Organization: Dagens Nyheter
Applicant: Hugo Ewald
Assessor: Ester Appelgren
Edits made by the organization after this assessment
IFCN Staff wrote:
DN's edited its non-partisanship policy: https://www.dn.se/nyheter/politik/sa-arbetar-dn-med-faktakoll/
We included an updating correction log: https://www.dn.se/nyheter/politik/sa-arbetar-dn-med-faktakoll/
We included contact information to all reporters working on factchecks, complete with bios.
Made sure that contact information to the initiative and a link to how we do our fact-checks is included in the bottom of all fact-checks.
DN has also added an email address to the Faktiskt intiative as a whole and linked to Faktiskt.se in every fact-check.
From the assessor:
Thank you for the edits! In my opinion, the applicant is now fully compliant.
Conclusion and recommendations
Ester Appelgren wrote:
The applicant belongs to the organization Dagens Nyheter and is part of Faktiskt.se, a new fact checking aggregator involving four established media houses and one fairly new digital initiative. The published stories of the applicant are impressive and relevant. However, there seems to be internal matters that needs to be solved at Dagens Nyheter regarding the status of the applicant as a fact-checking unit.
At dn.se, the applicant does not have a brand that can be found easily. Should the reader happen to read a story at dn.se that is part of the applicant initiative, the faktiskt.se logo is clearly visible (and during the evaluation period a link and a text has at times, but not always been provided directing the reader to the faktiskt.se initiative where more information can be found).
The problem is that the less informed dn.se reader (probably most readers) will not easily find the fact-checking initiative, or return to it among all dn.se articles in case they want to contact the journalists or read more stories from the fact checking applicant. It does not have a space of its own on the website. Furthermore, there is another initiative, “Fakta i frågan” that appears to be the official fact checking initiative of Dagens Nyheter, but separate from the applicant.
Several fact checking initiatives on one newspaper site appears a bit odd. Overall, the dn.se website is very logical, easy to navigate and information about the newspaper is clear and easy to read, thus the confusion with the two separate fact checking initiatives at the same site, one created as a unified channel and the other partly hidden is unfortunate. Especially as the fact checks made by the applicant, as well as the ones found at “Fakta i frågan” are of excellent quality!
To confuse the reader even more, both initiatives can get the same kind of tag “VAL 2018”, and the faktiskt.se articles are often using “Fakta i frågan” as a source.
It gets a bit more complicated. Faktiskt.se is a separate website with another set of rules than those of dn.se, but at the same time, the faktiskt.se website refers back to the rules of each participating media company, thus pointing back to dn.se where there is no dedicated space for the initiative and articles thus seems to be part of the regular operations.
Additionally, stories are behind a paywall. Right now however, none of the articles at dn.se are locked, but this is a temporary move that dn.se made for the upcoming Swedish elections. The paywall is not a problem for those that subscribe to dn.se, but for those that enter an article from the faktiskt.se initiative and are not subscribers, the paywall prevents them to follow sources and use the provided links to claims and counter claims, these readers can only take part of the concluding verdict and a very short summary.
My recommendation would be to attend to the identified problems at the faktiskt.se initiative, and to make sure that there always is a link to the initiative following each dn.se story that is part of the initiative on the dn.se website. For the faktiskt.se initiative to be compliant with the IFCN criteria, I believe that fact-checked stories should be possible to access free of charge for readers that are entering stories through the faktiskt.se website (either following a link from the faktisk.se initiative to dn.se or as full content articles embedded on the faktiskt.se website). Not being able to access the full story as a non dn.se subscriber has a direct effect on transparency and credibility, as there are no links to sources and no possibility for readers to fact check the stories themselves, unless they are subscribers to dn.se. This is a problem not only for the faktiskt.se initiative (See also assessment sheet for faktiskt.se), but will affect credability negatively for Dagens Nyheter as well.
Similarly, not being able to find information about the “faktiskt” fact- checking sub section of dn.se also affects transparency and credabilty. Therefore, I recommend that the link and short text about faktiskt.se that at times has been attached to each story is permanently reinstated. An option would be to further develop the topic “faktiskt” on the website, making a clear unified channel for faktiskt.se at the dn.se website (as with “Fakta i frågan”). As of now, there is indeed a topic called “faktiskt” that readers can subscribe to, however, there is no information about the initiative connected to this topic.
Note: Södertörn University, Sweden has been involved in the development of Faktiskt.se initiative via the Vinnova funded project “Faktaassistenten”. The external assessor is employed by Södertörns Högskola, and has furthermore previously cooperated on other matters with project manager Johan Lindén, but has not in any way been involved in Faktiskt.se.
Ester Appelgren recommended Accept with edits
on 16-Aug-2018 (5 years ago)
Ester Appelgren wrote:
The applicant belongs to the organization Dagens Nyheter and is part of Faktiskt.se, a new fact checking aggregator involving four established media houses and one fairly new digital initiative. The published stories of the applicant are impressive and relevant. However, there seems to be internal matters that needs to be solved at Dagens Nyheter regarding the status of the applicant as a fact-checking unit.
At dn.se, the applicant does not have a brand that can be found easily. Should the reader happen to read a story at dn.se that is part of the applicant initiative, the faktiskt.se logo is clearly visible (and during the evaluation period a link and a text has at times, but not always been provided directing the reader to the faktiskt.se initiative where more information can be found).
The problem is that the less informed dn.se reader (probably most readers) will not easily find the fact-checking initiative, or return to it among all dn.se articles in case they want to contact the journalists or read more stories from the fact checking applicant. It does not have a space of its own on the website. Furthermore, there is another initiative, “Fakta i frågan” that appears to be the official fact checking initiative of Dagens Nyheter, but separate from the applicant.
Several fact checking initiatives on one newspaper site appears a bit odd. Overall, the dn.se website is very logical, easy to navigate and information about the newspaper is clear and easy to read, thus the confusion with the two separate fact checking initiatives at the same site, one created as a unified channel and the other partly hidden is unfortunate. Especially as the fact checks made by the applicant, as well as the ones found at “Fakta i frågan” are of excellent quality!
To confuse the reader even more, both initiatives can get the same kind of tag “VAL 2018”, and the faktiskt.se articles are often using “Fakta i frågan” as a source.
It gets a bit more complicated. Faktiskt.se is a separate website with another set of rules than those of dn.se, but at the same time, the faktiskt.se website refers back to the rules of each participating media company, thus pointing back to dn.se where there is no dedicated space for the initiative and articles thus seems to be part of the regular operations.
Additionally, stories are behind a paywall. This is not a problem for those that subscribe to dn.se, but for those that enter an article from the faktiskt.se initiative and are not subscribers, the paywall prevents them to follow sources and use the provided links to claims and counter claims, these readers can only take part of the concluding verdict and a very short summary.
My recommendation would be to attend to the identified problems at the faktiskt.se initiative, and to make sure that there always is a link to the initiative following each dn.se story that is part of the initiative on the dn.se website. For the faktiskt.se initiative to be compliant with the IFCN criteria, I believe that fact-checked stories should be possible to access free of charge for readers that are entering stories through the faktiskt.se website (either following a link from the faktisk.se initiative to dn.se or as full content articles embedded on the faktiskt.se website). Not being able to access the full story as a non dn.se subscriber has a direct effect on transparency and credibility, as there are no links to sources and no possibility for readers to fact check the stories themselves, unless they are subscribers to dn.se. This is a problem not only for the faktiskt.se initiative (See also assessment sheet for faktiskt.se), but will affect credability negatively for Dagens Nyheter as well.
Similarly, not being able to find information about the “faktiskt” fact- checking sub section of dn.se also affects transparency and credabilty. Therefore, I recommend that the link and short text about faktiskt.se that at times has been attached to each story is permanently reinstated. An option would be to further develop the topic “faktiskt” on the website, making a clear unified channel for faktiskt.se at the dn.se website (as with “Fakta i frågan”). As of now, there is indeed a topic called “faktiskt” that readers can subscribe to, however, there is no information about the initiative connected to this topic.
Furthermore, a few more edits are needed:
2b) Provide an explanation of rules for non-partisanship for contributing staff.
4b) Make sure that all authors to stories are listed on Faktiskt.se, or explain why they are not.
Note: Södertörn University, Sweden has been involved in the development of Faktiskt.se initiative via the Vinnova funded project “Faktaassistenten”. The external assessor is employed by Södertörns Högskola, and has furthermore previously cooperated on other matters with project manager Johan Lindén, but has not in any way been involved in Faktiskt.se.
Ester Appelgren 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.
Dagens Nyheter
06-Jul-2018 (6 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
All our fact-checks are collected here, in reverse chronological order: dn.se/om/faktiskt
Ester Appelgren Assessor
06-Jul-2018 (6 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
The applicant, Dagens Nyheter is an established Swedish media house, but the fact-checking initiative does not really appear to be a sub section of the media outlet, rather it seems to be part of the regular operations. The initiative cannot be found on the dn.se webpage, unless one knows the address to it. Furthermore, there is another initiative called “Fakta i frågan” that is featured as a fact checking initiative on the dn.se website. This initiative is not covered by the application, but as it has a space on the dn.se website it appears to be a much more solid fact-checking initiative. Stories written by the applicant often cite stories from “Fakta i frågan”. To the reader, the two separate fact-checking initiatives at dn.se might be confusing, and the one covered in this application cannot really be found and identified as a fact-checking initiative by the reader.
However, the applicant is also part of the cross organizational cooperation Faktiskt.se where four media organizations are cooperating: Bonniers, Schibsted and the Swedish public service Television company and Radio company. On the faktiskt.se website, the initiative can easily be found, and Dagens Nyheter stands out as the one media organization that seems to publish the highest quantity of stories at faktiskt.se
done_all 1a marked as Fully compliant by Ester Appelgren.
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.
Dagens Nyheter
06-Jul-2018 (6 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
The fact-checking is done as part of the news reporting. All our fact-checks are collected here, in reverse chronological order: dn.se/om/faktiskt Our method is explained in more detail here: https://www.dn.se/nyheter/politik/sa-arbetar-dn-med-faktakoll/
Ester Appelgren Assessor
06-Jul-2018 (6 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
Yes, there has been at least one published report a week for three months.
done_all 1b marked as Fully compliant by Ester Appelgren.
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.
Dagens Nyheter
06-Jul-2018 (6 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
As a Swedish media house we follow follow ""Pressens etiska regler"", a list of voluntary rules for Sweden's media which requires the participating media houses
to show objectivity, fairness and allowing the criticized part to comment on the criticism before the publication of an article. Since we started the Faktiskt project, Dagens nyheter has published a broad range of fact-checks, fact-checking the left, the right and the center.
Some examples:
https://www.dn.se/ekonomi/mestadels-fel-om-att-attendo-plockade-ut-649-miljoner-i-vinst/
Ester Appelgren Assessor
06-Jul-2018 (6 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
Yes, there is a wide variety of topics. Because the initiative appears to have been created primarily for the upcoming Swedish elections, most stories are about politics, and tend to focus on claims made by the different Swedish political party leaders.
done_all 2a marked as Fully compliant by Ester Appelgren.
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.
Dagens Nyheter
06-Jul-2018 (6 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
All journalists working at Dagens Nyheter follow the Swedish journalism unions rules, which states that journalists never should accept bribes, never falsify images and never use their role as a journalist to their advantage. https://www.sjf.se/yrkesfragor/yrkesetik/spelregler-press-radio-och-tv/yrkesregler Reporters at Dagens Nyheter also has to follow a series of policys that are the same all across the different companies within Bonnier news. These series of policys include a certain policy around conflict of interest rules.
The policy can be summarized, inter alia, that written approval is has to be sought in cases where the employee accepts other jobs or assignments outside of Bonnier news companies. Employees may not work with or be hired by a potential or actual supplier, customer or competitor of Bonnier news. Own holdings of financial interests of competitors, customers, distributors, brokers or suppliers to Bonnier news should be informed to managers, the same applies in cases where a close friend or family member has such interests. Possible conflicts of interest, which could also include membership in a political party, can lead to actions such as the introduction of restrictions or that the task is handed over to someone else. This is elaborated in this article: https://www.dn.se/nyheter/politik/sa-arbetar-dn-med-faktakoll/
Ester Appelgren Assessor
06-Jul-2018 (6 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
2018-08-23
After "ringing the bell", the applicant has provided an article with clear explanations that makes them fully compliant.
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Assessment from before "ringing the bell".
Dagens Nyheter refers to the generic code of ethics for Swedish journalists found at the Swedish Union for Journalists. One cannot assume that the average Swede is aware of these ethical guidelines, even though they are mentioned briefly in the about sections of the newspaper. Furthermore, the thirteen rules of the Swedish Journalism Union do not explicitly state that a journalist should not be involved in political parties or advocacy organization, but it is implied.
done_all 2b marked as Fully compliant by Ester Appelgren.
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.
Dagens Nyheter
06-Jul-2018 (6 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
Our internal rules document specifies that all sources should be provided,preferably by listing the sources in the end of the document or by using bluelinkingto link to the source. The only sources allowed is publicly accessible data,in order for the reader to be able to replicate the exact fact-check that we've done. The use of public data sources are preferred to interviews with experts
Ester Appelgren Assessor
06-Jul-2018 (6 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
Yes, sources are linked and named, however Dagens Nyheter content is behind a paywall. Note that readers that catch a dn.se story through faktiskt.se and are not paying for a subscription at dn.se will only be able to read a short summary of a story without links to sources.
done_all 3a marked as Fully compliant by Ester Appelgren.
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.
Dagens Nyheter
06-Jul-2018 (6 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
DN:s faktakoll is a part of AB Dagens Nyheter, which is a part of the media group Bonnier AB. https://www.bonniernews.se/
Dagens Nyheter is financed through subscription fees and advertising. A part of the costs of launching the technical platform for Faktiskt.se which DN:s faktakoll is sprung from was financed through a one time sum from the swedish state-owned innovation fund Vinnova. Vinnova has never had any influence on any editiorial decisions made by Dagens Nyheter.
Ester Appelgren Assessor
06-Jul-2018 (6 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
Because the applicant is not the only fact-checking section of Dagens Nyheter (See note on “Fakta i frågan” earlier, which actually is promoted as the official fact-checking initiative of dn.se), the applicant seems to be part of the regular dn.se operations. Stories created for faktiskt.se do not have a clear brand on dn.se and cannot easily be found when searched for on the website. For this reason, at least as of now, it does not make sense to write a specific note about ownership, funding and more specific bios or to list the fact checking journalists for the stories created for faktikt.se on dn.se.
done_all 4a marked as Fully compliant by Ester Appelgren.
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.
Dagens Nyheter
06-Jul-2018 (6 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
Info on all our journalists, including bios and contact information is found by clicking their respective byline, for example: https://www.dn.se/skribent/hugo-ewald/ This info is also collected in the following article: https://www.dn.se/nyheter/politik/sa-arbetar-dn-med-faktakoll/
Ester Appelgren Assessor
06-Jul-2018 (6 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
2018-08-23
After "ringing the bell", the applicant has provided an article with a bit more in-depth explanations on ownership and listed all authors to fact-checks. I still do not find explanations on how the cooperation really works between the media houses concerning faktiskt.se, but this is more important to explain in the application covering faktiskt.se than in the Dagens Nyheter application.
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Assessment from before "ringing the bell".
On the separate website faktiskt.se, there is a need to elaborate a bit more on ownership of the participating media houses, of funding of faktiskt.se as well as how the cooperation works between the participating media organizations. Additionally, not all faktiskt.se Dagens Nyheter reporters are listed on faktiskt.se (one example is Alexandra Carlsson Tenitskaja).
done_all 4b marked as Fully compliant by Ester Appelgren.
Criterion 4c
Contact
Evidence required: Please link to the section where readers can get in touch with the organization.
Dagens Nyheter
06-Jul-2018 (6 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
You can contact all journalists working at Dagens Nyheter at https://www.dn.se/nyheter/kontakt/ or by clicking a reporters byline. The contact information to the fact-checking initative as a whole is always part of a disclaimer in the bottom of fact-checking articles. This article, which is linked to in the bottom of each article, has more detailed contact information, to both the initiative as a whole and to reporters who has done fact-checks: https://www.dn.se/nyheter/politik/sa-arbetar-dn-med-faktakoll/
Ester Appelgren Assessor
06-Jul-2018 (6 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
It is very easy for the reader to contact the author of each story, there are also an encouraging comment function attached to each story at dn.se called “ifrågasätt” which means “to question”. However, it is not easy at all to contact the fact-checking initiative associated with the story, not faktiskt.se at Dagens Nyheter, and not faktiskt.se as a whole, only the individual journalist(s) that have written the article.
done 4c marked as Partially compliant by Ester Appelgren.
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.
Dagens Nyheter
06-Jul-2018 (6 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
https://www.dn.se/nyheter/politik/sa-arbetar-dn-med-faktakoll/ This article summarizes, in great detail, the workflow that a fact-check is supposed to include.
Ester Appelgren Assessor
06-Jul-2018 (6 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
2018-08-23
When I checked the website today, articles are followed by a short note on faktiskt.se with a link to the initiative.
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Assessment from before "ringing the bell".
The logo is clearly visible and Faktiskt is a topic on dn.se. Articles are however not always followed by a short note on faktiskt.se with a link to the initiative. In the beginning of my assessment I believe they had such a link and description, then this feature seems was removed, and right now it is back again. To be compliant I think that a link to the initiative is needed and as long as faktiskt.se then has sufficient information about methodology and how to send in fact-checks these two categories are complete.
done_all 5a marked as Fully compliant by Ester Appelgren.
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.
Dagens Nyheter
06-Jul-2018 (6 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
Contact information to the fact-checking initiative as a whole is always placed in the bottom of each fact-checking article. More details is found here: https://www.dn.se/nyheter/politik/sa-arbetar-dn-med-faktakoll/
Ester Appelgren Assessor
06-Jul-2018 (6 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
2018-08-23
Yes, articles are followed by a short note on faktiskt.se with a link to the initiative and contact information.
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Assessment from before "ringing the bell".
If the IFCN wants each applicant to explain the methodology and how to send in fact-checks also on each of the applicant’s websites, this category would get the grade “None”.
done_all 5b marked as Fully compliant by Ester Appelgren.
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.
Dagens Nyheter
06-Jul-2018 (6 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
Ester Appelgren Assessor
06-Jul-2018 (6 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
Dagens Nyheter has a corrections policy that is easy to find and understand. As stories appearing on dn.se that belong to the faktiskt.se initiative seems to be part of the regular operations of Dagens Nyheter, there is no confusion for the reader in terms of the corrections policy of the parent newspaper.
done_all 6a marked as Fully compliant by Ester Appelgren.
Criterion 6b
Examples of corrections
Evidence required: Please provide two examples of a correction made, or correction requests handled, in the past year.
Dagens Nyheter
06-Jul-2018 (6 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
https://www.dn.se/nyheter/politik/faktiskt-helt-fel-att-katolska-kyrkan-nekadesringa-klockor/
https://www.dn.se/nyheter/politik/faktiskt-mestadels-fel-om-hur-mangautlandska-valdtaktsman-som-utvisas/
This article: https://www.dn.se/nyheter/politik/sa-arbetar-dn-med-faktakoll/ includes a updating list of all corrections, with links to the articles that has been corrected.
Ester Appelgren Assessor
06-Jul-2018 (6 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
2018-08-23
A list of corrections can now be found in the article explaning how Dagens Nyheter are working with fact-checking.
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Assessment from before "ringing the bell".
There is no public page listing all corrections, but corrections are made at the bottom of each corrected story. This seems to be perfectly in line with the corrections policy available at dn.se