Practitioner perceptions: critical junctures and the global emergence and challenges of fact-checking

Abstract

Since 2003 and the emergence of FactCheck.org in the United States, fact-checking has expanded both domestically and internationally. As of February, 2016, the Duke Reporter’s Lab identified nearly 100 active initiatives around the world. This research explores why fact-checking is spreading globally at this point in time. Seen as a professional reform movement in the journalistic community (Graves, 2016), historical research on reform movements suggest several possible factors influencing the emergence of fact-checking including a decline in journalism, easy access to technology for the masses, and socio-political strife (McChesney, 2007; Pickard, 2015; Stole, 2006). Using a phenomenological approach, two focus groups were conducted among fact-checkers during the 2015 Global Fact-checking Summit in London, England. Participants shared rich experiences about conditions and contexts surrounding the emergence and challenges facing their organizations. Ultimately, as the purpose of this research is to help future fact-checkers around the world become aware of the circumstances under which fact-checking is most likely to emerge and thrive (or fail), recommendations from current global practitioners are offered.