NYT has two DC fact-checkers — one for reporters, one for Trump

The New York Times has two fact-checkers in its Washington bureau, one for President Trump and one for the news outlet’s own staff, the Times’s chief White House reporter said Monday.

“We have two fact-checkers in the Washington bureau… one on Trump and one who fact-checks us,” reporter Peter Baker said at the Poynter Ethics Summit in Washington, D.C, according to several public posts on social media by people attending the event.

“We cannot afford to get anything wrong,” he added.

“We have two fact-checkers in the Washington bureau… one on Trump and one who fact-checks us… We cannot afford to get anything wrong,” says @peterbakernyt at #PoynterEthicsSummit

— Scott Nover (@ScottNover) December 4, 2017

The ethics summit comes as the media has been consistently attacked by the president.

The criticism ratcheted up over the weekend after ABC reporter Brian Ross botched a report on former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Ross originally reported on Friday that Flynn would testify that as a candidate, Trump directed him during the campaign to make contact with Russian officials. Markets fell dramatically on the news.

The network later issued a “clarification” that Trump asked Flynn after the election and during the presidential transition to reach out to Russian officials “to find ways to repair relations with Russia and other hot spots.”

That also drew criticism, including from administration officials, who said there should have been a correction.

ABC did eventually change the clarification to a correction.

CORRECTION of ABC News Special Report: Flynn prepared to testify that President-elect Donald Trump directed him to make contact with the Russians *during the transition* — initially as a way to work together to fight ISIS in Syria, confidant now says. https://t.co/ewrkVZTu2K pic.twitter.com/URLiHf3uSm

— ABC News (@ABC) December 2, 2017

A study released Monday by YouGov found that more than 60 percent of “Trump approvers” agreed with the president’s statement on Twitter in February that the media “is an enemy of the people.”

Just under fifteen percent of “Trump disapprovers” said they agreed with Trump’s sentiment, according to the poll.