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Among other preventive measures, fact-checking is considered as one of the effective ways to combat fake news. Fact-checkers promote rationality and assist citizens in making informed decisions. However, fact-checkers' motives, methods and abilities are doubted and subjected to distrust. Lack of perceived trust is a major concern in the profession of fact-checking journalism. To build public trust, fact-checking organisations have been advised to be transparent about news production processes. Besides the trust mechanism, compliance to transparency is an important tenet of journalistic professionalism. This study seeks to analyse Indian fact-checkers' explanations of their methodology for fact-checking claims and commitments to ensuring methodological transparency. Qualitative content analysis of declarations published by seven Indian fact-checkers on their websites demonstrates that fact-checking is conducted in a systemic and transparent manner. Transparency norm seems to have emerged as a governing principle in the context of fact-checking journalism. The findings of this study have been interpreted in the view of literature on journalistic transparency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study addresses socio-political and professional factors driving the surge of the Brazilian fact-checking venture in the last years. Drawing on a set of 16 semi-structured interviews with fact-checkers from 13 active initiatives, it delves into motivations that led journalists to put in motion their fact-checking firms. Based on the existing literature on structural dynamics and professional incentives for fact-checking, the paper suggests that these two instances concur with the advancement of that journalistic subgenre. Research findings show that the last two electoral cycles (2014–2018) created a thriving landscape for fact-checking due to growing political turmoil in Brazil. Besides, there is also an isomorphic tendency in the development of new fact-checking initiatives. Pioneer American and Argentinean fact-checking firms inspired first projects. Nevertheless, motivations for fact-checking have been increasingly diverse over the years, including training workshops, successful coalitions, and grants from foreign investors. This study contributes to the growing scholarship on an emerging journalistic subfield showing the context-sensitive nature of the expansion of the fact-checking enterprise in a milieu distinct from the US-European landscape. Furthermore, it stresses how structural and professional factors act as field-configuring instances of new journalistic ventures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines journalists' perceptions of fact-checking, a growing journalistic activity focused on assessing the veracity of public claims. Professional journalists working on fact-checking or interested in doing fact-checking and based in the United States were surveyed regarding the purpose of this activity; principles of fact-checking, including boundaries with activism or partisanship; and statements concerning which political party politicians are more likely to produce false claims. This study shows a high level of agreement between respondents on normative aspects of fact-checking. Journalists stated that there should be clear boundaries between fact-checking and activism and that fact-checking should be non-partisan. At the same time, participants showed discrepancies on topics like the use of the word "lie" when finding that a claim is false. In addition, among respondents, the perception that Republicans are more likely to make false claims was significantly higher than the perception that Democrats are more prone to produce false claims, although the difference was moderate, with considerable percentages of respondents answering that they neither agree nor disagree with the statements that Republicans, or Democrats, are more prone to make false claims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fact-checking has been identified as a significant journalistic tool in the fight against disinformation. Relevant studies have focused on its emergence as a movement within journalism aiming at renewing the profession, as well as its effectiveness in challenging disinformation, especially during elections. However, little has been said about how audiences themselves understand fact-checking and employ it in their daily consumption of news. In this article, we answer these questions by drawing upon two sets of data. The first consists of fourteen focus group discussions in the UK, which included 52 participants, and were conducted online between April and May 2021. The second consists of two qualitative surveys that explored news consumers' understandings of fact-checking and their evaluations of current fact-checking practices of UK media during the same period. We conclude that the use of fact-checking remains largely peripheral, and its influence is minimal in people's news consumption. However, there is an appetite for more fact-checking in television news, as a way of holding politicians into account and helping the public better understand politics. In this context, we argue, if fact-checking is to play an important role in political discourse, it should become a regular part of broadcast journalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses and discusses attitudes and practices concerning verification among Swedish journalists. The research results are based on a survey of more than 800 Swedish journalists about their attitudes towards verification (Journalist 2018) and a design project where a prototype for verification in newsrooms – the Fact Check Assistant (FCA) – was developed and evaluated. The results of the survey show a lack of routines when it comes to verifying content from social media and blogs and considerable uncertainty among journalists about whether this kind of verification is possible. The development of the prototype initially created reactions of interest and curiosity from the newsroom staff. Gradually, however, the degree of scepticism about its usability increased. A lack of time and a lack of knowledge were two of the obstacles to introducing new verification routines. It is not enough to introduce new digital tools, according to the journalists. Management must also allocate time for training. The paper's ultimate conclusion is that changing journalists' and editors' attitudes towards verification in this digital age appears to be guided by newsroom culture rather than technical solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keywords: Magazines; fact-checking; accuracy; magazine journalism; online journalism; magazine publishing To better understand this conundrum, we interviewed top research editors (a common term for fact-checkers) at 11 prominent American magazines in February and March 2016 about fact-checking practices applied to their print publications. B Today's fact-checking routines for print. b In many cases, research editors' fact-checking routines for print magazine content changed little in several decades, although digital databases have increased convenience. Magazines, fact-checking, accuracy, magazine journalism, online journalism, magazine publishing. [Extracted from the article]

Print magazines are unique among nonfiction media in their dedication of staff and resources to indepth, word-by-word verification of stories. Over time, this practice has established magazines' reputation for reliability, helped them retain loyal readers amid a glut of information sources, and protected them from litigation. But during the past decade, websites, mobile platforms, and social media have expanded the types of stories and other content that magazines provide for readers. Doing so has shortened the time between the creation and dissemination of content, challenging and in some cases squeezing out fact-checkers' participation. This study examines the procedures applied to stories in magazines and their non-print platforms, seeking to discern what decisions were made in response to the speed of digital publication, what effects these decisions have had, what lessons have been learned and what changes have been made over time. The results suggest that fact-checking practices for print content remain solidly in place at most magazines, if executed with diminished resources; however, magazine media are also exploring new processes to ensure accuracy and protect their reputations in an accelerated media environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars agree on the role of media and communication in mitigating climate change. However, the complex and scientific nature of climate change, particularly within a contemporary media setting that includes growing misinformation, has challenged environmental journalists. To better understand these challenges the present study uses the hierarchy of influences model to explore different levels of influence that shape climate content in an under-researched country, Pakistan. Additionally, this study explains reporters' experiences in dealing with misinformation on climate change, its ability to impact their work, and their perception of using fact-checking tools to counter it. The results, based on 21 interviews with self-identified climate journalists, revealed that, on an individual level, lack of expertise and education influence their coverage of environmental issues. Furthermore, the reporters expressed that following the Western process and model of environmental journalism impacts their routine and climate coverage. Moreover, the journalists claimed that advertisers and corporations significantly influence their news stories on environmental issues. The study also reveals that the journalists believed that there is no widespread climate misinformation in Pakistan, thus reducing the need for fact-checkers. The paper concludes by discussing the findings while providing recommendations for enhanced journalism coverage of climate change in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Truthfulness is the lifeblood of news. However, fake news, like a wide-spreading virus, is infecting the global journalism. Taking China's top fake news from 2001 to 2019 as an example, the study endorses a social pathological approach to address the symptoms, etiology, and developing trend of fake news. Through symptoms diagnosis, the study contributes more categories to the previous typology of fake news: "click-bait," "alarmist talk," "subjective assumption," "user-generated content (UGC)-news," "hearsay," and "incorrect-data news". Etiology analysis shows that Chinese fake news is mainly about social life partially because of no previous tradition of verifying daily statements from politicians. Trend predictions reveal that online media, hearsay, and social life-related news of unverified single sources are the main problems which are different from the West and require special attention in the future. The proposed solution for the Chinese press and media outlets is to cooperate with internet platforms and establish a comprehensive fact-checking mechanism, integrating professional journalism, data and visualization technology, specialized knowledge, and communication efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study empirically investigates two controversial Canadian news media outlets in an attempt to detect and analyze "fake news". Relying on academic and general literature about fact-checking, the main goal of this study is to elaborate on the methodological challenges we faced in detecting and analyzing "fake news". We discuss our case study which is Global Research and Rebel News as well as the codebooks and sample stories. To understand what kinds of news stories audiences of Global Research and Rebel News engaged with the most, we selected a sample of the top 400 news stories shared on Twitter and Facebook. Findings show that 71% of the top news stories examined contained either some falsehood, misleading, and/or doubtful information, with Global Research being more active in disseminating "fake news" than Rebel News. Audiences were mostly engaged with stories concerning politics, internal order, and human interest stories, with international news garnering more attention than national news stories regarding Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fact-checking has been granted a pivotal role in mitigating the effects of online disinformation, but its effectiveness has nonetheless been questioned (Lee and Shin 2019). Like any persuasive communication, fact checkers depend on their recipients perceiving both their messages and them as credible (Lombardi, Seyranian, and Sinatra 2014; Lombardi, Nussbaum, and Sinatra 2016). This study investigates the role of the perceived credibility of the fact checker as possible detriment to the effectiveness of fact-checking efforts by means of an online survey-embedded experiment. Results show that the perceived credibility of the fact checker and fact-checking messages is best explained by normative expectations of the roles of fact checkers and trust in traditional media. Some users perceive fact checkers as elite power structures in journalism or, in other words, as collaborative-facilitators for state propaganda (Hanitzsch and Vos 2018; see also Fawzi 2020). Further, low trust in media and politics predicts perceived credibility of disinformation better than political partisanship. The findings suggest that fact checkers should be more transparent and proactive in communicating their motives and identities. Further implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seventy-four of the 126 fact-checking operations were affiliated with - and financially supported by - a media outlet; the other 52 were entrepreneurial, including sites associated with universities as well as independent start-ups. Most media organisations with affiliated fact-checkers are legacy print or broadcast outlets; for instance, many public broadcasters in Western Europe have fact-checking units. Fact-checkers described independence as integral to their civic value; some interviewees said it set them apart from other media outlets seen, "often correctly, as having some sort of political stance", explained Cunliffe-Jones. But all were deeply passionate about moving not only audiences but also traditional media outlets away from old habits and understandings of what constitutes public-service journalism. [Extracted from the article]

This study considers fact-checkers as innovators and entrepreneurs. It explores funding models as well as perceptions about three core aspects of a successful journalistic enterprise: audiences, value propositions, and resources. Findings indicate particular attention to media literacy and civic engagement, independence, and transparency. In addition, many fact-checkers see their role as not merely extending traditional journalism but also correcting some of its shortcomings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coping with misinformation in a media environment is one of the challenges that undermine the role of the media. The pandemic of Covid-19 influenced the media organisations in their working processes significantly and a decrease in accuracy was one of the findings of our study. This paper examines the impact of the pandemic in local media to journalists' practices and the role of the media. We aimed to research the effects of the pandemic in the local environment on journalistic procedures and the media's role after this period. In answering the research questions, we used the method of a structured questionnaire for journalists and semi-structured in-depth interviews for local News Editors. We aimed to research the media production practices on various levels of professionals included in local news. We detected those production practices that could endanger the credibility of the local media. The findings provided insights into how Slovenian local journalists and editors define, understand, and practice fact-checking. The results led to an understanding that the perception of the media role in offering information was higher during the pandemic period and that human verification is key in ensuring the credibility of content in local newsrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although concepts such as disinformation, malinformation and "fake news" have become popular in recent years, a question emerges: what is society's understanding of each one? This study sheds light on the complex interplay between online misinformation, media coverage, public discourse, and the role of fact-checking in today's polarized information landscape. Addressing hybrid media systems and alternative facts, the author focuses on the emergence of the pseudo-media ecosystem considering fragmentation, emotion, and information disorder. It delves into the complexities behind the variations in transparency and offers valuable insights into the reasons influencing the transparency practices of fact-checkers in different regions. [Extracted from the article]

Social media platforms and news organisations alike are struggling with identifying and combating visual mis/disinformation presented to their audiences. Such processes are complicated due to the enormous number of media items being produced, how quickly media items spread, and the often-subtle or sometimes invisible-to-the-naked-eye nature of deceptive edits. Despite knowing little about the provenance and veracity of the visual content they encounter, journalists have to quickly determine whether to re-publish or amplify this content, with few tools and little time available to assist them in such an evaluation. With the goal of equipping journalists with the mechanisms, skills, and knowledge to be effective gatekeepers and stewards of the public trust, this study reviews current journalistic image verification practices, examines a number of existing and emerging image verification technologies that could be deployed or adapted to aid in this endeavour, and identifies the strengths and limitations of the most promising extant technical approaches. While oriented towards practical and achievable steps in combating visual mis/disinformation, the study also contributes to discussions on fact-checking, source-checking, verification, debunking and journalism training and education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is at the top of the public agenda, but researchers argue that climate journalism needs to be improved. However, knowledge of the public's perceptions of and expectations for climate journalism is limited. We asked a representative sample of the Danish public (N = 2,028) about their views on climate journalism. The results showed that most respondents regarded climate journalism as important but found it less trustworthy and of lower quality than journalism in general. While the public generally wants climate reporting to live up to the same functions as general reporting such as fact-checking and dissemination information quickly, but they also find some functions to be more relevant for climate reporting than for general reporting. The Danish case thus indicates a greater need for climate journalism to function as a provider of guidance and solutions on how to deal with climate change in everyday life and to focus less on political opinions while giving more space to experts. However, these findings were influenced by demographic factors, especially political affiliation and age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media have led to profound transformations in the media ecosystem and new communication dynamics. Such platforms have become a competitive source of information and played a decisive role in facilitating the dissemination of false or misleading content, with a particular impact on recent elections. This study analyses the formats and the spread of disinformation during Brazil's 2018 election on social media, considering the countermeasures adopted that year by the platforms to reduce its circulation. Disinformation occupies a central space in the public debate in Brazil, where there is massive use of social media. Based on a content analysis of the 153 false or misleading narratives most shared during the campaign period, the results show that contents changed formats to overcome platforms' countermeasures. Results also highlight a majority of images and a blend of false and accurate information that reshape the phenomenon definition and suggests the inefficacy of current regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much has been written about the alleged “crisis” of journalism, with narratives of cultural pessimism centred on the decline of legacy news media, and print media in particular. Whilst factually accurate in parts, such narratives offer an incomplete picture not just of how journalism is declining, but also evolving as it transitions in the digital age. This paper is funded by a major Australian Research Council-study of “Journalism beyond the crisis”, a project which seeks to evaluate the emerging assemblage of journalistic forms, practices, and uses in a transnationally comparative study across four different countries. The present study is a first step in investigating how journalists perceive their roles at a time in which the legitimacy of factual accounts of current events is increasingly put into question. To do so, it draws on in-depth interviews with senior journalists based in London and Sydney, providing topical insights into how these practitioners understand their role in an era of “fake news”. The findings indicate that journalists are particularly concerned about a decrease of public trust in the media, and urge colleagues to adapt more rigorous fact-checking techniques - particularly at times when the role of journalism as a “watchdog” over society appears to be most crucial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on interviews with 25 investigative journalists in Beijing, China, this study suggests digital journalists may be increasingly challenged by a sense of "information overload" as they navigate social media and online environments crowded with dis- and mis-information, fake profiles and sources, and massive amounts of opinion journalism that is presented as professional journalism. This overload has reinforced Chinese investigative journalists' dedication to a conventional form of verification: meeting face-to-face with sources. This study contributes to scholarship on Chinese journalism by expanding knowledge about investigative journalists in the country and by complicating understandings of how journalists there work in an age of social media, disinformation, and increased interests in verification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The crisis in Ukraine has accentuated the position of Russian television as the government’s strongest asset in its information warfare. The internet, however, allows other players to challenge the Kremlin’s narrative by providing counter-narratives and debunking distorted information and fake images. Accounting for the new media ecology—through which strategic narratives are created and interpreted, this article scrutinizes the narratives of allegedly fake news on Channel One, perceiving the fabricated stories as extreme projections of Russia’s strategic narratives, and the attempts of the Ukrainian fact-checking website Stopfake.org to counter the Russian narrative by refuting misinformation and exposing misleading images about Ukraine. Secondly, it analyses how Twitter users judged the veracity of these news stories and contributed to the perpetuation of strategic narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Professional journalists rate investigating, fact checking, and standards of accuracy high among the qualities that set them apart from amateur journalists and bloggers. This paper addresses the spread and the implications of news “cannibalisation” (taking material from other news organisations, without attribution). It asks how the loss of exclusivity is impacting on practices of reporting and on standards of “accuracy” and “sincerity” and suggests that establishing new standards of transparency could help protect professional reporting in the new, networked era, as well as improving ethical standards in journalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article consists in a case-study of the Portuguese site Notícias Viriato (NV), which has controversially been registered by the Portuguese Regulatory Authority (ERC) as a 'general information' site, officially recognised as drawing close to mainstream journalism in a context of accusations of rightwing bias. We will argue that NV's registration with ERC marks a new phase for the far right in the Portuguese political and journalistic spheres, due to grounding legitimation in the Constitutional right to freedom of expression. By drawing close to officialdom, this news site bypasses the inexistence, in the Portuguese juridical framework, of advocacy journalism. According to the Portuguese Constitution, partisanship excludes journalistic activity, with journalism being of an 'informative', and therefore objective, nature. While the dangers of partisanship are recognised, the existence of an advocacy continuum within journalism are ignored. In a digital era in which journalistic objectivity has ceased to be the norm, the labelling of journalism as 'general information', defined against 'partisanship', is incapable of responding to the challenges posed by alternative media in redefining professional journalism. This demonstrates the need to update both the Portuguese Constitution and prevalent media legislation to accompany changing times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study used 2,623 WeChat article headlines on the Chengdu school food safety event and employed quantitative content analysis to explore the dynamic relationship of headline strategy (i.e., headline style and headline frame) and news source with user clicks at distinct phases of the issue–attention cycle. The results first revealed that various types of headline styles affect the number of user clicks based on the issue–attention phase, but no single type dominates public attention at any phase. Second, reader attention could be attracted using the information with the singleton detection mode. However, the feature search mode could filter official-oriented discourse. Third, the "treatment recommendation" headline frame, which clearly summarises the core of texts, generally lacked executability and had a poor effect on audience mobilisation. Fourth, readers depended on certain media channels under low-choice media environment, and information issued by administrative sources was not widely spread because of the limitation on their functions and specific targets. Finally, news from traditional mainstream media, online communities, and independent sources were more click-attractive news than the news from other sources, thus demonstrating a complementary relationship between official reports and social media discourses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]