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EUfactcheck #7 ‘Behind the Facts’

In light of the war in Ukraine the students from the EJTA journalism schools will focus more on background publications and less on factchecks, this seventh season of EUfactcheck. It is very difficult to fact-check war claims when primary sources are hard to find or impossible to reach. Our ‘Uncheckable claims’ show just how complicated it is to unravel the truth. So we will instead show you the context of fact-checking: in our blogs, interviews and media analyses.
The invasion of Ukraine has made it impossible for EJTA and EUfactcheck to further continue our cooperation with Russian journalism schools.

Latest fact-checks

Jun102021

False: The European Economic and Social Committee paid a fee to its members for travel expenses even though the sessions were conducted virtually

Fact-check, FalseBy University of Zagreb, HR June 10, 2021

In April, a prominent Croatian news outlet called Jutarnji list published an article stating that members of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), including nine Croats, receive a daily allowance of 290 euros per day for online meetings, and these per diems are intended to reimburse travel expenses. The statement that Jutarnji list reports…

Jun92021

Mostly False: “The refugee crisis has made Germany more insecure”

Fact-check, Mostly falseBy Hochschule der Medien Stuttgart, DE June 9, 2021

The German right-wing party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) criticizes the refugee policy by Angela Merkel in Germany. In a press release from April 2019, Chairman Alexander Gauland claimed: Migrants drive up the crime rate in Germany. Especially now with the federal election upcoming, the AfD still holds this position – even though the refugee crisis is…

Jun72021

Mostly true: “Wind is the most important source of energy“

Fact-check, Mostly trueBy Jade Hochschule, University of Applied Sciences, Wilhelmshaven, DE June 7, 2021

On 5thMarch 2021, Tagesschau.de reported on the energy supply in Germany and stated wind as the most important source of electricity. They claim that in 2020 for the first time more electric power had been generated with wind energy than with coal and that renewable energy achieves a record high. The claim turns out to…

Jun42021

Mostly true: The US and China have been “leading in investment into AI”

Fact-check, Mostly trueBy Artevelde University of Applied Sciences, BE June 4, 2021

“The US and China have been the ones that have been innovators, and leading in investment into AI”, EU law professor Anu Bradford said. In April, she made the statement in an article discussing the European Union’s approach to artificial intelligence in the newspaper Financial Times. Research shows her claim is mostly true. In April,…

Jun32021

False: “An infection has never been transmitted out of bats during the last thousand years”

Fact-check, FalseBy GIPA Georgia June 3, 2021

Azerbaijani MP Agil Abbas stated in his interview to Baku TV: “Some world powers play politics and argue that virus came out of bats. How come nothing came out of bats in last thousand years but only yesterday?” he mentioned. The claim turns out to be false. WHO-convened global study about origins of SARS-Cov-2, researches…

Jun22021

Mostly false: 99% of landings from EU-managed stocks are sustainably fished

Fact-check, Mostly falseBy Artevelde University of Applied Sciences, BE June 2, 2021

On the 4th of February 2021, Europêche released a statement on their website that claimed 99% of the landings from EU-managed stocks were fished sustainably. Research shows the claim is mostly false. Europêche is an organization representing vessels and fishermen from ten European countries. They promote fluent communication between the European institutions and the fishing…

Jun22021

Mostly true: “Poverty remains a major problem in Romania and the value of work in Romania is more than 3 times lower than the EU average”

Fact-check, Mostly trueBy Babes-Bolyai University, RO June 2, 2021

Mostly true: “Poverty remains a major problem in Romania and the value of work in Romania is more than 3 times lower than the EU average” On the 1st of May 2021, which is symbolically deemed Labour Day, Raluca Turcan, the Romanian Minister of Work and Social Protection, took to Facebook in order to convey…

Jun22021

Mostly true: Europe is too slow with the roll-out of 5G

Fact-check, Mostly trueBy Artevelde University of Applied Sciences, BE June 2, 2021

Last month, Börje Ekhom claimed that “Europe is too slow with the roll-out of 5G” in an interview with the French newspaper Le Monde. The CEO of the Swedish networking and telecommunications company Ericsson expects that Europe will need two years to reach the current level of China. Research shows Europe is slower in rolling…

May282021

Mostly true: “8 out of 10 migrants who came to Europe in 2020 were men”

Fact-check, Mostly trueBy Thomas More University of Applied Sciences, BE May 28, 2021

Nicolas Bay, vice-president of the European Identity and Democracy Group, claimed during the plenary session of 19 January that more than eight out of ten migrants to are adult men. This claim is based on an official Frontex press release and turns out to be true. “Though it’s not the whole picture,” says Ciara Bottomley,…

May282021

Mostly true: “The UK is setting the most ambitious target to cut emissions in the world”

Fact-check, Mostly trueBy Artevelde University of Applied Sciences, BE May 28, 2021

The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his country is cutting carbon emissions by 78% by 2035 in what he claims is ‘the most ambitious target in the world’. He made this claim on the 20th of April 2021, days after it was agreed stronger pledges were necessary to tackle climate change. The claim turns…

Latest blog posts

Jul172020

Blog: Does smoking protect against corona virus?

BlogpostBy Utrecht University of Applied Sciences, NL July 17, 2020

Since the beginning of the corona virus crisis many theories on how to stop, slow down or cure the virus have emerged. Last month there were more than 60,000 cases in France and some studies on some patients has made a lot of noise especially in the press. The debate was opened in France following…

Jul82020

Blog: Different views on the “biggest consumer of powder cocaine in Europe”.

BlogpostBy Utrecht University of Applied Sciences, NL July 8, 2020

On 18 May 2020, the influential British music and events magazine Mixmag published an online article on its website explaining that Lawrence Gibbons, president of the NCA’s Drugs Department, had named the United Kingdom and London – the country’s capital – as the biggest consumer of cocaine in all of Europe. Mixmag regularly reports on…

Jun282020

Blog: My grandmother, the conspiracy theorist

BlogpostBy The University of Georgia June 28, 2020

People have long stopped using landlines, but mine still rings sometimes. We all know who it is—my grandmother. She’s active and curious. Like Tom Sawyer’s Aunt Polly, she enthusiastically collects notes from health magazines and newspapers, and keeps them well organized and guarded. Mostly, it’s on topics like “ how to protect ourselves from not…

Jun242020

Blog: We must keep the dream alive

BlogpostBy Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, NL June 24, 2020

Journalism students Sam Blom and Engeline Keizer recently came across a quote of Molly Scott-Cato. She was a member of the European Parliament for the United Kingdom before they withdrew themselves from the European Union. On the day she had to give up her seat in the Parliament, she stated: “We must keep the dream alive,…

Jun182020

Blog: Check before you speak

BlogpostBy AP University College, BE June 18, 2020

Just as journalists have to fact check before they publish, politicians – and anyone else who makes a statement – have to check their theories and sources to claim something. It’s of fundamental importance that people check their claims, assuming a misinterpretation of your entire statement can destroy it and it will not benefit your…

Jun132020

Blog: The European agricultural subsidies reach the big players, but how does that occur in reality?

BlogpostBy AP University College, BE June 13, 2020

No less than 59 billion euros were awarded to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in 2019. That is approximately 36% of the total EU budget. European policy provides for enough food to be harvested in a sustainable way. In addition, consumers should be able to buy agricultural products at a reasonable price and farmers should…

Jun122020

Blog: Why does the European Commission provide grants for the initiatives in Russia and other countries?

BlogpostBy South Ural State University, RU June 12, 2020

Recently, the Russian media has repeatedly reported that the European Commission intends to allocate funds for the implementation of projects in Russia and other countries. The projects are aimed at developing civil society and democratic transformation, promoting freedom of expression and media literacy, improving understanding of EU policy.

Jun122020

Blog: The D-Day of European tourism

BlogpostBy Catholic University of Milan, IT June 12, 2020

On 15 June the borders of the Member States of the European Union and those belonging to the Schengen area and the United Kingdom will reopen. Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio called it the “D-Day of European Tourism”.

Jun52020

Media monitoring: the relationship between the coronavirus and weather in British media

BlogpostBy Utrecht University of Applied Sciences, NL June 5, 2020

Since the coronavirus outbreak, there has been an ongoing conversation within the media worldwide about weather and its potential impact on the virus. Weather is a complex topic, as there are a lot of aspects to be considered. Elements such as temperature, humidity, latitude, people staying inside more when it is cold, vitamins due to…

Jun42020

Blog: 3 difficulties we ran into while factchecking during corona times

BlogpostBy AP University College, BE June 4, 2020

The coronavirus made big changes to lives all across the world. Travel plans and events have been cancelled, exams have to be made at home and we haven’t visited friends and family for weeks now. We discovered that the coronavirus also caused some problems in the factchecking process. 1 Contacting companies The first difficulty we…

About Us

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.

‘The Future Looks Bright!’

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

Suggest a fact-check

“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.

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