Fact checkers unionize under Clinton administration
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Fact checkers thrived during last year's campaign season, with many candidates spewing lies at consistently high rates. Under the reality-based President Hillary Clinton, however, fact checkers have found themselves with nothing to do. Facing pay cuts and mass layoffs, they recently decided to unionize.
The American Fact Checkers Association (AFCA) held its first press conference on Thursday afternoon. Representing fact checkers from MSNBC, CNN, Politico, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Fox News -- along with the entire staff of Politifact -- the union demands that media organizations allow journalists to continue reporting on failed presidential candidate Donald Trump.
"So what if Trump's not president?" questioned Tom Potter, a fact checker at Politico who worries about imminent termination. "He still tweets false information all the time! Someone needs to report on his Twitter feed!"
Media outlets united to publish a collective response. In a statement released halfway through the union's press conference, they argue that fact-checking is a dying profession, but that they will allow a small number of promising fact checkers to transition to other positions within the industry.
"We cannot keep reporting on a dishonest, failed presidential candidate just to keep our fact checkers employed," explained Martin Baron, Editor of The Washington Post. "That would do a disservice to our readers, who are quite frankly sick of reading about Donald Trump."
Meanwhile, editors of right wing propaganda sources like Breitbart News, The Daily Caller, and The Washington Free Beacon announced they would be happy to hire fact checkers for the current administration. Frustrated at their candidate's landslide loss, their reporters continue to deny climate change, misinterpret the Second Amendment, and lie about the effects of vaccines.
