In addition to critically questioning the source, journalists must also learn to interpret statistics correctly. A basic knowledge of statistics is usually enough. Fake statistics At the beginning of April, a graphic relating to the Russian recapture of the Kursk region appeared on the messenger service Telegram. The supposed graphic from Statista shows how many…
On their official Instagram page, The Left group claimed: “58 million tonnes of waste annually go to waste in the EU.” Is this number correct, and what is it based on? How was this number calculated? After checking the facts, the claim turns out to be mostly true, as extra context and nuance is needed…
On April 30th 2024, the Alternative for Germany (AfD), published a reel on their official Instagram channel where they had this claim: “We (Germany) are the biggest net contributors, but are poorer, have to work longer, and we have less home ownerships than most of the EU-members”. They also showed statistics to prove the claim…
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán launched the European Election Campaign of the political party Fidesz. Throughout his speech, he claimed that: “In 2010 the Hungarian economy was about half the size it is today. To put it another way, in fourteen years we have almost doubled the size of the Hungarian economy. […] Today Hungary’s…
An article in the German magazine “der Spiegel” claims that the number of abortions in Germany has been increasing significantly since 2022. The fact check shows: Mostly True. The article in “Der Spiegel” magazine refers to statistics from the Federal Statistical Office. Taking a look at the figures from the Federal Statistical Office, they show…