Organization: Animal Político - El Sabueso
Applicant: Arturo Daen
Assessor: Ramón Salaverría
Edits made by the organization after this assessment
IFCN Staff wrote:
The recommendations are:
1. As regards the Staff (4b), contrary to one of the requirements ("All authors and key actors behind the fact-checking project must be clearly listed on the site and their biographies indicated"), there are no biographies of journalists published.
2. As regards the Examples of Corrections (6b), there in not any "public page listing all corrections made".
And the changes:
1. If you click the name of any of the Animal Político journalists, you'll see a "Ver Perfil" bottom, with a click you'll have the biographies.
Example: https://www.animalpolitico.com/author/tmontalvo/
2. We have now a list of articles that changed under the Correction Policy: https://www.animalpolitico.com/sabueso-politica-correccion/
Conclusion and recommendations
Ramón Salaverría wrote:
Two minor deficiencies have been found in the accomplishment of criteria 4b (Staff) and 6b (Examples of corrections).
As regards the Staff (4b), contrary to one of the requirements ("All authors and key actors behind the fact-checking project must be clearly listed on the site and their biographies indicated"), there are no biographies of journalists published.
As regards the Examples of Corrections (6b), there in not any "public page listing all corrections made".
The rest of requirements are fully complied. As a consequence, the overall assessment is ACCEPT WITH EDITS.
Ramón Salaverría recommended Accept with edits
Section 1: Organization
Criterion 1a
Proof of registration
Evidence required: Please provide evidence that the signatory is a legally-registered organization set up exclusively for the purpose of fact-checking or the distinct fact-checking project of a recognized media house or research institution.
Animal Político - El Sabueso
10-Apr-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
About us, with link to the Articles of Incorporation / Organization:
https://www.animalpolitico.com/quienes-somos/
Articles of Incorporation: https://es.scribd.com/document/47751661/Editorial-Animal-Inscripcion
Ramón Salaverría Assessor
27-Apr-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
Owned by Editorial Animal, an independent publishing company, Animal Político is a Mexican online native news media founded in 2010. In their application to the IFCN code of principles, Animal Politico has presented legal documents disclosing their ownership and company structure. Since January 2015, it runs a section called El Sabueso (‘The Hound’), focused on fact-checking.
done_all 1a marked as Fully compliant by Ramón Salaverría.
Criterion 1b
Archive
Evidence required: Insert a link to the archive of fact checks published in the previous three months. If you do not collect all fact checks in one place, please explain how the fact-checking is conducted by your organization.
Animal Político - El Sabueso
10-Apr-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
Ramón Salaverría Assessor
27-Apr-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
Animal Político publishes fact-checks about different topics and people on a relatively regular basis: over the last year analyzed for this assessment (January 2018-January 2019), some weeks were found with two, three or even more fact-checks; however, at the same time, a few weeks were found without any fact-check. All in all, Animal Politico's publishing rate of fact-checks is similar to the rate found in their previous assessment (January 2017-January 2018) for the IFCN code of principles. As this variability can be attributed to the normal news flow, and since Animal Político has been running its fact-checking activity uninterruptedly for more than four years now, publishing on average at least half a dozen fact-checks monthly and, in some occasions, much more than that, this assessor concludes that this organization complies completely with the requirements.
done_all 1b marked as Fully compliant by Ramón Salaverría.
Section 2: Nonpartisanship and Fairness
Criterion 2a
Body of work sample
Evidence required: Please share links to ten fact checks that better represent the scope and consistency of your fact-checking. Provide a short explanation of how your organization strives to maintain coherent standards across fact checks.
Animal Político - El Sabueso
10-Apr-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
El Sabueso works with the same base methodology for every fact check. After the selection of the claim, which is always evaluated and chosen based on public interest, the next step is to reach the author of that claim in order to know the original source that was used. This allows us to have a fair, accurate and contrasting exercise of fact-checking in every claim.
The construction of every Sabueso follows the same structure: an open paragraph to remind the claim, the data/revelation that we used for the conclusion, and the rate. After that, we show the position of the author of the claim after El Sabueso's consult and the full explanation of our discovery with the use of full data, graphics, or interviews with experts. Also, all the sources are fully visible with the links, the files, papers or official data that we download and use during the fact check.
El Sabueso fact checked Mexican politicians from any party, any authority who managed public resources -Federal or from the states-, and actors involved in the public sphere.
https://www.animalpolitico.com/elsabueso/amlo-cifras-delitos-equivocadas/
https://www.animalpolitico.com/elsabueso/sabueso-robo-combustible-rocio-nahle-datos/
https://www.animalpolitico.com/elsabueso/sabueso-salinas-tlcan-migracion-eu/
https://www.animalpolitico.com/elsabueso/congreso-aguascalientes-ley-provida/
https://www.animalpolitico.com/elsabueso/prohibido-gas-pimienta-puebla/
https://www.animalpolitico.com/elsabueso/margarita-sabueso-corrupcion-calderon/
https://www.animalpolitico.com/elsabueso/conadis-personas-discapacidad-recursos-becas/
Ramón Salaverría Assessor
27-Apr-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
According to the evidences provided by Animal Político - El Sabueso, as well as the assessment of their fact-checks, this news organization covers a variety of subjects or speakers in a fairly balanced way.
As proof of this, it is worth mentioning that in July 2018 there was a historical switch in the Presidency of Mexico: the leftist candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador replaced Enrique Peña Nieto, of the long-ruling Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI). Before this change in the Presidency, Peña Nieto was frequently fact-checked by Animal Político - El Sabueso; since López Obrador took over the power in July 2018, he has become target of the same amount of fact-checks from Animal Politico. This demonstrates that Animal Politico fairly covers all kind of topics or speaker, no matter their political alignment is.
done_all 2a marked as Fully compliant by Ramón Salaverría.
Criterion 2b
Nonpartisanship policy
Evidence required: Please share evidence of your policy preventing staff from direct involvement in political parties and advocacy organizations. Please also indicate the policy your organization has as a whole regarding advocacy and supporting political candidates.
Animal Político - El Sabueso
10-Apr-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
All the staff must accept and practice the Ethics Code in order to be part of the Animal Politico’s team.
This Code is public: http://www.animalpolitico.com/codigo-de-etica/
And has this chapter:
Animal Politico does not respond to any partisan, religious, political, or any other interest that may coerce, compel, or obstruct our journalistic mission.
Journalists, collaborators, executives, and members of the editorial board are responsible to keep impartiality in order to ensure that interviews, news, and any journalistic work responds only to the public interest.
The personal points of view, feelings, or political and moral preferences of the members of the team should not prevail over the objectivity and editorial criteria of Animal Politico.
The non compliance of the Code of Ethics is translated into the cease of the labour relation.
Ramón Salaverría Assessor
27-Apr-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
Animal Politico works under a publicly accessible Ethics Code, compulsory for every of its staff members. This Code prevents journalists from any partisanship. Animal Político -El Sabueso does not, in any way, advocate in favor or against any political party or candidate.
done_all 2b marked as Fully compliant by Ramón Salaverría.
Section 3: Transparency of Sources
Criterion 3a
Sources Policy
Please share a brief and public explanation (500 words max) of how sources are provided in enough detail that readers could replicate the fact check. If you have a public policy on how you find and use sources for your fact-checking, it should be shared here.
Animal Político - El Sabueso
10-Apr-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
El Sabueso sources are fully identify in the fact-check. Every time that we use data, we mention the source.It’s easy to verify that every paragraph includes the complete name of the source, clearly referenced.
El Sabueso provide the links to the sources, the files, papers or official data that we download and use during the fact check.
We also add graphics, audios and videos in order to explain the use of data. Each of this includes always the source.
The fact check is done in a way that we explain every data, why we choose each source, and how it was used. This has the objective that any reader can replicate the exercise.
https://www.animalpolitico.com/elsabueso/amlo-cifras-delitos-equivocadas/
Ramón Salaverría Assessor
27-Apr-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
Animal Político - El Sabueso consistently backs the fact-cheks with links to reliable sources of data, so that the readers can check by themselves the truthfulness of the analyses.
done_all 3a marked as Fully compliant by Ramón Salaverría.
Section 4: Transparency of Funding & Organization
Criterion 4a
Funding Sources
Evidence required: Please link to the section where you publicly list your sources of funding (including, if they exist, any rules around which types of funding you do or don't accept), or a statement on ownership if you are the branch of an established media organization or research institution.
Animal Político - El Sabueso
10-Apr-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
El Sabueso belongs to Animal Politico, a digital based media born in 2010: https://es.scribd.com/document/47751661/Editorial-Animal-Inscripcion
Here is the ownership statement:
El Sabueso is one of the strongest bets of AnimalPolitico.com, as it's one of the main sections in the website
As we will describe in further details, El Sabueso involves a great amount of teamwork: reporters, editors, multimedia, video producers and community managers are committed to the project.
The sources of income for Animal Politico were:
Training/Coaching to civil organizations or media: 15%
Advisory: 10%
Advertising: 45%
Grants: 25%
Donations: 5%
This statement is public and transparent here: https://www.animalpolitico.com/quienes-somos/
Animal Politico has a donation program: https://donadora.mx/plans/animalpolitico
Each month, Donadora releases the amount Animal Politico earned during the last 30 days.
Ramón Salaverría Assessor
27-Apr-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
On the 'About us' section of their website, Animal Político - El Sabueso publishes an easy-to-access full disclosure of the origin of their funding. This page provides also details about the legal form in which this news media organization is registered, informing about the their structure of ownership.
done_all 4a marked as Fully compliant by Ramón Salaverría.
Criterion 4b
Staff
Evidence required: Please link to the section detailing all authors and key actors behind your fact-checking project with their biographies. You can also list the name and bios of the members of the editorial board, pool of experts, advisory board, etc. if your organization has those.
Animal Político - El Sabueso
10-Apr-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
Because in Animal Politico we believe all our journalists must understand the value and importance of fact-checking, all of them are part of El Sabueso team.
This is a section of our digital media and all the team works on it on daily basis, but also in the special fact-checking coverage that we've made.
The Animal Politico team: http://www.animalpolitico.com/directorio/
And examples of how many members of the team -even reporters, editors and collaborators- have worked in El Sabueso:
https://www.animalpolitico.com/elsabueso/amlo-cifras-delitos-equivocadas/
https://www.animalpolitico.com/elsabueso/sabueso-rector-unacar/
https://www.animalpolitico.com/elsabueso/anaya-alianza-pan-prd-economia/
Ramón Salaverría Assessor
27-Apr-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
A full directory of Animal Político’s journalists and staff members is available on the website. In addition, every news story and fact-check provides information about the journalists behind the news, including a link to their email and Twitter handle.
There is just one detail that should be improved in order to fully comply with the requirements of the IFCN code of principles: short biographies of the staff members should be added in the directory. At the moment of completing this assessment, personal pages only provide the list of recent publications by each journalist.
done 4b marked as Partially compliant by Ramón Salaverría.
Criterion 4c
Contact
Evidence required: Please link to the section where readers can get in touch with the organization.
Animal Político - El Sabueso
10-Apr-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
Ramón Salaverría Assessor
27-Apr-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
Animal Político - El Sabueso provides a clear, easy-to-access contact page. In addition to that, the authors of fact-checks are clearly disclosed, providing accessible means of contact (usually, their Twitter handle). This allows readers to send directly corrections to the journalists, if needed.
done_all 4c marked as Fully compliant by Ramón Salaverría.
Section 5: Transparency of Methodology
Criterion 5a
Detailed Methodology
Evidence required: Please link to a section or article detailing the steps you follow for your fact-checking work.
Animal Político - El Sabueso
10-Apr-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
Ramón Salaverría Assessor
27-Apr-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
Animal Político - El Sabueso has a clear, easy-to-find fact-checking methodology page.
done_all 5a marked as Fully compliant by Ramón Salaverría.
Criterion 5b
Claim submissions
Evidence required: Please link to the page or process through which readers can submit claims to fact-check. If you do not allow this, please briefly explain why.
Animal Político - El Sabueso
10-Apr-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
Ramón Salaverría Assessor
27-Apr-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
Animal Político - El Sabueso has very clear and accessible means of contact, both with the news organization and personally with the staff members. The ways in which they can be contacted include a general contact page, as well as several interactive social networks (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram).
done_all 5b marked as Fully compliant by Ramón Salaverría.
Section 6: Open & Honest Corrections Policy
Criterion 6a
Corrections policy
Evidence required: Please link to the page with your policy to address corrections. If it is not public, please share your organization's handbook.
Animal Político - El Sabueso
10-Apr-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
Animal Político has an internal manual which makes clear what to do in case of corrections.
The document includes step by step how Animal Politico makes corrections and there is a version for El Sabueso.
The manual explains: Animal Politico / El Sabueso publish the full letter or message sent by the interested party; if a correction it is made, we add an Editor Note in the top of the text.
We add an answer from the editorial team when it’s necessary and in social media we publish that a correction it was made.
Ramón Salaverría Assessor
27-Apr-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
Animal Político - El Sabueso publishes in a webpage their corrections policy. This policy is clear, systematic and consistent. The page includes an email address for the users who want to submit their corrections.
done_all 6a marked as Fully compliant by Ramón Salaverría.
Criterion 6b
Examples of corrections
Evidence required: Please provide two examples of a correction made, or correction requests handled, in the past year.
Animal Político - El Sabueso
10-Apr-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
https://www.animalpolitico.com/elsabueso/anaya-alianza-pan-prd-economia/
https://www.animalpolitico.com/elsabueso/violencia-estados-gobierno-pan/
We don't have many examples from the last past year. But, we have examples of how we implement the correction policy.
Ramón Salaverría Assessor
27-Apr-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
Where a correction had to be made to fact-checks, Animal Político - El Sabueso has published a clear correction statement in that same page. However, it does not have a public page listing all the corrections made over the last few years. This is a minor deficiency that we kindly invite them to solve, in order to fully comply with the IFCN code of principles.