Language
Country/Area
No result found
The history of fact-checking: How it became a necessary weapon for modern media.
In today’s information-overloaded society, fact-checking has become the guardian of media coverage. This process not only helps ensure the authenticity of reports, but also can change public perceptions and behaviors to a certain extent. Fact-checking can be done before content is published, known as “pre-checking,” or after content is published, known as “post-checking.” Fact-checking is not limited to internal review by media organizations. With the rise of social media, independent fact-checking organizations have gradually become an important force in society to examine the authenticity of information.
History of Fact-Checking
The seditious newspapers of the 1850s led to a growing demand for more factual reporting. Colin Dickey describes the evolution of fact-checking over time. Several key moments in this process include:
The founding of the United Press in the 1850s required short, factual materials.
In 1912, Ralph Pulitzer of the New York World founded the Bureau of Accuracy and Fairness.
Henry Luce and the creation of Time magazine, and The New Yorker's famous fact-checking department.
With the rise of social media, misinformation and conspiracy theories have quickly spread to mainstream media, and some traditional media organizations have begun to reallocate resources to embrace fact-checking functions, such as The Washington Post. The rise of independent fact-checking organizations such as PolitiFact is also gaining increasing attention.
Types of fact-checking
The purpose of pre-checking is to detect errors so that they can be corrected before the information is released or rejected. Post-mortems typically present inaccurate information in the form of a written report accompanied by visual indicators. For example, The Washington Post’s Pinocchio Index and PolitiFact’s Truth-O-Meter.
Since the early 2000s, external post-audit organizations have gradually emerged in the United States. Especially after the election of US President Trump in 2016, the demand for fact-checking began to rise rapidly and expanded to many countries in Europe and Latin America. The United States remains the largest market for fact-checking.
Influence and Effects
Research shows that post-checking can lead to behavioral changes in both speakers and listeners, with speakers becoming more careful in what they say and listeners becoming more discerning about the factual accuracy of content. Specifically, for highly controversial topics, audiences are significantly more resistant to corrections. It is worth noting that:
Some studies suggest that corrections to certain errors can make supporters of a particular political faction more entrenched in their views.
Fact-checking not only promotes the accurate flow of information, but also introduces higher reputation costs among political speakers, making them afraid to spread false information at will. This is of great significance for improving the quality of political dialogue.
Fake news and its impact on social media
With the rise of social media, the spread of fake news has become a social problem that needs to be addressed urgently. Some studies have shown that fake news circulating on social media tends to use more inflammatory language in order to attract attention. This challenges the power of fact-checking. One of the key methods is "lateral reading":
Professional fact-checkers often use a technique called “lateral reading,” which involves getting an overview of a topic from multiple sources rather than diving deep into just one source.
In addition, the characteristics of social media may make some old data mining and detection techniques insufficient. Therefore, researchers advocate combining psychology and social theories to adjust existing data mining algorithms.
International Fact-Checking Day
The concept of International Fact-Checking Day was first proposed at a meeting of journalists and fact-checkers at the London School of Economics in 2014, and was officially celebrated in 2016. This date was chosen because "April 1 is April Fools' Day, and April 2 is the day of truth." The purpose of this activity is to enable the public to learn skills to identify false information and thus reduce the spread of misinformation.
Limitations and Controversies
However, fact-checking is not a panacea. Research shows that fact-checking can sometimes backfire and even reinforce false beliefs. When verification results are seen as authoritative opinions, they often provoke resistance because beliefs in identity and cultural positions cannot be easily refuted. This means that "even though news articles can be verified, personal beliefs cannot be changed."
As society’s demand for accuracy increases, fact-checking is playing an increasingly important role across the media ecosystem. In this process, we can't help but think about how we should better conduct fact-checking to maintain the authenticity and credibility of the media in the face of the ever-changing media environment in the future?
