Demagog has been set up exclusively for the purpose of fact-checking, as stated in the business registry of the Czech Republic.

(https://or.justice.cz/ias/ui/rejstrik-firma.vysledky?subjektId=938169&typ=UPLNY)

The organization is fully compliant since it was registered solely for the purposes of fact-checking political statements.

Demagog’s website provides an overview of all the claims fact-checked and where they appeared (debates, interviews, etc.). Aside from two special reports on politicians‘ promises, there are no comprehensive reports being published, only summaries of all the claims included in a given public appearance or summaries of all the claims of a given politician. The frequency of Demagog’s fact-checking varies, although its activity could be considered to be fairly consistent and frequent.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wlTmZJZh_KuVUfLNuEQ5cfJjS0Zx7f0fPHHJ0m_EX-A/edit?usp=sharing

Looking at the frequency, one shall also consider that according to our methodology, we are not factchecking individual claims, but the whole debate. Therefore one factchecked discussion usually means 10-20 claims being factchecked.                   

As described, Demagog does not publish comprehensive weekly reports compiling all the claims fact-checked. However, it publishes compilations of all the claims fact-checked in a given publication piece or a media appearance (interview, debate etc.) – the frequency of these is about one per week, with some weeks containing more than one piece of media content being fact-checked. Looking at the logic of such fact-checking activity, I deem the organisation to be fully compliant in this regard.

Every fact-check that is done by Demagog.cz is strictly following our methodology and code of principles (available on the website). Above mentioned links point to 6 TV interviews with politicians from across the political spectrum in Czech Republic, 3 links to radio debates and 2 links to written interview. It also contains 2 major factchecks of local elections and 2 factchecks of senate elections. All factual statements are being checked regardless to politician current position or ideological background, Demagog has been fact-checking politicians across the political spectrum, with slightly more attention given to the politicians from parties in charge of the government. Provided exemples demonstrate a high degree of nonpartisanship and fairness, providing each fact-checking decision with a well-researched reasoning.

TV interviews:

https://demagog.cz/diskuze/komunalni-volby-v-brne

https://demagog.cz/diskuze/komunalni-volby-v-ostrave

https://demagog.cz/diskuze/petr-fiala-o-rozpoctu-i-zahranicni-politice

https://demagog.cz/diskuze/interview-s-predsedou-piratu-o-sto-letech-republiky-i-vlade-v-praze

Radio interviews:

https://demagog.cz/diskuze/kandidati-na-senatora-martin-cervicek-a-pavel-belobradek

https://demagog.cz/diskuze/kandidati-na-senatora-jaroslav-kubera-a-zdenek-bergman

https://demagog.cz/diskuze/vojtech-filip-o-cinskych-technologi

Written interviews:

https://demagog.cz/diskuze/miroslav-kalousek-o-evropske-i-domaci-politice 

https://demagog.cz/diskuze/ministr-spravedlnosti-knezinek-o-soudcich-i-statnich-zastupcich

As evidenced, the organization fact-checks claims by politicians across the entire politicial spectrum, with focus on the parties that are in charge of the government. The organization is fact-checking claims regarding multiple topics and does not unduly concentrate on only one side of a given topic.

One note: publishing a statistical overview of the distribution of politicians fact-checked across the political spectrum (how many claims fact-checked, filtered by political parties) would further improve the organisation`s aspiration for objectivity.

Below link points to Code of Principles of Demagog.cz:

http://demagog.cz/eticky-kodex-demagogcz

In our codex it is explicitly stated, that no member of Demagog.cz can have any affiliation to political party or its youth organisation including internship in these subjects. Also every newcomer needs to sign an affidavit confirming above stated.

Work in the Demagog.cz team is incompatible with any membership in political party, movement or youth organisation of these. A newcomer needs to sign an affidavit, that he/she is not involved in any way in above mentioned subjects. If while working in Demagog.cz he/she becomes a member of political party, movement or youth organisation he/she is bound to inform the board and also end his/her involvement in Demagog.cz. This rules apply for internship with political subjects as well.

Demagog has not been endorsing any political figure or a particular policy position, which is demonstrated by the scope of our analysis:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wlTmZJZh_KuVUfLNuEQ5cfJjS0Zx7f0fPHHJ0m_EX-A/edit?usp=sharing

As evidenced, Demagog has a strict and specific policy forbidding its staff from any involvement in a political party or any other affiliated organization (political movement, youth organization). The organization has not endorsed any political figure, either by media content or financial endorsements.

Firstly the transparency of sources and its importance and policy is stated in the Code of Principles (http://demagog.cz/eticky-kodex-demagogcz). The hierarchy of sources and other principles for our work can be found in "Jak hodnotíme" section: https://demagog.cz/stranka/jak-hodnotime-metodika 

Each claim Demagog has fact-checked has its own evidence section. The assessment of each claim is explained in detail using links to documents, statistical data or other easily accessible sources.

Every outcome has to be based on found and confirmed data. Demagog.cz is bound by the imperative to provide our readers with the full, complex and data based picture of reality and in cases, when it is not possible to reach all the required information, we strive to provide all the available information.

Demagog.cz cannot publish any information with unknown source. Also it is imperative to always provide the reader with all relevant sources of published information.

Demagog.cz can acquire information only through utilisation of honest and legally approved means.

Demagog.cz provides also the names of editors/experts, if possible, that are responsible for used analysis, report etc. 

Demagog`s sourcing is of very high standards – documents (legal texts, official letters, policy drafts) are hyperlinked in the assessment of each claim, with a specification of each document`s page where relevant information can be found, making it simple for its audience to review the fact-checking if desired.

Our general finance policy is described in a special section https://demagog.cz/stranka/jak-je-projekt-demagogcz-financovan. Each year, all the donors are named in a yearbook (also part of the link), beside that the donors are enlisted through their logos in the footer of the page.

Demagog is a standalone fact-checking organization and it has a web page dedicated to the description of the organization`s funding. This page includes monthly records of the organization`s bank account, which is also open for reviewal by the public.

As for the funding sources, Demagog only lists one organization (NFNZ), and only by displaying its (although hyperlinked) logo. There is no description of the funding organization, which I find lacking.

Looking at the transparent account and the transactions made during the course of 2018, a lot of the money withdrawals are also not described (who took out money, for what purpose). And there are other donors (e.g. VIA foundation) that have been listed on the website in the past but have been removed. To ensure transparency, the organization should (at least in a few paragraphs) describe the main sources of funding (not just by linking to their website) and briefly describe each transaction in order to be fully transparent.

The legal form of the organization does not requre it to publish its accounting documents in the business register, however, doing so would definitely further improve its transparency. While the annual report from 2017 broadly describes how much money was spent on personnel and technical support, a more detailed declaration of the organization`s spending would be appropriate.

In section "O nás -> O Demagog.cz” there is general description of the project and list of all its members. Each member has an assigned position within the project: “ Koordinátor (coordinator)/Projektový manager (project manager)/Metodolog (methodologist)/Expert (expert/ka)/Korektor (proofreader)/Vývoj redakčního system (IT support)/Stážista (intern). Beside the position, there is a brief description about the person and his/her activity within the project. There is also a section with phone numbers of our PR person and expert enabling to reach them directly.

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http://demagog.cz/o-nas
https://demagog.cz/stranka/kontakty

Demagog lists the names and short bios of staff members directly involved in creating its content, however, there are insufficiencies regarding the actors holding statutory functions in the organization. The main statutory body of the organization is the Member Council (Meeting), with the current Members being: Zdeněk Jirsa, Jan Tvrdoň, Petr Gongala, Veronika Šiková and Pavlína Škromachová.

Only Mr Jirsa and Ms Škromachová are listed as staff, while the other three persons are not listed on the website at all. The discrepancy might likely stem from dynamic personnel changes happening at the organization, still, as the main persons having formal decision power in the organization, all council members should be properly listed on the website to ensure transparency. Even more so when the business register docments state that each council member is entitled to act by himself/herself in the name of the organization, which is the case here.

There is a dedicated contacts page available now, including PR contact and expert´s e-mail to address feedback for our evaluation. General e-mail address accessible to the management of the team is also provided and it serves for general questions and requests of various kinds.
https://demagog.cz/stranka/kontakty

Demagog lists a special contact person, including her e-mail address and a phone number. There is also a general purpose e-mail address (info@demagog.cz) the public can reach out to.

The methodology is clearly and thoroughly explained on the website.

https://demagog.cz/diskuze/jak-hodnotime-metodika

As linked, Demagog throughly explains its methodology, which describes four different fact-checking results (true, false, misleading, impossible to verify) and the reasoning behind each result, complete with a specific example.

Anyone can contact us in regards to our evaluation of fact-checking statements (https://demagog.cz/diskuze/kontakty) and there is also a dedicated section on the website explaining how this process works. 

https://demagog.cz/diskuze/mam-vyhradu-k-hodnoceni-nebo-navrh-na-overeni-kam-se-mohu-obra

Demagog.cz encourages its audience to contact them with any remarks regarding the assessment of the claims fact-checked. It used to have an initiative for people to send us factual claims, that we would fact-check called "Ověř.to" (Check.it). After three to four years this option was decommissioned as the interest of public was very low and most of the submitted claims were of non-factuall character, impossible to be factchecked by our methodology.

It is crucial for us to preserve the methodology through which we do not factcheck individual claims, but the whole debates. If there is an demand for factchecking an individual claim from the public, we either check the whole discussion or we write a special kind of article, more similar to complex analytic text like this one: https://demagog.cz/diskuze/oh

Demagog encourages its readers to send in any comments with respect to its fact-checking as well as tips for interesting claims by politicians that should be fact-checked. The process of accepting and responding to inquries is described in four different steps.

The organization takes responsibility for its fact-checking – if it deems an inquiry to be relevant, it publishes an appropriate correction.

However, there is no statistics (either online or in the annual reports) regarding the number or frequency of received inquiries, which is something that could further improve upon the organization`s accountability.

Our correction policy is quite simple and accessible online. Everytime the text of the factcheck is changed or ammended (even if the category has not changed and only the reasoning was ammended), it needs to be explicitly mentioned in the text. The note "correction/added" needs to be encluded as well as description of the amendment. 

https://demagog.cz/stranka/mam-vyhradu-k-hodnoceni-nebo-navrh-na-overeni-kam-se-mohu-obra

Demagog has a correction policy and each correction is properly marked, including the reasoning for why the correction was made. Leaving the original claim assessment so that the public can compare between the original and the correction is appropriate and adds to the organization`s accountability.

https://demagog.cz/vyrok/17256 
https://demagog.cz/vyrok/16778 

The organization has provided two examples of corrections that were made. However, there is no dedicated webpage (or its section) showing how many corrections were made in a given year, nor is this number provided in the annual report. I would recommend showing how many corrections were made in each year, for example in the section describing the corrections policy, including links to each correction. Such an information would show the policy has been subject to real cases of corrections, without the public having to actively search for any corrections to know the policy is enhanced.

Furthermore, if the number of corrections was relatively low compare to the total number of claims fact-checked, such a statistic could further bolster the organization`s reputation (“we commit few/almost no mistakes“).