{"id":3195,"date":"2015-07-27T11:04:13","date_gmt":"2015-07-27T11:04:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zastone.ba\/?p=3195"},"modified":"2015-07-27T11:04:13","modified_gmt":"2015-07-27T11:04:13","slug":"fact-checking-is-on-the-rise-but-there-are-many-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zastone.ba\/en\/fact-checking-is-on-the-rise-but-there-are-many-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"Fact checking is on the rise, but there are many challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"politifact-photos-\"The rise in numbers of fact checking sites around the world \u2013 from 44 to 64 in one year \u2013 sends a message for accountability journalism. Fact checking veterans and funders of newborn sites, met in London on July 23 and 24 for the second Global Fact-Checking Summit. Lots of lessons emerged, along with advice on how to move forward. But there are unanswered questions to be debated.<\/p>\n

On whether to have a rating meter or not<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rating meters became the recognizable stamp for some fact checking sites, as the Washington Post\u2019s Pinocchios<\/a> or the Pants on Fire from PolitiFact\u2019s Truth-O-Meter<\/a>\u00a0can testify. The percentage of sites using meter systems has grown to about 80 percent, Bill Adair said, but not all choose this path.<\/p>\n

The main argument against employing a rating meter is that it risks simplifying a complicated issue. It can also be more open to questioning by critics. On the other hand the meter becomes a very useful summary of deep journalism and it\u2019s sharable even for people who are not going to read condensed policy pieces.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe meter is also useful as an additional tool that helps you to go back to the content and categorize it; you can track how the story is developing, how the content is changing\u201d, underlined Juan Moreno Romero from El Objectivo<\/a> in Spain.<\/p>\n

If you do choose to have a rating system, the key issue then is how to do it right.<\/p>\n

On doing rating right<\/strong><\/p>\n

As Alexios Mantzarlis of Italian Pagella Politica<\/a> underlined, the rating meter might end up being what will attract the most attention around your work, at least at the beginning, so it\u2019s essential to do it right. The most common advice is to have a clear methodology and definitions of the different rating levels and make them as public and transparent as possible.<\/p>\n

On how to respond to criticism<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fact checking easily attracts criticism, mainly from people who don\u2019t like to be fact checked. Laura Zommer from the Argentinian Chequeado<\/a> and Angie Holan of PolitiFact<\/a> discussed how to respond to a tidal wave of criticism.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor our fact check we follow a method that includes several steps and is open to our readers and published on our website: we call\/email the person that we are fact checking to have his\/her point of view from the beginning; we have a procedure for how to act when we make mistakes; we cover a wide selection of topics and characters; we have a diverse staff, also in terms of ideology, which is particularly important given our very politicized environment; we read each other\u2019s work before publishing it and we are very careful in choosing who we work with and the events we participate in,\u201d Zommer said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you know you made a mistake say it immediately, don\u2019t be afraid\u201d Holan said, explaining that at PolitiFact they have a tag \u201ccorrections and updates\u201d that goes on all articles that have been updated, to make them clearly recognizable.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we get criticized by someone very prominent we tend to reply, depending on the content of the critic. But sometimes there is nothing to say about that criticism,\u201d Holan added. \u201cAbsorb criticism as a group, never personally, don\u2019t let anyone of your team to go home discouraged, the team needs to support each other,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

On how to succeed in being objective in an hostile environment<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fact checking in some contexts is more challenging than elsewhere. That\u2019s certainly the case of Ukraine where alongside a real war, an informational one is also being fought. Tetiana Matychak, editor-in-chief of fact-checking site StopFake<\/a> shared some advice on how they succeeded in being objective.<\/p>\n