This blog entries will be about user experience. To achieve a qualitativ result, a survey about fact checking websites and their credibility, design and overall usability will be conducted later in the process.
First, questions need to be defined and certain fact-checking sites need to be evaluated. After doing some research and according to ISTE and LWF the following sites are some of the most used and trusted, especially for students and journalists:
Fact Check.
This nonpartisan, nonprofit project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania monitors the factual accuracy of what is said by U.S. political players, including politicians, TV ads, debates, interviews and news releases.
Media Matters.
This nonprofit and self-described liberal-leaning research center monitors and corrects conservative misinformation in the media.
Truth or Fiction.
This nonpartisan website where Internet users can quickly and easily get information about eRumors, fake news, disinformation, warnings, offers, requests for help, myths, hoaxes, virus warnings, and humorous or inspirational stories that are circulated by email.
Open Secrets.
This nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit website run by the Center for Responsive Politics tracks how much and where candidates get their money.
Politifact.
This Pulitzer Prize winning website rates the accuracy of claims by elected officials. Run by editors and reporters from the independent newspaper Tampa Bay Times, Politicfact features the Truth-O-Meter, which was already mentioned in previous posts, that rates statements as “True,” “Mostly True,” “Half True,” “False,” and “Pants on Fire.”
ProPublica.
This independent, nonprofit newsroom has won several Pulitzer Prizes, including the 2016 Prize for Explanatory Reporting. ProPublica produces investigative journalism in the public interest.
Snopes.
This independent, nonpartisan website run by professional researcher and writer David Mikkelson researches urban legends and other rumors. It is often the first to set the facts straight on wild fake news claims.
The Sunlight Foundation.
This nonpartisan, nonprofit organization uses public policy data-based journalism to make politics more transparent and accountable.
Washington Post Fact Checker.
Although the Washington Post has a left-center bias, its checks are excellent and sourced. The bias shows up because they fact check conservative claims more than liberal ones.
AP Fact Check.
AP Fact Check from one of Media Bias Fact Check’s least-biased sources, focuses on fact checking political claims and publishes. IFCN Signatory.
Lead Stories.
Lead Stories uses the Trendolizer to track story trends and debunk fake news before it becomes viral. They are often the first to debunk outrageous claims with “hoax alerts.” MBFC rates it as dead-center least biased and very high on factual reporting. IFCN signatory.
Media Bias/Fact Check.
Media Bias Fact Check (MBFC) is a fact-checking page, which relies strictly on signatories of the International Fact Checking Network (IFCN) when evaluating the political/factual bias of 3,100+ media sources (left, center-left, least biased, center-right, right, pro-science, conspiracy and pseudo-science, questionable sources, and satire). It includes the methodology used to classify each source. Sources rated very high or high on factual reporting have proper sourcing and a clean fact check record.
Next step is to find Fake News Sites and then conduct a few interviews with participants following a schematic questionnaire about the previously described propper fact-checking sites and the in the next post listed hoax, misleading or false information spreading sites.
