These so-called fact-checking networks should actually be allowing what they call ‘biased’ outlets, so the sum total is neutral. India was quite the outlier in comparison with the US, Turkey, Brazil and Germany.“These days information comes to people not through newspapers. And with the proliferation of social media, everyone is a journalist, without the rigour, training and gatekeeping of traditional journalism. Currently, a majority of companies involved in factchecking in India depend heavily on philanthropic contributions, commercial contracts with large technology companies, media partnerships and, indeed, traffic (through ads). “They (large media houses) can say, ‘We also do fact-checking,’ regardless of the core offering,” adds the researcher.

Source: Economic Times May 07, 2019 03:11 UTC