EXPLAINED | MOSTLY FALSE: “Eighty-five percent of the crimes committed against journalists go uninvestigated and unpunished: an unacceptable level of impunity.”

Blogpost

In a speech released by the United Nations, the Secretary-General António Guterres made a mostly false statement on May 3, 2026, for Press Freedom Day. “Eighty-five percent of the crimes committed against journalists go uninvestigated and unpunished: an unacceptable level of impunity,” he stated. Why is the percentage of crimes against journalists difficult to measure?…

Finding Truth in a Sea of Definitions: An Erasmus Tourism Student’s Journey into Fact-Checking

Blogpost

When I packed my bags for my Erasmus+ semester in Wilhelmshaven, I expected to explore German culture, and meet people from across Europe. I did not expect to find myself in a high-stakes, fast-paced journalism newsroom, debating the legal definitions of “crime” versus “killing” with a team of media professionals. As a tourism management student,…

True: “In Belarus and Russia anti-terrorism and anti-extremism laws are regularly used to criminalize reporters’ work”

Fact-check, True

Reporters Without Borders published the 2026 World Press Freedom Index, which demonstrates that while Western European countries hold high positions in press freedom, Russia and Belarus rank among the lowest globally. In its research, RSF stated that in these two countries, the authorities use anti-terrorism and anti-extremism laws to prosecute both domestic and international journalists…

Mostly false: “More journalists killed in Gaza war than in both world wars combined”

Fact-check, Mostly false

An article by “Al Jazeera” from March 2026 claims that “more journalists have been killed in Gaza since the Gaza war began on October 7, 2023, than in the US Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Korean War, Vietnam War, the wars in the former Yugoslavia and the coalition invasion of Afghanistan –…

Mostly False: “85% of the crimes committed against journalists go uninvestigated and unpunished.”

Fact-check, Mostly false

On May 3rd, during the global observance of World Press Freedom Day, United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres delivered a speech regarding the safety of media professionals, marking the occasion and highlighting the systemic failures that continue to obstruct the work of the press and endanger lives worldwide. In his speech he made the claim:…

Wladimir Putin, the president of Russia, sitting behind a big desk.

Dangerous Footprints: The Unexpected High Stakes of Student Fact-Checking

Blogpost

A university seminar room, cross-referencing data, verifying sources, this is how most people imagine the craft of fact-checking during their studies. However, during our international “EUFactChecking” lab, we quickly realized that research can take on very real, highly sensitive, and geopolitical dimensions. It is an experience that taught us about the fact-checking process itself, the…