 2012}}</ref> but his reporting turned out to be correct and apologies were later offered.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://passport.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2008/04/29/syria_nuke_disclosure_why_now/|title=Foreign Policy magazine – Passport blog 29 April 2008 – Syria nuke disclosure: why now? |publisher=Passport.foreignpolicy.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120724095200/http://passport.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2008/04/29/syria_nuke_disclosure_why_now/ |access-date=January 3, 2012|archive-date=July 24, 2012 }}</ref> In a lengthy article, Kessler also revealed the Bush administration's internal decision-making that led to the Iraq war.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-decision-on-iraq-has-puzzling-past/2015/11/17/9faec50c-8992-11e5-be39-0034bb576eee_story.html ''The Washington Post'' January 12, 2003 – U.S. Decision On Iraq Has Puzzling Past]</ref> He traveled with three different Secretaries of State – [[Colin Powell]], Condoleezza Rice and [[Hillary Clinton]] – and for several years wrote a blog about his experiences on those trips.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane// |title=The Washington Post – Archive of the On The Plane blog |publisher=Blog.washingtonpost.com |access-date=January 3, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110906182846/http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane/ |archive-date=September 6, 2011 }}</ref> An article he wrote on apparent tensions between Rice and Defense Secretary [[Donald Rumsfeld]] during a 2006 trip to Iraq<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/27/AR2006042700895.html/ |title=The Washington Post 27 April 2006 – Rice, Rumsfeld in Separate Orbits in Baghdad |work=The Washington Post |access-date=January 3, 2012 |first=Glenn |last=Kessler |date=April 28, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111202645/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/27/AR2006042700895.html |archive-date=November 11, 2012 }}</ref> was later denounced by Rumsfeld as "just fairly typical Washington Post stuff."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.defense.gov/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=1293/ |title=U.S. Department of Defense News Transcript 28 April 2006 – Radio Interview with Secretary Rumsfeld on the Laura Ingraham Show |publisher=Defense.gov |access-date=January 3, 2012}}</ref> Kessler joined ''[[The Washington Post]]'' in 1998 as the national business editor and later served as economic policy reporter. Kessler also was a reporter with ''[[Newsday]]'' for eleven years, covering the [[White House]], politics, the [[United States Congress]], [[airline safety]] and [[Wall Street]]. His investigative articles on airline safety led to the indictments of airline executives and federal officials for fraud, prompted congressional hearings into safety issues and spurred the federal government to impose new safety rules for DC-9 jets and begin regular inspections of foreign airlines. He won the Premier Award from the Aviation Space Writers Association and the investigative reporting award from the Society of the Silurians. At ''[[Newsday]]'', Kessler shared in two [[Pulitzer Prizes]] given for spot news reporting.<ref>1997 Pulitzer Prize in spot news reporting (TWA Flight 800); 1992 Pulitzer Prize in spot news reporting (Manhattan subway derailment)</ref> Kessler once described what he called a "hare-brained scheme" to get hired by a major newspaper. "I had received my masters degree in international affairs at Columbia University, but nobody was going to hire me straight away to cover foreign policy," he said in a 2019 graduation speech to [[McLean High School]]. "However, I noticed that business journalism was then a growth area in the industry. I figured that I could get an expertise in a certain business subject, at a trade publication, and then a major newspaper would hire me to cover that subject. In retrospect, it sounds like a hare-brained scheme, but it actually worked. I started covering Wall Street for a business newsletter, and within three years I was hired to cover Wall Street by Newsday, then one of the ten biggest newspapers in the country."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://medium.com/@kesslerga/graduation-speech-to-mclean-high-school-june-3-2019-45e60ee90e2e |title=Graduation speech to McLean High School, June 3, 2019 |date=June 3, 2019 |access-date=November 24, 2020}}</ref> ==''Washington Post'' Fact Checker== In the ''Washington Post'' "Fact Checker," Kessler rates statements by politicians, usually on a range of one to four [[Pinocchio]]s&nbsp;– with one Pinocchio for minor shading of the facts and four Pinocchios for outright lies.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2011/01/welcome_to_the_new_fact_checke.html |title=Guide to Washington Post Fact Checker Rating Scale |publisher=Voices.washingtonpost.com |date=December 29, 2011 |access-date=January 3, 2012}}</ref> If the statement is truthful, the person will get a rare "[[Geppetto]]." Kessler has a new fact check at least five times a week; one column appears every week in the Sunday print edition of ''The Washington Post''. Kessler's team includes another reporter and a video producer, who also write fact checks edited by Kessler. Kessler, who took charge of the Fact Checker feature in January 2011, is considered one of the pioneers in political fact checking,<ref>{{Harvnb|Graves|2016|pp=34–36}}</ref> a movement that inspired nearly 300 fact-checking organizations in 83 countries, according to a tally by the Duke Reporters’ Lab.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://reporterslab.org/annual-census-finds-nearly-300-fact-checking-projects-around-the-world/ |title=Mark Stencel, "Annual census finds nearly 300 fact-checking projects around the world" |date=June 22, 2020 |access-date=August 20, 2020}}</ref> In 1996, while at ''Newsday'', "Kessler wrote what may have been the first lengthy fact-check story in a major American newspaper, a preemptive guide to a debate between Bill Clinton and Bob Dole aimed at helping viewers evaluate the claims they were about to hear."<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/content/view/4506/32/ |title= Stephanie Grace, "Just the Facts," Brown Alumni Monthly |date=January–February 2018 |access-date=February 16, 2018}}</ref> He documented the growth of fact checking around the world in an article for ''[[Foreign Affairs]]'' magazine, written after training journalists in Morocco.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2014-01-06/just-facts |title= Glenn Kessler, "Just the Facts: Politics and the New Journalism," Foreign Affairs |date=January 6, 2015 |access-date=June 19, 2016}}</ref> In a 2012 study of fact checkers, the Center for Media and Public Affairs at [[George Mason University]] concluded that Kessler "splits almost evenly between the two parties."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://washingtonexaminer.com/study-politifact-twice-as-critical-of-gop-compared-to-wapos-fact-check-column/article/2511401#.UI_6m2_A8TY |title="Study: PolitiFact twice as critical of GOP compared to WaPo's Fact Check column," The Washington Examiner, October 22, 2012 |work=The Washington Examiner |date=October 22, 2012 |access-date=October 30, 2012}}</ref> A columnist for ''The Wall Street Journal'' attacked the whole idea of awarding Pinocchios as akin to movie-reviewing, saying "the ‘fact check’ is opinion journalism or criticism, masquerading as straight news."<ref>{{cite news|last=Taranto |first=James |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB122339946870411861 |title=The 'Fact Checking' Fad |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=October 7, 2008 |access-date=January 3, 2012}}</ref> The conservative ''[[Power Line]]'' political blog devoted three articles to critiquing one of Kessler’s articles, calling him a "liberal reporter", and asserting that "these 'fact-checkers' nearly always turn out to be liberal apologists who don a false mantle of objectivity in order to advance the cause of the Democratic Party."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2011/09/who-checks-the-fact-checkers.php |title=John Hinderaker, "Who Checks the Fact Checkers?" Sept. 20, 2011 |publisher=Powerlineblog.com |date=September 20, 2011 |access-date=January 3, 2012}}</ref> Kessler's awarding of Four Pinocchios to [[GOP]] presidential candidate [[Herman Cain]] for comments he made on [[Margaret Sanger]] and the founding of [[Planned Parenthood]] was also criticized by opponents of abortion.<ref>{{cite web|author=Mollie |url=http://www.getreligion.org/2011/11/the-fine-line-between-racial-pioneer-and-eugenicist/ |title=Mollie Ziegler Hemingway, "Fine Line Between Racial Pioneer and Eugenicist," Nov. 2, 2011 |publisher=Getreligion.org |date=November 2, 2011 |access-date=January 3, 2012}}</ref> Yet Power Line also said that Kessler's extensive review of Democratic charges that Romney was a "flip-flopper" turned out to be "admirably fair-minded."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2011/12/is-mitt-romney-a-flip-flopper.php |title=John Hinderaker, "Is Mitt Romney a Flip-Flopper?" Dec. 1, 2011 |publisher=Powerlineblog.com |date=December 1, 2011 |access-date=January 21, 2012}}</ref> The liberal blog ''[[Talking Points Memo]]'' took Kessler to task for giving Four Pinocchios to a Democratic web petition on [[Medicare (United States)|Medicare]], saying the errors he allegedly made "were not just small misses, but big belly flop misses."<ref>{{cite web|author=Brian Beutler |url=http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/06/democratic-attacks-on-gop-budget-unfairly-pilloried-by-independent-fact-checkers.php |title=Brian Beutler, "Three Most Common Mistakes Made By So-Called Fact Checkers When Assessing GOP's Medicare Plan," June 14, 2011 |publisher=Tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com |date=June 14, 2011 |access-date=January 3, 2012}}</ref> The Obama White House issued a statement titled "Fact Checking the Fact Checker" after Kessler gave Obama Three Pinocchios for statements he made on the auto industry bailout.<ref>{{cite web|author=Dan Pfeiffer |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2011/06/07/fact-checking-fact-checker |title=White House blog, "Fact Checking the Fact Checker," June 7, 2011 |date=June 7, 2011 |via=[[NARA|National Archives]] |work=[[whitehouse.gov]] |access-date=January 3, 2012}}</ref> The [[Democratic National Committee]] released a statement denouncing "Kessler’s hyperbolic, over the top fact check of the DNC’s assertion that Mitt Romney supports private Social Security accounts."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/the-dncs-ridiculous-attack-on-mitt-romneys-social-security-stance/2011/10/05/gIQAsFHJOL_blog.html |title=DNC news release, "The Only Thing That is Ridiculous is this Kessler Fact Check," October 6, 2011 |work=The Washington Post |access-date=January 3, 2012 |date=October 7, 2011}}</ref> In 2013, Kessler launched an [[iOS]] app, titled GlennKessler for iOS, for his column on the [[App Store (iOS)|App Store]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.glennkessler.com/iOS.html |title=Glenn Kessler's app information page |access-date=May 17, 2014 |date=April 17, 2013}}</ref> The app was created by his son, Hugo Kessler.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hugokessler.com |title=Hugo Kessler |access-date=May 17, 2014 |date=April 17, 2013}}</ref> It contained his newest articles and general biographical information. The app was updated with a new design for [[iOS 7]] in the fall of 2013. In 2014, he released a redesigned version of the app for the [[iPad]] and added a Pinocchio Game based on his column and a multitude of video interviews.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://vimeo.com/89562403 |title=Video of GlennKessler for iOS 3.0 |access-date=May 17, 2014 |date=April 1, 2014}}</ref> In 2015, Kessler exposed a series of false and misleading statistics about sex trafficking, which led politicians and advocacy groups to stop making those claims.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/12/14/the-biggest-pinocchios-of-2015/ |title=Glenn Kessler, "The Biggest Pinocchios of 2015" |publisher=washingtonpost.com|date=December 14, 2015 |access-date=June 19, 2016}}</ref> During the 2016 presidential campaign, the comic strip Doonesbury highlighted the vast disparity in Pinocchios given to Donald Trump versus Clinton.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury/2016/09/25 |title=Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for September 25, 2016 |access-date=2020-11-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180321055316/https://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury/2016/09/25 |archive-date=2018-03-21 }}</ref> Kessler also appeared in a segment of ''[[The Daily Show]]'' about fact-checking Trump. "In terms of fact checking, [[Hillary Clinton]] is like playing chess with a real pro," he told [[Jordan Klepper]]. "Fact-checking Donald Trump is like playing checkers, with somebody who’s not very good at it. It’s pretty boring. His facts are so easily disproved there’s no joy in hunt."<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.cc.com/video-clips/o847nu/the-daily-show-with-trevor-noah-glenn-kessler-on-fact-checking-the-presidential-debates/ |title=Glenn Kessler on Fact-Checking the Presidential Debates|date=September 26, 2016 |access-date=October 23, 2016}}</ref> Kessler was instrumental<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.claimreviewproject.com/the-facts-about-claimreivew |title=Who created ClaimReview?|access-date=June 25, 2020}}</ref> in convincing [[Google]] to begin elevating fact checks in its search results, after pitching a Google executive on the idea "over a couple of Spanish espressos" during a conference in Valencia, Spain.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://soundcloud.com/onlinenewsassociation/fact-checking-one-year-into-the-fact-check-markup-and-just-getting-started/ |title=Fact Checking: One Year Into the Fact Check Markup, and Just Getting Started|date=October 5, 2017 |access-date=June 25, 2018}}</ref> The discussion led to the creation of Claim Review, as defined by schema.org,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://developers.google.com/search/docs/data-types/factcheck|title=Google Search – Claim Review |access-date=June 25, 2018}}</ref> and the increased visibility of fact checks in Google News<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/google-fact-check-expands-1.4060845 |title=Google expands 'fact check' info in news searches|date=April 7, 2017 |access-date=June 25, 2018}}</ref> and Google search results.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/26/google-expands-its-fact-checking-efforts-by-partnering-with-the-international-fact-checking-network/ |title=Google expands its fact-checking efforts by partnering with the International Fact-Checking Network|date=October 26, 2017 |access-date=June 25, 2018}}</ref> Shortly after Trump became [[President of the United States|President]], Kessler announced a 100-day project to list every false and misleading statement made by Trump while in office.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2017/02/21/100-days-of-trump-claims/ |title=Glenn Kessler, "100 days of Trump claims" |publisher=washingtonpost.com|date=February 21, 2016 |access-date=August 18, 2018}}</ref> Kessler's team counted 492 untruths in the first 100 days, or an average of 4.9 per day.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-claims/?tid=a_inl |title=Glenn Kessler, "100 days of Trump claims" |publisher=washingtonpost.com|date=April 30, 2017 |access-date=August 18, 2018}}</ref> In response to reader requests, Kessler decided to keep it going for Trump's first year and then his entire presidency. By January 20, 2021, the end of Trump's four-year term, Kessler and his colleagues had counted 30,573 untruths, or an average of 21 a day.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-fact-checker-tracked-trump-claims/2021/01/23/ad04b69a-5c1d-11eb-a976-bad6431e03e2_story.html/ |title=Glenn Kessler, "Trump made 30,573 false or misleading claims as president. Nearly half came in his final year." |publisher=washingtonpost.com|date=January 23, 2021 |access-date=January 25, 2021}}</ref> "Trump averaged about six claims a day in his first year as president, 16 claims day in his second year, 22 claims day in his third year — and 39 claims a day in his final year." Kessler wrote. "Put another way, it took him 27 months to reach 10,000 claims and another 14 months to reach 20,000. He then exceeded the 30,000 mark less than five months later." The database has drawn nationwide attention and been the subject of research by academicians.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/living-single/201712/how-president-trumps-lies-are-different-other-peoples|title=Bella DePaulo, "How President Trump's Lies Are Different From Other People's" |publisher=psychologytoday.com|date=December 9, 2017 |access-date=August 18, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/trump-s-lying-seems-be-getting-worse-psychology-suggests-there-ncna876486|title=Tali Sharot and Neil Garrett, "Trump's lying seems to be getting worse. Psychology suggests there's a reason why." |publisher=nbcnews.com|date=May 23, 2018 |access-date=August 18, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite arXiv|title=Sophie Van Der Zee, Ronald Poppe, Alice Havrileck and Aurélien Baillon, "A personal model of trumpery: Deception detection in a real-world highstakes setting" |date=November 5, 2018 |eprint=1811.01938 |author1=Sophie van der Zee |last2=Poppe |first2=Ronald |last3=Havrileck |first3=Alice |last4=Baillon |first4=Aurelien |class=cs.CL }}</ref> "Kessler is doing the poet’s work. Honor him," wrote ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' columnist [[Roger Cohen]]. "The database he compiles with his colleagues Salvador Rizzo and Meg Kelly, listing every one of Trump’s untruths, will become a reference, a talisman."<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/10/opinion/donald-trump-glenn-kessler-factchecking.html |title=Roger Cohen, "Trump's Nemesis in the Age of Pinocchio" |publisher=nytimes.com|date=August 10, 2018 |access-date=August 18, 2018}}</ref> Because of the Trump database, Kessler and the Fact Checker Team were nominated in 2020 by the [[Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute]] at [[New York University]] for inclusion in a list of the Top Ten Works of Journalism of the Decade. “A rigorously reported and continually updated list of false statements by the president, numbering more than 19,000 by June 2020. The project is a sterling example of what journalists should do — holding the powerful accountable by using reporting and facts,” the nomination said.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://journalism.nyu.edu/about-us/news/top-ten-works-of-journalism-of-the-decade/nominees/|title=Top Ten Works of Journalism of the Decade: Nominees|date=October 14, 2020|access-date=October 23, 2020}}</ref> In August 2018, Kessler came under fire for his coverage of a [[Mercatus Center]] study on the perceived costs of Senator [[Bernie Sanders]]'s [[Medicare for All]] plan.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://theweek.com/articles/791236/fact-checkers-have-medicareforall-problem|title=Fact checkers have a Medicare-for-all problem|date=August 21, 2018|access-date=August 21, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.peoplespolicyproject.org/2018/08/20/jake-tappers-faulty-medicare-for-all-fact-check/|title=Jake Tapper's Faulty Medicare for All Fact-Check|access-date=August 21, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref> Kessler released corrections to his fact check, which stated the Sanders's claims of $2.1 trillion in 10-year National Health Expenditure savings were cherry-picked.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://jacobinmag.com/2018/08/washington-post-medicare-for-all-error|title=The Washington Post Keeps Publishing False Claims About Medicare for All|access-date=August 21, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref> Kessler did not change his Three-Pinocchio rating<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2018/08/07/democrats-seize-on-cherry-picked-claim-that-medicare-for-all-will-save-2-trillion/|title=Democrats seize on cherry-picked claim that 'Medicare-for-all' would save $2 trillion|date=August 7, 2018|access-date=October 25, 2018}}</ref> and his findings were affirmed by other fact-checking organizations, including [[PolitiFact]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2018/aug/03/bernie-s/did-conservative-study-show-big-savings-bernie-san/|title=Did conservative study show big savings for Bernie Sanders' Medicare for All plan?|date=August 3, 2018|access-date=October 25, 2018}}</ref> [[FactCheck.org]]<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.factcheck.org/2018/08/the-cost-of-medicare-for-all/|title=The Cost of 'Medicare-for-All'|date=August 10, 2018|access-date=October 25, 2018}}</ref> and the [[Associated Press]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.apnews.com/1aea93c2d8644c68a57485f056574697|title=AP Fact Check: Sanders spins savings in Medicare plan|date=August 8, 2018|access-date=October 25, 2018}}</ref> After addressing the [[Kentucky General Assembly|Kentucky legislature]] in 2019 on behalf of its ethics commission, Kessler was named a [[Kentucky Colonel]], the state's highest honor, for his contributions to the nation. Kessler noted on Twitter<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://twitter.com/GlennKesslerWP/status/1083087034254876674|title=@GlennKesslerWP tweet|date=January 9, 2019|access-date=January 26, 2019}}</ref> that he had awarded Four Pinocchios to the two people who had signed the declaration: Gov. [[Matt Bevin]] and Secretary of State [[Alison Lundergan Grimes]]. Kessler has been criticized "for applying bizarrely specific standards to statements and sometimes calling obviously true statements 'misleading'if he doesn’t like what they imply."<ref name="fenwick">{{Citation |last = Fenwick | first = Cody | title = This botched fact-check accused Bernie Sanders of being 'misleading' for when he was 100 percent correct| publisher = [[AlterNet]]| date = June 27, 2019 | url =https://www.alternet.org/2019/06/this-botched-fact-check-accused-bernie-sanders-of-being-misleading-for-when-he-was-100-percent-correct/ |access-date = 2019-06-29 }}</ref> For example, when [[Bernie Sanders]] said that “millions” of Americans were working more than one job, Kessler cited [[Bureau of Labor Statistics]] data showing that nearly 8 million people held more than one job, but rated Sanders’s statement as "misleading" because these 8 million people were just 5 percent of Americans with jobs.<ref name="fenwick"/> The Washington Post on April 22, 2020 announced<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/pr/2020/04/22/donald-trump-his-assault-on-truth-to-be-published-by-scribner/|title="Donald Trump and His Assault on Truth: The President's Falsehoods, Misleading Claims and Flat-Out Lies" to be published by Scribner|date=April 22, 2020|access-date=April 25, 2020}}</ref> that Kessler and his team had written a book, "Donald Trump and His Assault on Truth: The President's Falsehoods, Misleading Claims and Flat-Out Lies," to be published June 2 by Scribner. "More than a catalogue of false claims, Donald Trump and His Assault on Truth is a necessary guide to understanding the motives behind the president’s falsehoods," the announcement said. [[Kirkus Reviews]], in a starred review, called the book "an extremely valuable chronicle."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/washington-post/donald-trump-and-his-assault-trump/|title=Donald Trump and His Assault on Truth: The President's Falsehoods, Misleading Claims and Flat-Out Lies|date=April 29, 2020|access-date=June 25, 2020}}</ref> The book appeared on Publisher Weekly's top ten best-seller list.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://twitter.com/GlennKesslerWP/status/1271825703256895491|title=@GlennKesslerWP tweet|date=June 13, 2019|access-date=June 25, 2019}}</ref> In February of 2021, Kessler was criticised by socialist magazine ''[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin]]'' for an article he wrote in which he rated a statement by Senator [[Bernie Sanders]], in which Sanders had declared that the [[Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017]] had only benefited the wealthy, as three pinocchios. ''Jacobin'' criticised Kessler for what they perceived as him ignoring data in his article, and accused him of writing it in order to benefit Amazon CEO [[Jeff Bezos]], who owns ''The Washington Post''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://jacobinmag.com/2021/02/washington-post-sanders-bezos-fact-checking|title=The Washington Post Deserves 324 Billion Pinocchios for Its Attacks on Bernie Sanders|website=Jacobin|last1=Sirota|first1=David|author-link1=David Sirota|last2=Perez|first2=Andrew|date=February 2, 2021|access-date=February 5, 2021}}</ref> ==Awards and honors== * [[S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications|S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications]] at [[Syracuse University]]'s [[Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting]], Honorable Mention (2019) – Kessler and the ''Washington Post'' Fact Checker team were honored for the Fact Checker's database of Trump's misleading claims; the judges praised fact checks that are "clear, deliberate and never hyperbolic."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://newhouse.syr.edu/news-events/news/jason-zengerle-winner-toner-prize-excellence-political-reporting |title=Jason Zengerle is the winner of the Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting |date=March 25, 1988 |access-date=April 19, 2019}}</ref> * National Association for Media Literacy Education's Media Literate Media award (2015) – received the award, which honors achieves in media literacy education or media literacy, for his work on "The Fact Checker."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://2015namle.wordpress.com/namle-awards-2015/ |title=NAMLE 2015 Award Winners |access-date=September 4, 2015 |date=June 26, 2015}}</ref> ==Personal life== Kessler lives in [[McLean, Virginia]], with his wife, Cynthia Rich. They have three children: Andre, Hugo, and Mara Kessler. Kessler is a great-grandson of [[Jean Baptiste August Kessler]], who was largely responsible for the growth and development of the [[Royal Dutch Shell]] ([[Shell Oil Company]]) and a grandson of [[Geldolph Adriaan Kessler]], who helped create the Dutch steel industry.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/19/style/cynthia-rich-and-glenn-kessler-marry.html |title=New York Times 19 September 1988 – Cynthia Rich and Glenn Kessler marry |work=The New York Times |date=September 19, 1988 |access-date=January 3, 2012}}</ref> He was born in [[Cincinnati]], where his father, Adriaan Kessler, was an executive at [[Procter & Gamble]], and he attended high school there and in [[Lexington, Kentucky]]. Kessler's mother, Else Bolotin, was a psychologist who in Lexington "helped women in that era of feminist awakening confront a society dominated by men."<ref>{{cite news|last=Eblen |first=Tom |url=http://www.kentucky.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/tom-eblen/article44615763.html |title=Tom Eblen: Faced with old age and death, psychologist never stopped living |work=The Lexington Herald-Leader |date=August 15, 2015 |access-date=September 18, 2016}}</ref> Both of his parents were Dutch, and immigrated to the United States after marriage.<ref name=ChainMigration>{{cite news |last=Kessler |first=Glenn |date=January 25, 2018 |title=A White House chart on 'chain migration' has numbers that add up, but it lacks context |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2018/01/25/a-white-house-chart-on-chain-migration-has-numbers-that-add-up-but-lacks-context/ |work=The Washington Post |access-date=January 29, 2018}}</ref> In an interview with [[Brian Lamb]] broadcast on [[C-SPAN]], Kessler said he had decided he wanted to be journalist when he was only in fifth grade, after he created a neighborhood newspaper. "Even though it was a newsletter for only a few blocks in the neighborhood, I grandly called it the 'Cincinnati Fact,'" he said.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.c-span.org/video/?303324-1/qa-glenn-kessler |title=Q&A: Glenn Kessler, "The Fact Checker" Columnist, ''The Washington Post'', broadcast Jan. 15, 2012|access-date=December 1, 2014}}</ref> Kessler is a 1981 graduate of [[Brown University]] and received a Masters of International Affairs in 1983 from the [[School of International and Public Affairs]] at [[Columbia University]]. ==Books== * ''The Confidante: Condoleezza Rice and the Creation of the Bush Legacy'' New York : Saint Martin's Press, 2007. {{ISBN|978-0312363802}} * ''Donald Trump and His Assault on Truth: The President's Falsehoods, Misleading Claims and Flat-Out Lies'' New York : Scribner, 2020. {{ISBN|978-1982151072}} ==References== {{reflist|colwidth=30em}} ==Sources== * {{cite book |last= Stewart |first= James B. |year= 2011 |title= Tangled Webs: How False Statements are Undermining America: From Martha Stewart to Bernie Madoff |publisher= [[Penguin Press]] |isbn= 978-1-59420-269-8 |url-access= registration |url= https://archive.org/details/tangledwebshowfa00stew }} * {{cite book |last= Graves |first= Lucas |year= 2016 |title= Deciding What's True: The Rise of Political Fact-Checking in American Journalism |publisher= [[Columbia University Press]] |isbn= 978-0-23117-507-4 }} ==External links== {{Portal|Biography}} * [http://www.glennkessler.com/ Glenn Kessler's official website] * [http://www.glennkessler.com/iOS.html Glenn Kessler's official app] * [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/ Glenn Kessler's "The Fact Checker" column] * [https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/glenn-kessler/ Washington Post articles by Glenn Kessler] * {{C-SPAN|Glenn Kessler 02}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Kessler, Glenn}} [[Category:1959 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:American male journalists]] [[Category:The Washington Post people]] [[Category:Brown University alumni]] [[Category:School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University alumni]] [[Category:People from McLean, Virginia]] [[Category:American newspaper reporters and correspondents]] [[Category:American people of Dutch descent]]'