The Week in Fact-Checking is a newsletter about fact-checking and accountability journalism, from Poynter's International Fact-Checking Network & the American Press Institute's Accountability Project
Couples therapy for Facebook and the fact-checkers
It’s been a rocky year or so for Facebook’s and fact-checkers' efforts to combat fake news on the platform. The Buzzsumo-crunching Craig Silverman found in December that engagement for major fake news stories was doing just great, thank you very much. Academics Guess, Nyhan and Reifler determined Facebook is by far the key referrer to fake news websites.
But there may be a light in the end of the tunnel: At an IFCN-brokered meeting in Menlo Park on Feb. 6, Facebook product manager Tessa Lyons promises to discuss data that will help “understand the actual impact and results of the partnership.” We’ll see.
Research you can use
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Is fake news a big deal or isn't it? This is why it's hard to boil down a new study on Americans’ fake news consumption into a simple answer.
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News literacy electives aren’t going to be enough, says a Stanford professor.
- Can scholars who study fiction help us understand the attraction of fake news?
This is how we do it
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In Iran, verifying details about the recent demonstrations over the economy can be challenging for journalists and fact-checkers. Here’s why.
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The Public Data Lab, with support from First Draft, has released a new cookbook for investigating fake news.
- How does journalism work? ProPublica explains.
Bummers
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A photo intern at the Tampa Bay Times recounts what it was like to see one of her photos used for a viral hoax about DACA recipients.
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This is how a fake-news site works during a breaking news story.
- Swedish officials worry about how fake news will impact the country's 2018 elections.
So excited for Monday’s “MOST DISHONEST & CORRUPT MEDIA AWARDS OF THE YEAR!” See you on the red carpet, @AndersonCooper! #TheFakies pic.twitter.com/r8pYCj0g9r
— Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) January 4, 2018
This is fun
Comedian Steven Colbert is promoting President Trump's "fake news awards" with full-page advertisements. (Meanwhile, an attorney warns that White House officials could get into legal trouble if they help Trump with his "contest.")
Coming up
- Global Fact V deadline is now Feb 14, not Feb 28. Sign up here.
- Want to turn your own big idea into reality? The IFCN is putting $50,000 towards paradigm-shifting innovations in fact-checking.
- In case you didn't notice, we redesigned this newsletter for the new year. Love it? Hate it? Let us know what you think.
Quick fact-checking links
Binge-watch these examples of video fact-checking around the world. // The Boston Globe has Facebook's fake news problem on its list of New Year’s resolutions. // Facebook is funding two news literacy projects in Brazil ahead of this year’s elections. // Why Twitter polls should have warning labels. // Pic Pedant can’t stop, won’t stop. // Politico has a pro and con debate over the French president’s proposed laws on misinformation. // PolitiFact wrote a fact-checkers' guide to Michael Wolff's "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House." // Trump blocked this reporter on Twitter for fact-checking him, but that's okay.
