Details about The Associated Press can be found in the “about” section of AP’s corporate website: https://www.ap.org/about/ 

In short, AP, one of the world’s pre-eminent news gathering organizations, is an independent, not-for-profit news cooperative composed of U.S. newspapers and broadcasters and serving additional customers around the world. AP has a dedicated team of fact checkers with teams based in the United States and Mexico. Their work includes the branded AP Fact Checks that examine claims by public figures, as well as debunks of false and misleading information that’s circulating online, including as part of the Facebook fact-checking program.

Fact-checking is also deeply integrated into our whole global operation and we rely on the expertise of our journalists on a wide variety of topics to inform our fact-checking work. Any AP journalist may work on a fact check with support from the Fact Check team.

For more details about fact checking at the AP, see: https://apnews.com/afs:Content:3835460002

To learn more about The Associated Press, see: https://www.ap.org/about/

Additional details can be found in AP’s most recent annual report: https://www.ap.org/about/annual-report/2020/  

Fully compliant. I appreciate that the AP explains, "In addition, when a false story gains traction online, we create a separate fact-checking item that tells the true story."

1. The Associated Press has been fact-checking people in power throughout its 175-year history, and has been doing distinct fact-checking items at least since 1988. These separate items were originally created to shine a spotlight on questionable assertions made by public figures, such as U.S. elected officials and candidates for office. In more recent years, fact-checking at AP has also come to include the debunking of misinformation that is shared online, to counteract the misinformation and help the public be better informed. 
   
2. Dozens of journalists around AP contribute to our fact-checking efforts. About a dozen people focus exclusively on fact-checking, debunking and the coverage of the misinformation crisis, mostly in reporter and editor roles, and with specialization on various topics such as technology, health, politics and migration. They include three team members working exclusively in Spanish, and one editor who works in English and Spanish. Details about team members can be found here: https://apnews.com/article/3835460002
3. The team’s work focuses on the branded AP Fact Checks that examine claims by public figures, as well as debunks of false and misleading information that’s circulating online, including as part of the Facebook fact-checking program. The fact-checking team is a unit within The Associated Press, a global news organization that provides a wide variety of news gathering and distribution services for news outlets around the world.
4. We'll continue to focus on aggressively fact-checking people in power and debunking misinformation that affects how people live their lives – how they make decisions about their health, the ballots they cast, etc. We're also working on sharpening our ability to identify and debunk misinformation that travels in or affects underserved communities. And we seek to improve the exposure and impact of our fact-checking work, including by more aggressively promoting our work with AP’s existing customers, and by looking for additional opportunities to collaborate with platforms, startups and other news organizations.  

This section is fully compliant. 

(As a side note: I would be curious to hear more about how the fact checking team is "sharpening" its ability to fight misinformation in "underserved communities." Are these news deserts? Geographic regions? Defined by socioeconomic status? If this work comes to fruition, it may provide a model other IFCN signatories could replicate.) 

We publish several fact checks a week, and have for many years. You can find them below.

• Fact-checking of public figures’ claims: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-fact-check
• Debunking of online misinformation (English): https://apnews.com/hub/fact-checking
• Debunking of online misinformation (Spanish): https://apnews.com/hub/ap-verifica   

It is clear the AP has a strong and consistent record publishing fact checks on a range of issues. I think its "Not Real News: What Didn't Happen This Week" is an informative and concise way for a reader to address a roundup of issues/misinformation that may be trending. 

I have reviewed the following 10 fact checks as well as others that AP submitted in section 2.1 below. The methodology and sourcing of several of these will appear in later sections of this assessment. All headlines are verbatim and taken from the AP's Fact Check website. 

June 29, 2021 AP FACT CHECK: Biden distorts bipartisan infrastructure deal

June 2, 2021 AP FACT CHECK: Manchin, Sinema do not vote with GOP more

May 23, 2021 AP FACT CHECK: Senate GOP misrepresents Jan. 6 riot panel

May 19, 2021 AP FACT CHECK: Hyperbole from Biden, GOP on state of economy

May 6, 2021 AP FACT CHECK: Yes, Trump lost election despite what he says

April 27, 2021 CLAIM: Herpes, shingles may be a side effect of the COVID-19 vaccine.*

April 27, 2021 CLAIM: Photo shows lion’s mane mushrooms growing in a swamp.*

April 30, 2021 CLAIM: The COVID-19 vaccine is “shedding” from person to person. As a result, unvaccinated people who are in close proximity to vaccinated people are having changes in their period or miscarriages.*

March 26, 2021 CLAIM: The CEO of Pfizer refuses to get the COVID vaccine.*

March 26, 2021 CLAIM: “Finally, a judge has ruled Dominion Voting Machines were designed to create fraud.”*

*Part of a Not Real News wrap up under the date specified. 

The AP fact-checking operation is part of The Associated Press, an independent, not-for-profit news cooperative composed of U.S. newspapers and broadcasters. The vast majority of AP’s revenue comes from licensing content to members of the cooperative and to other news outlets and organizations around the world. The AP Fact Check team is funded by AP’s general news budget, which includes revenue from AP’s participation in the Facebook fact-checking program. AP operates independently from government and political interests.

Read more about the AP here: https://www.ap.org/about/ 

The 2020 AP annual report is available to the public: https://www.ap.org/about/annual-report/2020/  

AP Fact Check is part of the Associated Press, which is nonpartisan and independent. This is clear on its website and its organizational structure easy to understand for lay readers. 

n/a

N/A Please see above.

These fact checks show that we’re following the same process across the political spectrum, and applying strong but fair scrutiny to all misinformation spreaders and people in power, across a variety of topics.

In all our fact-checking work, as you’ll see here, we aim to focus on misinformation that both is gaining significant traction and runs a high risk of doing real-world damage – for example, when falsehoods might alter people’s health decisions or affect who they might choose to vote for.

In each case, we isolate the false claims and/or deceptive imagery, then use AP’s industry-leading standards on unbiased reporting to determine the facts. We focus on evidence, in the form of credible data, subject-area expertise and what our journalists have themselves witnessed.

We go where that evidence takes us and offer a clear conclusion about the facts. If we can’t prove something with certainty, we won’t publish it – we'd rather not have a fact check than arrive at a conclusion that we’re not sure about.

We stay away from anonymous sourcing for these items and attribute information as specifically as possible, with the thinking that our readers should be able to recreate the fact checks themselves.

Our goal is always to arrive at the facts, and then explain them simply and clearly. We steer clear of bias – anyone who says something questionable who has a significant audience earns the same scrutiny, regardless of their message or their politics. Then, we go where the facts lead us.

Here are several fact checks that demonstrate our commitment to unbiased reporting and political neutrality:

• AP FACT CHECK: Biden skews figures on border, taxes, more: https://apnews.com/article/ap-fact-check-joe-biden-donald-trump-immigration-coronavirus-pandemic-cfad19ce4179d09110e87731ddd7dd5c
• AP FACT CHECK: Trump tweets a tall tale of 'deleted' votes: https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-trump-tweets-tall-tale-votes-13c104367924b8192b4fcecf334f7806
• AP FACT CHECK: Biden admin wrong on vaccine pace, elderly: https://apnews.com/article/ap-fact-check-joe-biden-politics-pandemics-coronavirus-pandemic-71b80db13ee03ace2858228bbe52f099
• AP FACT CHECK: Trump’s team glosses over his Jan. 6 tirade: https://apnews.com/article/ap-fact-check-donald-trump-capitol-siege-violence-elections-507f4febbadecb84e1637e55999ac0ea
• NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn’t happen this week: https://apnews.com/article/ap-fact-check-mlb-race-and-ethnicity-baseball-georgia-ab95735725a71503e57c4f358d74b432
• Posts mischaracterize details of Biden’s hotel plan for migrants: https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-afs:Content:10047904746
• Maricopa County ballots are secured in a vault, not shredded in trash: https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-afs:Content:9977520062
• Social media posts misrepresent bill expanding background checks for firearms: https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-afs:Content:9977461218
• Nike not involved in Satan-themed sneaker release: https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-afs:Content:10013374728
• CNN banner did not say Boulder shooting suspect was ‘morally white’: https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-afs:Content:10011312660  

AP Fact Check offers a range of fact checks of both political parties and leaders. As examples, fact checks in the last few weeks of Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Joseph Biden revealed false claims made by both the politicians. 

AP’s approach to fact-checking: https://apnews.com/article/3835460002 

AP’s News Values and Principles, which also apply to fact-checking work: https://www.ap.org/about/news-values-and-principles/  

This section is easy to follow online. AP explains: 

"OUR WORK:

We produce fact checks when we are presented with a claim from a newsmaker – in any format – that deserves further explanation or scrutiny. The AP Fact Check team, along with our experts in the field, investigates and reports out that claim to present the facts around it. These claims can come from newsmakers from any news department, and they are fact-checked by our AP experts, with oversight, guidance and reporting help from the AP Fact Check team.

The AP Fact Check team also produces items that debunk misleading or false information and visuals that are gaining significant traction online."

Here is an example from the list of fact checks AP provided under the headline "Maricopa County ballots are secured in a vault, not shredded in trash." 

Megan Gilbertson, the communications director for Maricopa County Elections Department, told The Associated Press that her office readied 2.1 million ballots to transfer to Senate custody and those ballots are still sealed and stored in the county’s vault that is monitored by a surveillance camera around the clock.

“Maricopa County has not, and would never destroy voted ballots until legally authorized to do so after the 24-month retention period,” Gilbertson told the AP in a statement. “None of the ballots or other General election materials from the vault were in the garbage, and as a matter of business, the county can and does throw out trash.” 

The AP also sourced a local Republican official. It notes: 

"Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, a Republican, said that security footage shows that the individuals who were looking in Maricopa County dumpsters also attempted to break into the warehouse entrance of the Elections Department on Saturday.

“I do not know what was in the yellow bags that have appeared in photos online because I have not seen the contents of these bags,” Richer wrote in a statement."

The AP consistently uses official sources and reports to verify or debunk claims made on a range of political issues by members of both US major political parties as well as other stories/items related to health and society in the US and abroad. 

AP News Values and Principles – Political Activities: https://www.ap.org/about/news-values-and-principles/conflicts-of-interest/political-activities   

This section is compliant. AP's News Values and Principles could be a roadmap for other fact check sites. 

Feb. 12: AP FACT CHECK: Trump’s team glosses over his Jan. 6 tirade

Sources: Trump's Jan. 6 speech to supporters; Trump legal team's public comments; members of Congress  

April 27, 2021 CLAIM: Video shows Denmark’s top health official fainting from her COVID-19 vaccine.

THE FACTS: One of Denmark’s top health officials, Tanja Erichsen, collapsed during an April 14 press conference to discuss the country’s decision to discontinue use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, but it was not related to the vaccine. She had not yet been vaccinated against the disease when she fell.

Sources: A spokesperson for the Danish Medicines Agency (spox confirmed that Erichsen had not been vaccinated)

April 30, 2021 CLAIM: The COVID-19 vaccine is “shedding” from person to person. As a result, unvaccinated people who are in close proximity to vaccinated people are having changes in their period or miscarriages.

Sources: Obstetrician who is a published author; Professor, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; new publication in the New England Journal of Medicine by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

March 10, 2021 AP FACT CHECK: Biden admin wrong on vaccine pace, elderly

"President Joe Biden wrongly claimed the U.S. vaccinated a record 2.9 million people on Saturday while his special adviser on the pandemic exaggerated the share of older Americans who’ve been fully immunized...The claim is off base." 

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

AP Fact Check is a unit of The Associated Press, as is explained in this description of our approach to fact-checking work: https://apnews.com/article/3835460002

Further proof is the presence of these fact-checking hubs on the AP News website:

• Fact-checking of public figures’ claims: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-fact-check 
• Debunking of online misinformation (English): https://apnews.com/hub/fact-checking
• Debunking of online misinformation (Spanish): https://apnews.com/hub/ap-verifica 

This is compliant. 

AP Fact Check is a unit of The Associated Press, funded by the general AP news budget, as well as direct revenue from fact-checking customers like Facebook.

The Associated Press is a not-for-profit cooperative that derives its revenue from U.S. newspaper and broadcast members and other news customers around the world. More details about AP can be found here: https://www.ap.org/about/

Further details about AP’s finances can be found in the cooperative’s most recent annual report: https://www.ap.org/about/annual-report/2020/   

This section is fully compliant. 

This description of AP’s approach to fact-checking includes details about the AP Fact Check leadership team, which exercises control over editorial decisions: https://apnews.com/article/3835460002                             

This section is compliant. 

This description of AP’s approach to fact-checking includes biographical information on members of the AP Fact Check team: https://apnews.com/article/3835460002                            

This section is clear. I have included here an example of one AP Fact Check staff member's bio to demonstrate compliance. Others are available and similarly detailed on the AP Fact Check page included in the application. 

"KAREN MAHABIR is the AP’s Fact Check and Misinformation Editor. She has worked as a reporter, editor and producer for the AP in its Mexico City, Washington and New York offices. Mahabir also served as Managing Editor of News for The Huffington Post for two years and has spent many years working as a reporter and columnist at several newspapers in New York City and New Jersey. Karen holds a bachelor’s degree in English Literature, with a concentration in African, Asian and Caribbean Studies, from the University of Sussex in England. She also has a master’s degree in International Journalism from City University of London."

This description of AP’s approach to fact-checking includes a section where the public is encouraged to email the team at FactCheck@ap.org with comments, questions and suggestions of claims to fact-check: https://apnews.com/article/3835460002                            

This section is clearly articulated on its website: 

"COMMENTS/SUGGESTIONS/CLAIMS TO SUBMIT

Want to reach out with a comment or fact-checking suggestion? Do you see something that needs a correction? Email us at FactCheck@ap.org.

You can also file a complaint with the International Fact Checking Network if you feel that AP or any other IFCN member has violated the fact-checkers’ code of principles." 

This description of AP’s approach to fact-checking notes that the team focuses on misinformation spread by top political leaders and other significant news makers, as well as damaging false content that is gaining the most traction online: https://apnews.com/article/3835460002                            

AP Fact Check describes its process this way: "The AP Fact Check team, along with our experts in the field, investigates and reports out that claim to present the facts around it. These claims can come from newsmakers from any news department, and they are fact-checked by our AP experts, with oversight, guidance and reporting help from the AP Fact Check team."

June 2, 2021 AP FACT CHECK: Manchin, Sinema do not vote with GOP more

The fact check begins: "President Joe Biden is stretching the facts when he suggests that two moderate Democrats in the Senate might be a reason why his legislative agenda, such as a sweeping voting rights bill, isn’t quickly getting done on Capitol Hill.

In a Senate divided 50-50 where legislation effectively needs 60 votes to pass, Biden points to an obstacle that doesn’t exist. He said the lawmakers, Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, actually “vote more with my Republican friends.”

That’s not true."

To fact check this claim, AP used voting records provided by CQ Roll Call and FiveThirtyEight and its story is clear in explaining how it arrives at its conclusion that Biden was wrong on this item. AP determined that: "it’s not true they vote more often with Republicans than with fellow Democrats. And they haven’t done so in Biden’s presidency. So far, they’ve aligned with Biden 100% of the time."

April 27, 2021 CLAIM: Herpes, shingles may be a side effect of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The fact check begins: "Posts misrepresented a report from Israel on shingles cases." 

AP then goes on to a detailed explanation of how this misinformation started, and it debunks the myth showing how social media posts misrepresented a report from Israeli doctors. Its methodology goes step-by-step through the doctors' report to show what it did say. They also explained that they emailed the report authors and one of them responded: "Our report does not establish any causality..." Another physician from Vanderbilt University also was consulted and their explanation of the non-link between Covid vaccines and shingles was explained. 

March 26, 2021 CLAIM: The CEO of Pfizer refuses to get the COVID vaccine

The fact check starts: "AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. Albert Bourla, the chair and CEO of Pfizer, received his second vaccine dose on March 10, according to a Pfizer spokesperson and a photo Bourla posted to Twitter showing him receiving the injection."

the AP explained how it received comment from a Pfizer spokesperson, used the CEO's Twitter page showing he was injected, and found statements he had made in December explaining he did not "want to jump the line." The false video circulating months later was explained in the context of these factors to debunk this claim. 

March 29 Nike not involved in Satan-themed sneaker release

"CLAIM: The sports apparel company Nike is working with rapper Lil Nas X to release a shoe dedicated to Satan.

AP’S ASSESSMENT: Partly false."

To make its determination here, an AP Fact Check writer explained the context of a new Lil Nas X song, which had a video showing the artist descending into Hell. An arts collective wanted to release 666 black Nike Airs with a drop of blood inside them for, what sounds like, a publicity stunt centered on the music. Turns out that Nike did not "participate in the development or marketing of the themed sneakers." That was revealed in a statement from the sneaker company, which also said it has no relationship with Lil Nas X or the arts group. Further, Nike filed a trademark infringement against the arts collective, the fact check explained. 

This description of AP’s approach to fact-checking includes a section where the public is encouraged to email the team at FactCheck@ap.org with comments, questions and suggestions of claims to fact-check: https://apnews.com/article/3835460002. In addition, the heavily followed @APFactCheck Twitter account has open DMs, which the team watches for requests and suggestions. We make no specific promises about what sorts of claims will and won’t be fact-checked, as these decisions need to made on a case-by-case basis. \                           

AP Fact Check explains the long-running mission of its news organization and now fact check site. It writes, "When a public figure says something questionable, it is our job to investigate it and offer the facts. You’ll find some of those stories here. In addition, when a false story gains traction online, we create a separate fact-checking item that tells the true story. This is where you’ll find those stories and our weekly roundup of untrue headlines that have been shared widely on social media." 

After listing bios, it then explains readers can offer suggestions for fact checks or corrections through an email address FactCheck@Ap.org. I sent an email at 10:31 a.m. EST on July 2, 2021 to that email address to confirm it is being monitored. I received a response one minute later. 

The AP Fact Check operation follows AP’s broader correction policy, which can be found here: https://www.ap.org/about/news-values-and-principles/telling-the-story/corrections-correctives                             

The Fact Check arm of AP follows the news organization's corrections policy. I have included a screen shot of this comprehensive policy. It also solicits through its social media channel information about corrections. 

This is fully compliant. I especially appreciate AP says, "We do not use euphemisms such as "recasts," "fixes," "clarifies," “minor edits” or "changes" when correcting a factual error." 

We watch for correction requests through the AP Fact Check email address, as well as the @APFactCheck Twitter account. We also field suggestions from fellow journalists around the AP, who tend to read each other’s stories quite closely. We take any correction suggestion very seriously, and consider each on its merits. We have no bias toward correcting, or not correcting – we simply assess whether there is something that is inaccurate, unfair or unclear. If there is, we make a change, and we explain the change we made in a note published on the item.

We made various minor corrections during the year. But we didn’t field any serious correction requests from the general public – or from subjects of our stories – during the past 12 months. We certainly heard from people who were unhappy about items we wrote, but none of them flagged anything as inaccurate in our reporting. If we did, we would certainly take them very seriously and make corrections as needed. 

I looked at both the website and its social media feed to confirm, and this section is compliant. 

This is on the page where we explain our approach to fact-checking, toward the bottom: https://apnews.com/article/afs:Content:3835460002                             

This is clear and concise. Both links to IFCN are in working order. 

The AP Fact Check operation follows AP’s broader correction policy, which can be found here: https://www.ap.org/about/news-values-and-principles/telling-the-story/corrections-correctives                            

This is compliant.