The Content Homogenization of Fact-Checking Through Platform Partnerships: A Comparison Between Eight Countries (original) (raw)
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The current media ecosystem, derived from the consolidation of Information and Communication Technologies, shows a scenario in which the relationship between the media and their audience is being redefined. This represents a challenge for journalistic practice. In the digital age, the public actively participates in the construction and dissemination of news through social networks. Faced with this loss of control by the media, fake news and disinformation are emerging as one of the main problems of journalistic practice in a competitive business context, and with a high saturation of news content. In this situation, fact checkers emerge as key players in the information verification process. This research comparatively analyses the main fact checkers in Spain and the United Kingdom through content analysis applied to their corporate websites to understand their characteristics and working methodologies. The results underline that they are concerned with the concepts of transparency...
Facts are at the core of the democratic process. Politicians neither always tell facts nor commit to what they pledge. Fact-checking refers to efforts focused on correcting misinformation, fighting falsehoods and bringing attention to facts and hard evidence. Fact-checking nowadays is mostly perceived to be a US-centered and journalistic phenomenon. However, in the recent few years, fact-checking has developed significantly and faster than the literature examining it. This paper explored the question of How fact-checking evolved to become a global phenomenon with direct impact on national and transnational politics? The author conducted a critical analysis of the global fact-checking ecosystem, stakeholders, and networks through data produced by Duke Reporters' Lab, International Fact Checking Network (IFCN) and interviews conducted in the annual fact-checking summit in Buenos Aires 2016. Throughout the paper, the author provided two main arguments on the globalisation of fact-checking; the distribution of the phenomenon worldwide and the evolution of the phenomenon to produce networks and institutions. By examining the first argument, a typology of different global trends of fact-checking is produced in relation to various lenses of types, targets and media. By examining the second argument, IFCN is studied as both a model of institutions and Transnational Advocacy Networks (TANs). The impact of this accelerating phenomenon is not restricted to tangible, immediate changes but also to a gradual cultural adoption of healthy skepticism towards news and politics. Finally, the paper concludes that fact-checking is no longer a US centered phenomenon. While this phenomenon is led by journalists, it is not exclusive to them. Civil society, entrepreneurs, and citizens also participate in the process of developing fact-checking.
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While services for fact-checking and verification to counter fake news in social media have increased, little research has investigated how journalists and the public perceive such services. This study reflects the outcomes of REVEAL, a three-year European Union research project investigating the use and impact of services for fact-checking and verification. Based on interviews with 32 young journalists and content analysis of social media users’ online conversations, we contribute new knowledge about the ways that journalists and social media users perceive online fact-checking and verification services. The findings suggest that, while young journalists were largely unfamiliar with or ambivalent about such services, they judged them as potentially useful in the investigative journalistic process. Yet, they were unwilling to rely exclusively on these tools for fact-checking and verification. A comparison of journalists’ perceptions with those of social media users reveals social media users are similarly ambivalent. Some accentuated the usefulness of such services, while others expressed strong distrust. However, the journalists displayed a more nuanced perspective, both seeing these services as potentially useful and being reluctant to blindly trust a single service. Design strategies to make online fact-checking and verification services more useful and trustworthy are suggested.
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A creative economy is an economy where value is based on imaginative qualities rather than on the resources of land, labour and capital, and one of the most dynamic sectors of the global economy. The media industry is an important part of the creative economy and faces the most dynamic media ecosystems changes. One of the most interesting phenomena is the rising discipline of fact-checking. The discipline, which in four years (2014-2018) had a global growth of 239%, has developed to combat the adverse consequences of fake news and misinformation. It has brought interesting changes in media ecosystems and has enriched this part of the creative economy sector. This paper brings an overview of fact-checking trends in the European Union and South East Asia as these two regions show the fastest growth of the creative economy. Analysis answers the following research questions: What is the status of fact-checkers in those parts of the world? Which business models are dominant? How popular ...
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Fact-checking journalism has become a common practice to counteract misinformation. This research analyzes the perceptions of fact-checkers in Ibero-America on the purposes, principles, and challenges of fact-checking. Specifically, we studied if there are differences in perception based on adherence to the International Fact-Checking Network’s (IFCN) Code of Principles, how frequently fact-checkers perform fact-checks, as well as their experience and age. Data were collected through a questionnaire that received 122 responses from fact-checkers in 17 countries. Results indicate that journalists’ experience appears to be a variable that can help understand the boundaries between fact-checking and political and social activism in Ibero-America. Less-experienced fact-checkers were more likely to consider activism to be a purpose of fact-checking. Age was a predictive factor for explaining reformist perceptions of the essence of fact-checking in Ibero-America, with younger fact-checkers more likely to state that the purpose of fact-checking is to uphold the ideals of journalism and serve as a commitment to information transparency. Pledging to adhere to IFCN’s Code of Principles was found to facilitate the use and analysis of fact-checking tools. The implications of these findings are discussed.
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The recent increase in usage of concepts such as ‘fake news’ or ‘post-truth’ reveals the importance of digital literacy especially on social media. In the digital era, people’s views on different topics are attempted to be manipulated with disinformation and fake news. Fake content is rapidly replacing the reality among new media users. It is stated with concepts such as ‘filter bubbles’ and ‘echo chambers’ that there is a greater tendency for people to be fed with content that is ideologically appropriate to their own views and to believe in fake news in this content. This article analyzes the structure and functioning of fact-checking organizations in the context of preventing propagation of fake news and improving digital literacy. The research is based on content analysis of verification activities of the fact-checking organization Teyit.org, which is a member of International Fact-Checking Network in Turkey, between January 1 and June 31, 2018. By conducting in-depth interviews...
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This study represents the first work integrating theory and practice from the field of fact-checking and combating fake news into a novel methodology for performance analysis of fact-checking organizations. It provides important insights into the efficiency and effectiveness of European factchecking organizations. However, it is relevant for any fact-checking organization across the Globe. The methodology includes the development of a scheme of performance indicators and the definition of a taxonomy of fact-checking systems, supported by an existing conceptual framework. The practical part consists of piloting of the methodology into a set of implemented and working online platforms. The results from the study reveal huge space for improvements of the workflows and the functionality of fact-checkers and lead to the extraction of a set of recommendations in this regard.