Hello for the last time Show Mo Facts supporters! With election day over, it is time for us to reflect on the lessons, thoughts, and skills we have learned through this blog project. In this post, each of us will share what we have learned through the blog for the past four months.
We want to thank you, Show Mo Facts reader, for joining and supporting us through the midterm campaigning season. We have enjoyed our time interacting with you and hope you enjoyed reading our content. While the election is over, the truth remains important to our lives every day. As new Representatives take office, let’s continue to hold each other accountable by using the tactics that we have discussed to decipher facts from misleading claims.
Missourians, if you want to review how Republican politicians framed many of the salient issues in the Midterm election, come read our posts here! This way, you can check whether your Representative is following up on their policy promises. Also, if you want to review how the Democrats framed policy issues this election, check out our classmates’ blog which fact-checked ads by Democratic candidates. Lastly, while Trudy Busch Valentine did not win the 2022 election for US Senate, check out our other classmates’ blog which discussed Busch Valentine’s views and policies before the election.
Jack
The biggest lesson I will be taking away from this project is just because an ad is well-produced and put together doesn't mean that the content is true. The most outlandish claims that we have fact-checked have come from seemingly credible people, like the Attorney General and TV anchors. I have learned that being a responsible consumer of political media is an active act and not a passive one. I have learned how to conduct independent research on claims made by politicians and how to do it quickly to distinguish fact from fiction. I would encourage all of our readers to do the same. Next time a political ad comes on the TV (hopefully it won't be for a while) don’t turn it off or turn the sound down. Instead, turn the volume up and pay attention to what they are saying and then take a couple of minutes to look up the information. If we are going to have a healthy democracy, it requires participation from all of us to make sure our leaders #showmofacts!
Megan
A valuable lesson I learned while completing the blog project would be that, simply put, politics are crazy! I have never been into politics and took this course as a way to step out of my comfort zone. Running this blog has shown me so many different aspects of the political world that I just never knew existed. I can now confidently say I understand politics from the inside out and feel comfortable discussing the political candidates that this blog has allowed me to research. This is something I never thought would be possible for myself and am proud that this project has allowed me to not only learn something new, but I am looking forward to future elections and learning about those candidates. While I may never run a blog like this again, I’m sure I will find myself looking into advertisements and fact-checking them as we’ve done at Show MO Facts.
Zoie
The most significant lesson I have learned from this project was how to shape my message to fit our audience. I have often struggled with using more casual language to explain my points and this blog has taught me to simplify my language, provide context to bigger issues, and identify the importance of the issue to our readers. Ultimately, these skills will help us become more flexible in our future communication endeavors, and maybe one day, we would use these skills to run another fact-checking campaign.
Thank you for reading Show Mo Facts! Be sure to follow us on Twitter as well as like and comment on this post. If you have any final questions for us, drop by our Contact page.
Again, thank you for joining us on this fact-checking journey and we hope you continue to encourage your politicians to Show Mo Facts!
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