Is OpenSecrets a Reliable Source? | EvidenceBenchmark

Evidence Benchmark is a new publication, in which I review and fact-check websites, organizations, and quotes from political figures.

Rating: A

Opensecrets.org is a Nonprofit organization, which tracks all political donations across all candidates and political action committees. Their website links directly to all receipts, shares all of the methodology they used to compile the date, allows you to explore the data with exact metrics, and distinguishes between donations from organizations and individuals.

Methodology: A

While Opensecrets doesn’t fully list the steps taken for each investigation, they do list the methodology on each results page. They also link to the receipts, distinguish between individual and organization spending, allow users to download all compilations of data from their website, and have a fully established correction process when users or researchers find errors when fact checking their information.

What they disclose:

· The receipts of the funds from the FEC database

· Evidence detailing how the funds are tied to the organizations, industries, and political candidates

· The percentage of the funds that are directly tied to the PACs vs individuals who are associated with these organizations and their families

· How the data is compiled, sorted, and evaluated

· The standards used to determine accuracy for each investigation

What they don’t disclose:

· The individual steps taken for each investigation

Evidence Presented: A

While OpenSecrets links to all of the receipts and provides resources for users to look the data up for themselves, they don’t have links to the FEC receipts for all results pages. As a result, if a user is looking for a specific source of funding, it might take some searching to find the individual receipts.

What they disclose:

· Links to all data used for their compilations

· Downloadable compilations of data

Neutrality: A

Opensecrets is a nonprofit organization, who relies on individual donations. They are not affiliated with any political figure, PAC, campaign, or other organization. They also link their own funding so users can evaluate their integrity for themselves. They compile funding data for all political candidates and parties. They also have a process for users and researchers to fact-check their findings and correct any errors. As a result, any misleading information found on their website is likely to be resolved by an open investigation from users and researchers of all political and ideological belief structures.