Article by E&D
Fact checking is a critical part of combating fake news and misinformation. While it is important to train yourself in this area, nowadays, you can also benefit from support of groups and organisations specialized in the matter. With the massive increase in fake news across all types of media, multiple groups across the World mobilized resources to identify fake news and misinformation and promote the veracity and correctness of reporting. Some of such organisations specialize in specific areas, i.e. politics or health, while others approach vast spectrum of topics. The good news is that you can already find such organisations in many countries across the world, including majority of EU countries and specifically the partnering countries of the Imedial Project partnership.
Foto Source: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/fact-check-fact-checking-fake-facts-6660570/
In Romania, Dignitas (dignitas.ro) focuses on evaluation of political statements, while Factual (factual.ro) provides complementary fact-checks. In Poland, among multiple organisations acting in the area, FakeNews.pl focuses on misinformation related to health, technology, public policy, entertainment and other societal areas. In Italy, Facta (facta.news) searches for hoaxes, fake news and disinformation in traditional and social media. In Spain, among multiple organisations, a startup Newtral Media Audiovisual SL publishes fact-checking and verification reports and produces a weekly program with fact-checking reports. In Portugal, a commercial project – Poligrafo focuses on verification of statements of public figures (poligrafo.sapo.pt), while Observador is the first Portuguese newspaper with a fact-checking section.
Verifying information you are exposed to on such websites can help you avoid misinformation and save you time in doing deep fact-checks on your own. As in case of any news, make sure though, that you reach out to quality fact-check organisations. The Duke University data-base of legitimate fact checking organisations can help you identify the right place to reach out – https://reporterslab.org/fact-checking/. The reporters’ lab data base will help you identify organisations specialized in fact checking across the globe and offers information regarding specific focus and background of all listed organisations. Unfortunately, there is also bad news. As the Duke’s reporters’ lab outlines, the trend in establishing organisations for fact-checking is slowing down and some fact-checking projects have been shut down. But even more dangerously, some fraudulent fact-checking organisations were identified in Armenia, Turkey or Sweden trying to support specific political agenda and making navigating the world of news and fake news even more challenging. So while, fact-checkers can help you protect yourself from fake-news and misinformation and save you the time required for your own fact checking, be cautious and strategic in using their services.