How does PolitiFact Georgia’s Truth-O-Meter work?
Our goal is to help you find the truth in American politics. Reporters from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution fact-check statements by local, state and national political leaders, including lobbyists and interest groups. We then rate them on the AJC Truth-O-Meter.
To fact-check the claim, reporters first contact the speaker to verify the statement. Next, the research begins. Reporters consult a variety of sources, including industry and academic experts. This research can take hours or a few days or even longer, depending on the claim. Reporters then compile the research into story form and include a recommended Truth-O-Meter ruling.
The fact check then moves on to a panel of editors who debate the statement and the reporter’s recommended Truth-O-Meter ruling. The panel votes on a final ruling; majority prevails.
PolitiFact and PolitiFact Georgia last week truth-tested the statements of a powerful judge, two mayors and a U.S. Senate candidate.
We checked a job creation claim by David Perdue, a Republican running to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss. We looked at a statement Mayor Kasim Reed made that almost half of Georgia Tech graduates don’t stay in the state once they have a degree in hand.
Hugh Thompson, the chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, was put to the truth test on his statement that six of Georgia’s 159 counties have no lawyers. And Sly James, the mayor of Kansas City, Mo., was checked on a claim while defending Reed against Snowjam critics.
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U.S. Senate candidate David Perdue: Dollar General “added 2,500 stores and 20,000 jobs” in the four years he was the company’s CEO.
In his first campaign television ad, Perdue highlighted his record as CEO of Dollar General from June 2003 to July 2007. The company’s annual reports during that time show ambitious plans to open 600 to 800 stores a year. In most years during Perdue’s tenure, Dollar General exceeded those projections.
Records show that, on March 4, 2007, the company had 8,260 stores and about 69,500 full-time and part-time employees. That’s a four-year increase of nearly 2,100 stores and 16,000 workers.
Campaign spokesman Derrick Dickey said those reports are not a reliable measuring stick to examine the accuracy of Perdue’s statement for a few reasons, including the time covered by those reports didn’t match exactly Perdue’s time as CEO. “The numbers we cited are based on our analysis of the added stores and jobs created that can be directly attributed to decisions made by David while he served as CEO,” Dickey said via email.
Perdue’s overall point about opening many new stores and creating a lot of jobs is on target.
We rated his claim Mostly True.
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Kansas City, Mo., Mayor Sly James: “A major snow event in Atlanta, for them to respond to that, is kind of equivalent to us responding to a major earthquake.”
James, speaking Feb. 7 on AM 750 and 95.5 FM WSB, was defending another mayor, Atlanta’s Kasim Reed, whom he saw as unfairly castigated for events during January’s snowstorm that were beyond the mayor’s control.
But the truth, according to experts, is that Atlanta has a much better chance of a major snowstorm than a temblor striking Kansas City.
To compare cleaning up the mess from 2 inches of snow to recovering from a major earthquake rattles the very heart of the Truth-O-Meter. One is relatively common over the span of decades. The other, extremely rare.
We rated James’ statement False.
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Mayor Kasim Reed: “Right now, we only keep 50 percent of Georgia Tech’s graduates.”
Reed has said one of his goals is keeping more young, smart people here. One statistic the mayor cited during a speech Jan. 31 at the Atlanta Press Club dealt with the percentage of Georgia Tech students who stay in Georgia after graduation.
“Right now, we only keep 50 percent of Georgia Tech’s graduates,” Reed said.
Carlos Campos, a spokesman for the mayor, said Reed based his comments on information from the 128-year-old college located in Midtown Atlanta. Campos specified that the mayor was referring to the percentage of Tech graduates who remain not just in Atlanta, but the entire state of Georgia.
Reed said he’s working with local business leaders on a retainment effort, and he set a long-term goal of keeping at least 75 percent of Tech graduates here.
Georgia Tech spokeswoman Laura Diamond gave us some data from surveys done in 2012 and 2013 about its graduates. Over those two years, 52 percent of Tech undergraduates remained in the state. The total increases to 55 percent once you include those who attended graduate school.
Reed said one-half of Georgia Tech graduates stay in Georgia. He based his statement on data from Georgia Tech.
The school’s surveys are pretty close to the mayor’s statement.
We rated Reed’s statement as Mostly True.
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Georgia Chief Justice Hugh P. Thompson: “Six of Georgia’s counties have no lawyers at all.”
In his first State of the Judiciary address, Thompson declared Feb. 5 that all Georgians need access to justice, regardless of their economic backgrounds.
And in many cases, he said, that means they need the services of a lawyer.
He cited statistics showing:
— 70 percent of Georgia’s lawyers work in five metro Atlanta counties.
— 62 of Georgia’s 159 counties have 10 or fewer lawyers.
— Six counties are lawyerless.
Research by the State Bar of Georgia revealed that there are no lawyers in Baker, Chattahoochee, Clay, Echols, Glasscock and Webster counties. In three of those counties, Baker, Clay and Echols, at least 30 percent of residents live in poverty, according to U.S. census data.
Follow-up research in August showed the number of lawyers in the state had grown to 29,973. But none of them had established a practice in those six lawyerless counties, said Michael L. Monahan, an attorney and pro bono director for the State Bar.
Credible data from the State Bar and other information, including anecdotal evidence from local judges, support Thompson’s statement.
We rated it True.
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