Online fact-checking – a growing trend

A recent report from the Reuters Institute has traced the rise of political fact-checking sites in Europe. It recorded 113 such groups are active today.  More than 90% were established since 2010; about 50 launched in the past two years alone.

The recent US election campaigns have raised issues of truth in the media.  This built upon earlier concerns raised by works such as

• Lies, Damn Lies and Viral Content
• How News Websites Spread (and Debunk) Online Rumors, Unverified Claims and Misinformation by Craig Silverman

Here are some resources on fact-checking online.

• Verification Handbook Compiled by journalists from the BBC, Storyful, ABC and more.  Offers a  guide for journalists to verifying user-generated content during disasters and humanitarian emergencies
• First Draft News is a new site dedicated to providing free training resources for verifying eyewitness and social media.
• Washington Post Fact-Checker fact-checks statements from U.S. political figures and politically-minded news outlets.  The fact checker rates these statements on a scale of one to four Pinocchios, with one Pinocchio being the most truthful and four Pinocchios representing an outright lie.
• A project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, FactCheck.org is another tool for checking the accuracy behind U.S. politicians’ statements.

South Asia Check Panos South Asia  is a free online resource that verifies statements and claims made by public figures.  While the site primarily focuses on fact-checking Nepalese officials, it often covers figures from across South Asia.