The Poynter Institute announced Monday that Alexios Mantzarlis will be the director and editor of a new International Fact-Checking Network. The IFCN’s work will appear on Poynter’s site and Mantzarlis will publish a weekly newsletter.
According to the press release, the St. Petersburg, Florida-based IFCN is funded by grants from the Omidyar Network and the National Endowment for Democracy, and “it will support and study the work of 64 fact-checking organizations spanning six continents…”
“Poynter’s mission is to advance journalistic excellence that serves democracy, and I can’t think of a more appropriate or important initiative than the International Fact-Checking Network,” said Poynter President Tim Franklin. “We’ve seen the huge impact of PolitiFact in the U.S. in recent years. Alexios and IFCN will foster the growth globally of this vitally important work that holds public officials accountable.”
Mantzarlis is currently the managing editor of Pagella Politica, a fact-checking site in Italy. He also co-founded FactCheckEU.org.