Alexios Mantzarlis
Alexios Mantzarlis is the director and editor of the International Fact-Checking Network at the Poynter Institute.
The Week in Fact-Checking: The latest political faux-check
Imitation is the highest form of flattery, right? In a sign of the growing appeal of the term “fact-checking,” Czech prime ministerial candidate Andrej Babiš launched a website aping an existing fact-checking outfit’s name. Unsurprisingly, its “fact checks” cast Babiš in a positive light. But will it make a difference? Quote of the week “Historians and […]
The Week in Fact-Checking: Corrections, memes, and dealing with the ‘dark side’
Quote of the week “Objective reality exists, truth matters, and we have to pursue them with purpose and without fear. But in our present moment, truth, including truth that unsettles us, has far too often become subordinate to justifying and defending at all costs our own, often unsound, preconceptions. You can see that in […]
The Week in Fact-Checking: Who’s more worried about fake news, Facebook’s tough week, and dealing with ‘disinfobros’
Quote of the week “If you can generate attention you get paid. If you yell fire in a theater, you still get paid. Attention gets rewarded and not quality of information.” — Twitter founder Ev Williams on social media platform advertisers’ desire for attention. Treading on the partisan divide Eighty-eight percent of Donald Trump supporters told […]
The Week in Fact-Checking: German elections, fake news for Halloween, and everyone out of the Twitter pool
German voters go to the voting booth on Sunday and “fake news” has been less of a concern. A propaganda expert tells Correctiv that bots were dormant during the campaign. Still, Motherboard found plenty of misinformation spread from both Russian and American media outlets. The Alliance for Securing Democracy created a dashboard to track the Russian efforts. Either way, the regional […]
The Week in Fact-Checking: Facebook’s interesting week, and more
More from the ongoing saga of Facebook’s complicated relationship with journalism: Politico fired off a story that criticized the platform for not sharing information about its fact-checking program. Then, Politico claimed the program itself doesn’t work (though the studyactually frames it a bit differently). Facebook also admitted that Russian propagandists bought ads aimed at impacting the U.S. elections. And a new study found […]
The Week in Fact-Checking: Don’t give up on the fact-resistant
Americans’ infatuation with misinformation — as depicted in this widely viewed Vox video — could make a fact-checker despair. But there are ways to potentially reach the fact-resistant, and we’d like to see fact-checkers give them a try. Quote of the week “it is also tempting to dismiss the impact that actual fake news has on those who […]
The Week in Fact-Checking: Fake news is old news
Two stories this week remind us that the history can be a great teacher and that “modern” burdens actually were borne by generations before us. Adrian Chen writes for the New Yorker about early radio and its role in “information anarchy.” And Merrill Fabry of Time magazine explains how fact-checkers were able to do their jobs well before the Internet was […]
The Week in Fact-Checking: PolitiFact looks back
PolitiFact’s championing of structure and ratings has informed the work of dozens of organizations around the world. As the website turns 10 this week, here’s a look at the global trend it helped inspire. Quote of the week “Democracy, like a muscle, needs to be worked out. …It means that news organizations must redouble their efforts […]
The Week in Fact-Checking: Sleuthing gone wrong
Over the past week, Twitter users outed white supremacists they thought they spotted in photos from the march in Charlottesville. Getting it wrong can have serious consequences, as The New York Times reported. Identifying people is not a simple task: Storyful, for instance, seeks eight to 10 sources before confirming anything. Here are some tips and an incredible list […]
The Week in Fact-Checking: Does your work need a checkup?
Facts — and fact-checking —can be sterile, dry and a bit academic. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.) But are there more effective ways to present facts and controversial issues, and to reach fact-resistant audiences? Yes, says a new American Press Institute report; and it means more listening, fewer words and even a little psychology. See the stories and platforms that have done just […]