Chautauqua Fact Checker is owned and operated by Chautauqua Institution as a trusted source for accurate information about Chautauqua Institution and issues of interest to the on-grounds community and others who care about the Institution.
WHO IS MODERATING CHAUTAUQUA FACT CHECKER?
Staff members of the Institution review all submissions and consult Institution records and leaders in offering responses to submitted questions and in proactively creating posts in response to false or misleading information they discover on their own.
OUR PROCESS
Submitted questions will be reviewed and responded to in earnest. Anonymous submissions will be considered but not prioritized. Staff will also proactively post and respond to false or misleading information they discover in conversations, social media posts, correspondence, and other mediums.
In the case of questions that have already been raised and answered, moderators will respond directly to the person who submitted the question, providing a link to the previous post. When questions are specific to a person or do not appear to have broad relevance in the community, staff will reply directly to the patron.
Chautauqua Institution reserves the right to make judgments on the authenticity of questions submitted and may use technology to block future submissions from inauthentic sources. The laws of the State of New York apply in regard to criminal activity, including harassment and threats.
SOURCES AND REFERENCES
The source of each claim will be provided in every post (submitted question, social media post, for example). References and sources consulted in creating responses to claims will also be provided and, where possible, links to references and sources will also be provided.
STRUCTURE OF POSTS
Each post will include the original claim, with source provided, factuality rating (true, false, partially true, correction, update, satire, fake, etc.), context when necessary, and a response, including references and sources relevant to the response.
CORRECTIONS AND UPDATES
If a correction is warranted, staff moderators will address the error and call attention to it on the site as quickly as possible and label the post as CORRECTED. Sometimes information changes or participants may request additional detail, requiring an update to a post. Those instances will be handled the same way, but will be labeled as an UPDATE. If you notice something that you believe to be an error or that requires an update, please complete the form available under the “Submit a Question” tab on the Chautauqua Checker homepage.
SUGGESTIONS
Chautauqua Fact Checker is designed as a resource for Chautauquans. If you have a suggestion for how the site can improve, please submit your ideas using the same form provided for questions. The “Submit a Question” form is available under the tab of that name on the Chautauqua Fact Checker home page.
ABOUT CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION
Chautauqua Institution is a not-for-profit, 750-acre community on Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York State where approximately 7,500 people are in residence on any day during a nine-week summer season. More than 100,000 attend scheduled public events each year and even more engage online via the streaming channel CHQ Assembly. Chautauqua is dedicated to the exploration of the best in human values and the enrichment of life through a program that explores the important religious, social and political issues of our times; stimulates provocative, thoughtful involvement of individuals and families in creative response to such issues; and promotes excellence and creativity in the appreciation, performance and teaching of the arts. The Institution celebrates its sesquicentennial in 2024.