Digital native fact-checkers around the world

Abstract

Although misinformation has existed as long as communication itself, its spread has become a common practice in today’s communicative scene. Thanks to the ease of publishing through the Internet, both users and organizations disseminate false content to get economic or political benefit. Thus, the fake news circulation is now a great concern for state governments and news media outlets. Nonetheless, over the last few years, journalism has enforced verification, one of its core characteristics, to try to counteract this wave of false information. Under the name of fact-checking, journalistic verification has experienced a salient development over the 21st century, especially during its second decade. During the last few years, specialised fact-checking media outlets, and sections at consolidated journalistic brands try to debunk misinformation with different approaches. In this fight against the spread of fake news, journalists must adapt themselves to diverse forms of false information, from the simplest ones like humorous fakes to those that use artificial intelligence to create doctored videos, images or audios. This chapter shows not only the evolution of digital native fact-checking media and their presence around the world, but also the most common trends in terms of procedures and structure.