PolitiFact Announces New Initiative to Fact-Check Only Statements Made in Alternate Realities, Citing Higher Truth Accuracy There

St. Petersburg, FL – PolitiFact, the fact-checking arm of the Poynter Institute, announced today that it will exclusively review claims made in alternate realities, shifting its focus away from statements issued in what it described as “our increasingly fact-resistant primary dimension.” The initiative, described internally as Operation Quantum Credibility, will reportedly draw on interdimensional sourcing methods to verify statements that could theoretically be true, were they uttered somewhere else.

According to PolitiFact’s new public guidelines, claims and quotes will now be assessed based on their accuracy within universes that possess “superior fact densities.” The new approach emerges in response to what Chief Accuracy Officer Sandra Lamm called “a total breakdown in local consensus reality.” Lamm elaborated in a morning press conference: “Truth decay in our sphere has reached a crisis. Findings indicate statements in six out of ten adjacent realities maintain higher integrity indexes than anything we’re seeing domestically.”

Backing the transition, a recent report by the Committee for Multiversal Veracity, chaired by quantum ethicist Dr. Kira Mertz, found that 92% of alternate timelines surveyed did not include what researchers termed “epistemic sinkholes,” or pockets where statements become simultaneously true and false. The report concluded that claims such as “the pandemic was over by March 2020” or “inflation is just a mindset” received a “Mostly True” rating in at least three measured alternate Earths.

Lamm confirmed the introduction of new fact-checking protocols, including ‘Schrödinger Verification,’ which allows PolitiFact to simultaneously rate a statement as both true and false until observed by a licensed Reality Observer. All participating fact-checkers have reportedly completed a required two-day seminar on interuniversal dialects and now carry Poynter-issued Ontological Passports.

Challenges remain. Analysts have noted that sourcing alternate reality quotes has caused some friction with rival fact-checkers and National Security Agency officials. A dispute broke out yesterday over the correct attribution of a statement, “The moon is already owned by Costco,” which is true in Universe 7149 but misleading in Universe 02B. PolitiFact’s own staff has also been required to wear Tinfoil Modulation Helmets during verification sessions, after a pilot session in March resulted in three researchers returning believing they had always been toasters.

When pressed about potential user confusion, the organization insisted that ratings such as “True (in at least two congruent realities)” or “Pants on Fire (but only in the Technocratic Wastelands of Nevada Beta)” will be rendered through PolitiFact’s trademark graphics. Fact-boxes will now display a multidimensional probability spectrum to accompany each claim.

The transition has not been without controversy. Critics, including former fact-checkers now employed as pan-dimensional insurance adjusters, argued during a recent public forum that the shift only further blurs the concept of objective truth. Despite this, PolitiFact remains steadfast. “In an era where our universe is saturated with non-fact, it’s only reasonable to seek accountability wherever truth remains observable,” said Lamm, typing her resignation letter in an inverted timeline.

Tomorrow’s scheduled PolitiFact feature, “Did the President Invent Gravity? (True, Except in Worlds Ruled by Ducks),” is expected to debut at noon Eastern, 3:15 in Universe 7B, and last Tuesday in the Vague Realms.