Now O/T:  Fact checking does not indicate bias… fact checking is just that - fact checking (and indicates good journalism too).  I think we’ve grown so used to some of the media outlets just being over the moon on getting an interview (since there are so many outlets nowadays that anyone can choose from for an interview), that many of their questions are real softballs - so that the interviewee will keep on coming back (or at least the interviewing outlet will not get demonized for asking hard questions).  For example, one of my favorite investigative journalists - Mike Wallace… he was not afraid to throw punches.

…and with so many different outlets spewing so much information & stink nowadays, it’s hard for anyone — Average Joe included, to know what is fact and what is not (and I’m not talking about “alternative facts" here — i.e. the world is flat).  AI is making it even harder.  Having the reader decide what is what just adds to what much of the world sees us (the U.S.) as now — an uneducated loony-bin stuck in echo chambers and on social media.

Freedom of speech is 100% one of the fundamental rights of our great country.  You can go out and protest whatever you feel is right.  You can write a letter to the editor on a topic you feel strongly about.  You can say your opinion amongst your fellow citizens without retribution.  Even so, there's a clear dividing line between fact and opinion.  According to the Webster Dictionary:

Fact
noun
ˈfakt
1a: something that has actual existence
-space exploration is now a fact
1b: an actual occurrence
-prove the fact of damage
2: a piece of information presented as having objective reality
-These are the hard facts of the case.
3: the quality of being actual : ACTUALITY
-a question of fact hinges on evidence
4: a thing done: such as
4a: CRIME
-accessory after the fact
4b (archaic): ACTION
4c (obsolete): FEAT
5 (archaic): PERFORMANCE, DOING

Opinion
noun
opin·ion ə-ˈpin-yən
1a: a view, judgment, or appraisal formed in the mind about a particular matter
-We asked them for their opinions about the new stadium.
1b: APPROVAL, ESTEEM
-I have no great opinion of his work.
2a: belief stronger than impression and less strong than positive knowledge
-a person of rigid opinions
2b: a generally held view
-news programs that shape public opinion
3a: a formal expression of judgment or advice by an expert
-My doctor says that I need an operation, but I'm going to get a second opinion.
3b: the formal expression (as by a judge, court, or referee) of the legal reasons and principles upon which a legal decision is based
-The article discusses the recent Supreme Court opinion.

You’re free to your opinion, but facts are still facts.

I’ve lived in a second world (communist) country before, so I bristle every time I hear someone yell censorship after getting reaction for shouting fire in a crowded theater.  I’ve seen real government censorship — we do not have such in this free world.

Anywho, I’ll stop here (*sorry for the rant)…..  /done