EUfactcheck takes another course during the corona crisis because we want to safeguard the journalistic and methodological quality of the published fact checks.
Times are strange and unpredictable now, with governmental regulations straining the work of journalists, with media dealing with changing truths from one hour to the next, with the undefeatable speed of social media countering false claims and statements, with difficulties for students of journalism to contact experts.
The educational core of our project (we’re not a 24/7 fact-checking site) and the intensive coaching of our students are also influenced by the closure of universities all over Europe and restrictions on information.
That’s why we’ve asked our journalism students not to focus specifically on debunking claims on corona. These will mainly turn out to be uncheckable anyway or have already been checked by other fact checkers. We did ask our students to publish blog posts about the media approaches and to monitor how journalism is handling this changed reality in Europe and beyond. If the circumstances allow it, our students can choose to check news on corona.
We will keep you informed with reliable and fact based information.
Geert Bourgeois, a representative of Flemish nationalist party N-VA in the European Parliament, claims in Flemish newspaper De Standaard (25.01.2020, paywall) that for every billion euros of exports, we create 14.000 new jobs in Europe. This statement comes in response to the trade agreement concluded with Vietnam in 2019. These figures turn out to be…
Vox and other extreme right-wing parties in Europe have a sexist and anti-feminist discourse. Vox’s leaders, Javier Ortega Smith and Santiago Abascal claim “there is no interest in proving that men die in women’s hands as well” while arguing that “the current law on gender-based violence has not reduced the number of women killed”. Their…
In Knack VIP (paywall), a Belgian weekly, Tomas Wyns said: “If the European Union sets standards for the energy-efficiency of electric devices, it also has an effect outside of the EU.” Wyns is a researcher at the Institute for European Studies, which is linked with Brussels’ university. His claim turns out to be true. The…
Belgium frequently uses Frontex funds to send back refugees. But how frequently exactly? According to Belgian Minister of Asylum and Migration Maggie De Block (Open VLD, Flemish liberal party), one in three of all refugees who returned via Frontex last year were from Belgium. But that happens to be not completely correct. Frontex, also known…
The news article saying that Lithuania had introduced fines for free plastic bags distribution was published on a Belarus news website on January 28, 2020. It says that the Sejm of Lithuania has decided to impose large fines on those merchants who give free plastic bags to customers. The only exception applies for the bags…
The Prime Minister of Croatia, Mr Andrej Plenković, who was a member of the European Parliament, proudly states that Croatia and its citizens are progressing and that the situation in the country is not as bleak as it seems. His claim turns out to be mostly false. Croatia has assumed presidency of the Council of…
On Tuesday 31 December, French president Emmanuel Macron gave his speech for the new year on the national TV news. Among his wishes, and retrospective of 2019, he stated that “more than 500,000 jobs were created since May 2017” (the quote is stated at 1.49), this date marking the start of his mandate. So, is…
“Nobody has died because of contamination. I mean, I do not want to create a health public alarm, because we are not at that level”, said Isabel Díaz Ayuso, President of the Community of Madrid in an interview in CadenaSER, a Spanish national radio broadcaster, on the 1st of January 2020. Her allegation, that nobody…
The information that South Korea ratified free trade agreement with Britain was published by several Russian news agencies: TASS, Rambler, Regnum and the others on October 28 and 29, 2019. It is reported that South Korea’s parliament ratified a trade deal with Britain signed on August 22, 2019. The agreement set to take effect automatically…
“Not so long ago there was an incident in Romania, in which a ship full of sheep turned over and the animals were left on their own’’, said the MEP for Renew Europe/VVD, Jan Huitema during his speech about animal transport within, to and from the EU on 19 December. ‘’No action was taken, and…
Analysing Vox’s position on gender violence has required us to frame the rise of right-wing movements in Europe, select claims from their leaders in media outlets and use relevant sources –reports by the Spanish General Council of the Judiciary and experts– to debunk their discourses.
During the elections or when important topical issues show up, a lot of factchecks will pop up. Factchecking is a concept that is particularly prevalent in politics. Partly due to Trump and his fake news, factchecking and politics go hand in hand. The checks are often not popular with all politicians, because they make sure that…
Five years ago the European Union adopted a Directive on reducing the consumption of light plastic bags, according to which it is necessary to cut down their consumption from 200 to 90 pieces per person per year by 2019, and down to 40 pieces by 2025. The most rational option is to stop the production…
While analyzing political statements in Croatian media, we discovered that the data we came across tend to be correct but incomplete. Incomplete in a sense that they’re not represented within context. Politicians like to focus on the positive side of their work, unfortunately that’s often at the expense of providing a full picture. Manipulating with…
The UK withdrawal from the European Union implies that after the expiration of the transitional period the EU laws will no longer be applicable to England. Trading with the countries outside the framework of the free trade agreement will be regulated by the World Trade Organization if these countries are its members. Although many agreements…
The European Union has been adding funds to the Mafia bosses’ accounts for seven years. From 2010 to 2017 10 million euros coming from EU funds have been allocated to 151 farms owned by Nebrodi’s family in Sicily. A massive fraud against the rural developments programmes (EAFRD) that has critically damaged the Italian rural economy.…
A few weeks ago, I came across a strange fake post on a Georgian Facebook page, it looked like this: It was published on November 13, 2019, by a large pro-government Facebook page, Corridor of Shame, which regularly tries to discredit the opposition. In this case, they chose a different target: Myth Detector, a large…
Starting from a rather negative state of mind when it comes to our climate, we chose an article of the Belgian newspaper De Morgen in which our minister of climate Zuhal Demir (N-VA) claims that, despite the general belief, the quality of our Flemish air is improving every year. (Factcheck from 19 December). Because persons…
On the 4th October 2019, the French coast guard intercepted two boats with illegal migrants in the English Channel. As claimed in a statement by the French maritime prefecture of the English Channel and the North Sea, the 31 people were brought ashore. The Coast Guard provided first aid to the refugees, after that they…
The first step in factchecking, finding a claim, can often be the hardest part of the process. But a good claim is often right around the corner. The internet can be an overwhelming source of information when trying to search for a claim. A lot of people make claims that could be checked but those…
EUFACTCHECK is the fact-checking project of the European Journalism Training Association (EJTA) that intends to build a sustainable curriculum unit on fact-checking within a European network of Journalism schools.
Through fact-checking European political claims and trying to tackle misinformation, we want our students and our public to grow a deeper insight and interest in democratic processes, both on national and European level.
EUFACTCHECK wishes to motivate fact-based debate in the EU and to stimulate media and information literacy.
After the success of the students’ publications, the participants of EJTA’s fact-checking project EUFACTCHECK decided at the EJTA AGM in Paris (July 2019) to move on with the project and to take new steps in the academic year 2019-2020.
At the EJTA Teachers’ Conference in Dortmund (October 2019) practical details were discussed and a new publication schedule was created for autumn 2019.
By January-February 2019 a manual with guidelines and tips & tricks will be published and on 13-14 February 2020 a second Bootcamp will be organised in Ljubljana, with financial help from the Evens Foundation. This Train the Trainer will be focussing on Central Eastern European countries, but also on new participants that want to publish on the platform.
All the information about this event: nadia.vissers@ap.be
“What is this politician saying??” Did you read or hear a politician or public figure make a questionable claim? Send us an email with the claim and maybe we will fact-check it.
Please include the source (url and date) where you found the claim.
