--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Fact-checking is a terrible way to report…" description: "\"Fact-checking is a terrible way to report on Donald Trump's lying . It's like we enter into a dialogue with him. It's as though, he says \"A,\" and we ch..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f4/masha-gessen-2322_dialogue_fact-checking-is-a-terrible-way-to-repor_2844207.png" --- # Fact-checking is a terrible way to report on Donald… ![“Fact-checking is a terrible way to report on Donald Trump's lying . It's like we enter into a dialogue with him. It's as though, he says "A," and we check "A," and it gives it no context. Saying that he's "misstating" is an even worse way of covering it. That's NPR's ridiculous policy of not…” quote by Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f4/masha-gessen-2322_dialogue_fact-checking-is-a-terrible-way-to-repor_2844207.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f4/masha-gessen-2322_dialogue_fact-checking-is-a-terrible-way-to-repor_2844207.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f4/masha-gessen-2322_dialogue_fact-checking-is-a-terrible-way-to-repor_2844207.png) > “Fact-checking is a terrible way to report on Donald Trump's lying . It's like we enter into a dialogue with him. It's as though, he says "A," and we check "A," and it gives it no context. Saying that he's "misstating" is an even worse way of covering it. That's NPR's ridiculous policy of not calling his lies "lies." It's really destructive.” [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Fact‑checking without context reduces complex falsehoods to mere statements, obscuring the broader narrative of deception. **In simple terms:** Checking facts alone can miss the bigger picture. Key Takeaway Provide context when correcting misinformation. Themes media truth politics Mood critical concerned Type analytical journalistic When to use this quote - news reporting - social media moderation - public education - political campaigns Key Concepts journalism ethics information literacy Questions to Reflect On - How can journalists balance fact‑checking with contextual analysis? - What alternatives exist to expose systemic lies? A Different Perspective Fact‑checking can be weaponized or ignored, limiting its impact. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dialogue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dialogue/) [Fact Checking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fact-checking-430628/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Lies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lies/) [Lies Lies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lies-lies/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Policy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/policy/) [Ridiculous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ridiculous/) [Terrible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terrible/) [Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trump/) [Trump Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trump-lying-923745/) ## Related quotes > [Fact checking Donald Trump is a really... It is kind of fun but it is ungratifying because nothing checks out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/fact-checking-donald-trump-is-a-really-it-is-kind-of-fun-but-it-is/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [We must be clear: Donald Trump is lying when he conflates immigrants coming across the border with MS-13 gangs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pramila-jayapal/we-must-be-clear-donald-trump-is-lying-when-he-conflates-immigrants/) [Pramila Jayapal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pramila-jayapal/) > [The fake news and the lying doesn't surprise me anymore. The one thing we know he is consistent about, Trump, is lying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ana-navarro/the-fake-news-and-the-lying-doesn-t-surprise-me-anymore-the-one-thing/) [Ana Navarro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ana-navarro/) > [Trump's lying, his self-regard, his self-soothing, his lack of empathy, his narcissistic rage, his contempt for norms, rules, laws, facts and simple truths -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-t-conway-iii/trump-s-lying-his-self-regard-his-self-soothing-his-lack-of-empathy/) [George T. Conway III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-t-conway-iii/) > [Apparently there are not a whole lot of people there that have confidence. They are willing, apparently, to believe that Donald Trump's been lying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/apparently-there-are-not-a-whole-lot-of-people-there-that-have/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [The internet connects us all and provides this fabulous fact-checking mechanism, and yet at the same time, the power of lies is conveyed much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-gibney/the-internet-connects-us-all-and-provides-this-fabulous-fact-checking/) [Alex Gibney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-gibney/) > [There are Five kinds of lies: Lies, Damned Lies, Statistics, Politicians quoting statistics, and Novelists quoting Politicians on Statistics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-k-tagg/there-are-five-kinds-of-lies-lies-damned-lies-statistics-politicians/) [Stephen K Tagg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-k-tagg/) > [In politics, not all lies are all lies. And not all truths are complete.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-mckinnon/in-politics-not-all-lies-are-all-lies-and-not-all-truths-are-complete/) [Mark McKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-mckinnon/) > [There is no fact-checking on tertiary celebrities. You can say whatever you'd like, and it will just rise up again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-knight/there-is-no-fact-checking-on-tertiary-celebrities-you-can-say/) [Wayne Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-knight/) > [Rather than doing the kind of fact-checking that normally goes with a story, you ran with certain stories for not wanting to get beat.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rahm-emanuel/rather-than-doing-the-kind-of-fact-checking-that-normally-goes-with-a/) [Rahm Emanuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rahm-emanuel/) > [“People do not come to the Internet so that their bad information can be corrected or their cherished theories disproven. Rather, they ask the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-m-nichols/people-do-not-come-to-the-internet-so-that-their-bad-information-can/) [Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) > [Fact-checking doesn't exist primarily because some of us are liars and cheats. It exists because writers will be writers, much as they may mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-dreger/fact-checking-doesn-t-exist-primarily-because-some-of-us-are-liars/) [Alice Dreger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-dreger/) > [It would be impossible to be fact-checking Donald Trump all the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/it-would-be-impossible-to-be-fact-checking-donald-trump-all-the-time/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [“It's no use preaching to the choir. The rulebook, evidence, and good, old-fashioned fact-checking – let alone human decency – have been thrown out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-m-forester/it-s-no-use-preaching-to-the-choir-the-rulebook-evidence-and-good-old/) [H.M. Forester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-m-forester/) > [When "news stories" are broken, do we not expect a certain amount of fact-checking or source-checking? One has to ask if this falls under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheryl-crow/when-news-stories-are-broken-do-we-not-expect-a-certain-amount-of/) [Sheryl Crow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheryl-crow/) ## More by Masha Gessen > [There's this American pretense, which is the pretense of the journalist with the view from nowhere - which has somehow morphed into the journalist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/there-s-this-american-pretense-which-is-the-pretense-of-the/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [Where incompetence is prized, it is ever-present.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/where-incompetence-is-prized-it-is-ever-present/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [Pussy Riot have certainly changed some people's assumptions about the role of political art and the relationship between the intelligentsia and the church. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/pussy-riot-have-certainly-changed-some-people-s-assumptions-about-the/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [Trump, like Putin, has a demonstrably thin skin and short temper when it comes to being criticized by journalists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/trump-like-putin-has-a-demonstrably-thin-skin-and-short-temper-when/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [You risk everything if you so much as join a legal protest demonstration in Russia. It raises the stakes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/you-risk-everything-if-you-so-much-as-join-a-legal-protest/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [Donald Trump creates word salads. And that is awful to language, because we try to parse out what he's saying and try to find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/donald-trump-creates-word-salads-and-that-is-awful-to-language/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [It is the first time since 1993 that Russians have come out into the streets without an explicit permission from the government to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/it-is-the-first-time-since-1993-that-russians-have-come-out-into-the/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [I think Donald Trump was brought to power by Americans. They voted for him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/i-think-donald-trump-was-brought-to-power-by-americans-they-voted-for/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [In the 1990s, there was a lot of reform, and there was a lot of forward movement on a lot of fronts in Russia.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/in-the-1990s-there-was-a-lot-of-reform-and-there-was-a-lot-of-forward/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [Poverty and scarcity are actually very good for totalitarian societies. They maintain that sense of mobilization that's essential for totalitarian societies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/poverty-and-scarcity-are-actually-very-good-for-totalitarian/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [I think that Putin's strategy has been throwing a lot of money, fairly haphazardly, at a lot of projects aimed at disrupting Western relations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/i-think-that-putin-s-strategy-has-been-throwing-a-lot-of-money-fairly/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [Both Trump and Putin use language primarily to communicate not facts or opinions but power: it's not what the words mean that matters but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/both-trump-and-putin-use-language-primarily-to-communicate-not-facts/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [I worked both as a Russian journalist and an American journalist and ran a bunch of magazines in Moscow over the course of about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/i-worked-both-as-a-russian-journalist-and-an-american-journalist-and/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [I have no doubt that there are Russian efforts to disturb the fabric of American democracy, but they're disruption efforts. They're troublemaking efforts. They're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/i-have-no-doubt-that-there-are-russian-efforts-to-disturb-the-fabric/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [For years I was the only publicly out gay person who was not a full-time gay activist: my position as a quasi-foreigner gave me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/for-years-i-was-the-only-publicly-out-gay-person-who-was-not-a-full/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) [Explore all 171 Masha Gessen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) ## More Dialogue quotes > [“To engage in dialogue is to serve others via whatever is real inside you; to engage in debate is to ultimately serve the illusions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oli-anderson/to-engage-in-dialogue-is-to-serve-others-via-whatever-is-real-inside/) [Oli Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oli-anderson/) > [In dialogue, there is opposition, yes, but no head-on collision. Smashing heads does not open minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-tannen/in-dialogue-there-is-opposition-yes-but-no-head-on-collision-smashing/) [Deborah Tannen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-tannen/) > [A dialogue is very important. It is a form of communication in which question and answer continue till a question is left without an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/a-dialogue-is-very-important-it-is-a-form-of-communication-in-which/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [It is proposed that a form of free dialogue may well be one of the most effective ways of investigating the crisis which faces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bohm/it-is-proposed-that-a-form-of-free-dialogue-may-well-be-one-of-the/) [David Bohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bohm/) > [“Clay, if anyone followed anyone, it was me tagging along after you. I didn’t dare order you around.” “Load of shit,” he muttered, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nalini-singh/clay-if-anyone-followed-anyone-it-was-me-tagging-along-after-you-i/) [Nalini Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nalini-singh/) > [Dialogue and education for peace can help free our hearts from the impulse toward intolerance and the rejection of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daisaku-ikeda/dialogue-and-education-for-peace-can-help-free-our-hearts-from-the/) [Daisaku Ikeda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daisaku-ikeda/) > [I am not a great believer in dialectical struggle. I am much more of a fusion person. I see it as a dialogue, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marina-warner/i-am-not-a-great-believer-in-dialectical-struggle-i-am-much-more-of-a/) [Marina Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marina-warner/) > [Propaganda begins when dialogue ends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/propaganda-begins-when-dialogue-ends/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [I think the biggest problem working with me would be that I'm an only child, and so I have an internal dialogue that goes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maynard-james-keenan/i-think-the-biggest-problem-working-with-me-would-be-that-i-m-an-only/) [Maynard James Keenan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maynard-james-keenan/) > [ “\[A\]lways get to the dialogue as soon as possible. I always feel the thing to go for is speed. Nothing puts the reader off… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-g-wodehouse/a-lways-get-to-the-dialogue-as-soon-as-possible-i-always-feel-the/) [P.G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-g-wodehouse/) > [ I can hardly believe what these 12 caricatures \[about Prophet Muhammad\] have caused in the world. We Danes feel like we have been placed… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anders-fogh-rasmussen/i-can-hardly-believe-what-these-12-caricatures-about-prophet-muhammad/) [Anders Fogh Rasmussen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anders-fogh-rasmussen/) > [“Free Flowing Dialogue “Have you ever been engaged in a conversation which was so dynamic that you were both firing on all cylinders, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-c-young/free-flowing-dialogue-have-you-ever-been-engaged-in-a-conversation/) [Susan C. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-c-young/) > [I thought that the world was a vast system of signs, a conversation between giant beings. My actions, the cricket's saw, the star's blink,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/i-thought-that-the-world-was-a-vast-system-of-signs-a-conversation/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [As I get older and I get more of this dialogue and I lose more and more brain cells, it really does become the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brent-spiner/as-i-get-older-and-i-get-more-of-this-dialogue-and-i-lose-more-and/) [Brent Spiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brent-spiner/) > [It's true that PC culture has created very little honest dialogue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sho-baraka/it-s-true-that-pc-culture-has-created-very-little-honest-dialogue/) [Sho Baraka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sho-baraka/) [Browse all 1,919 Dialogue quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dialogue/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Fact-checking is a terrible way to report on Donald Trump's lying . It's like we enter into a dialogue with him. It's as though, he says \"A,\" and we check \"A,\" and it gives it no context. Saying that he's \"misstating\" is an even worse way of covering it. 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