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FactCheck.org, the Website Vice president Cheney meant to cite in last week’s vice-presidential debate, proves the power of PR. An email from Brooks Jackson, Director, FactCheck.org explains that the site’s servers were so overwhelmed that they had to add bandwidth:
“Since Vice President Cheney’s garbled mention of “factcheck.com” in the debate Oct. 5, the number of persons trying to reach us has spiked to levels roughly equivalent to that of MSNBC.com. Our volume has gone from an average of 30,000 unique visitors per day to more than 320,000 on Oct. 9, overwhelming the University of Pennsylvania’s computer resources. Many of you were unable to reach our site for long periods.”


FactCheck.org is a project of the Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. It a nonpartisan, nonprofit, “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. We 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. Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.