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In a contentious election year, journalism students at CU Boulder have partnered with local news outlets to keep the facts straight. Writing for The Denver Post, students in CMCI鈥檚 News Corps class have published seven print articles fact checking statements made by Colorado politicians in debates, campaign ads and press releases. They鈥檝e also teamed up with the investigative team at 9News鈥揇enver鈥檚 NBC affiliate鈥搕o live fact check the major political debates.

鈥淚鈥檝e definitely enjoyed getting my hands dirty as well as to being involved in the process of the information systems when it comes to politics and the overall election in Colorado because it's such an important state nationally,鈥� said Deepan Dutta, a journalism master鈥檚 student.

In the CU News Corps class, undergraduate and graduate students develop investigative reporting skills. In non-election years, students will publish in-depth reports, including of hazardous mine spills and on First Amendment rights in high schools. 鈥淭he students that come to News Corps tend to be very serious about in depth reporting and digging into statements made by the powerful people in our society,鈥� said Jeff Browne, the course鈥檚 instructor.听鈥淪o they are relishing the opportunity to do that in the election and to have their voice heard.鈥�

Part of that opportunity is dealing with criticism that often follows a successful fact check. After one of his fact checks was published in The Denver Post, Dutta received a slew of harsh, online comments and even an angry phone call from a campaign staffer. 鈥淭hat was definitely an eye opening experience but as Greg Griffin, the editor, told me 鈥榳elcome to politics, that鈥檚 just how it works.鈥� And I think that could be a learning experience for anyone who wants to do stuff like this,鈥� said Dutta.

Despite the blowback, the students have stood by the facts. 鈥淭he students have been able to effectively defend any charges of bias or sloppiness thrown at them,鈥� said Browne. 鈥淚t's courageous of The Denver Post to open their pages and open their website to our students鈥� content and the students are taking that very seriously.鈥�

At 9News, students worked with the TV station鈥檚 investigative journalists to live fact check statements from the presidential debates and Colorado鈥檚 U.S. Senate debate for accuracy. 鈥淚t was very helpful having the students here,鈥� said Nicole Vap, who leads the station's investigative team, 鈥渂ecause, especially in a live debate, you鈥檙e having to go so fast that if one person is working on one statement you can be catching that next one.鈥�

Undergraduate student Sola Lawal, who helped 9News fact check Colorado鈥檚 U.S. Senate debate gained a new appreciation for breaking news reporting. 鈥淚t was really surprising to see how everyone was really working under pressure and still stayed calm and figured everything out.鈥�

For Dutta, the class has fulfilled one of his long-term goals as a graduate student. 鈥淚鈥檓 really just happy that I was published in a major newspaper. That was kind of my goal all along going into journalism and back to grad school. That was kind of part of my dream fulfilled.鈥�

Read the student鈥檚 fact checks at The Denver Post: