What is a fact?

Robert just finished listening to an early morning BBC show on NPR. It involved a number of journalists discussing the role of the media in overseeing the activities of elected officials. They were all very positive about their new assignment of being "fact checkers" and telling their listeners about who was speaking the "truth" and who wasn't. It reminded me of my first sociology course at Cortland State over 50 years ago. The instructor asked me "What is a fact?" I was baffled by the question and don't remember what I said.

Carolyn and I have written about the meaning of  the national measure of unemployment, about which the media reported during the past week. In our writings on the topic we have discussed the complexity of the generally accepted measure of unemployment, and the many layers of meaning that are hidden in the use of a single measure of the nation's economic health.

So, again we say: what is a fact?