Fact-checker’s dilemma: Facts alone have limited power to resolve politicized issues like climate change or immigration policy, writes Adrian Bardon.
We accept expert testimony we like and reject the rest.
Tag Archives: fact checking
Fact-Checking
Fact-checking: “A perfectly checked article, after all, can still be fundamentally wrong about its assumptions or conclusions,” writes Colin Dickey.
Being fastidious about little things can lead to reader trust, but facts can be more work than they are worth.
Mass Shootings Spawn Misinformation
Mass shootings spawn misinformation: Fact-checking the El Paso and Dayton shootings revealed three findings, write Daniel Funke, Susan Benkelman and Cristina Tardaguila.
Conspiracy mongering, rumors via messaging apps and hoaxes abound.
Forcing Change Through Fact-Checking
Forcing change through fact-checking: Simply reporting fact-checks is not enough, writes Laura Hazard Owen.
The “second-generation” of fact-checking includes not just publishing but also pressure and working for system change.
Stickers Warn Of False News
Stickers warn of false news: Some fact-checkers around the world developed sticker warnings, writes Cristina Tardaguila.
“For now, they seem to be a nice (and colorful) way to tell friends and family they are spreading low-quality information — and should think twice before sharing content,” she writes.
The Hazards of Fact-Checking
The hazards of fact-checking: Three media and law groups join to form the Fact-Checkers Legal Support Initiative to fend off attacks on fact-checkers.
“Many are being threatened with lawsuits and often do not have the resources to defend themselves,” says FLSI.
Threats include online harassment and physical violence by those exposed in the public arena for misinformation.
The Truth Sandwich
The truth sandwich: Repeating a lie helps it to live on, writes Craig Newmark.
“I predict that, in 2019, news organizations will start to institute new reporting methods to avoid being complicit. Tactics may include adopting the ‘truth sandwich,’ which means covering a lie by presenting the truth first and then following that lie with a fact-check, as well as increasing newsroom capacity to check claims for accuracy in real time, prior to publishing a story.”
Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists 