Scott McLemee of Inside Higher Ed said that the book "traces how media outlets' internal fact-checking has morphed into something almost antithetical: the very public evaluation of factual assertions made by politicians and other news figures". Kirkus Reviews called the book "a reasoned and reasonable text that will appeal—due to its scholarly tone, diction, and format—mostly to an academic audience.", concluding that the book is "A keenly observed visit to a new world whose geography we can now better comprehend."
