The German Press Agency (dpa) was founded in 1949 and is one of the globally leading independent news agencies, comparable in purpose and structure to the Associated Press (AP).

These are the first six paragraphs of the articles of incorporation of our company: http://docs.dpaq.de/14286-gesellschaftsvertrag.docx

We mainly produce editorial content like text, photos, infographics, audio, and video coverage as well as online content. Our clients are publishing houses, corporations, and organizations. Around 1000 journalists in 54 German locations as well as in 94 locations abroad work for the company. https://www.dpa.com/de/unternehmen/faktencheck/#faktencheck-regelnbusiness dpa gathers facts, conducts interviews with sources, covers and analyses newsworthy developments strictly based on the rules and principles established in our editorial statutes. No story is ever published if it hasn't been checked by at least two dpa journalists. Being right is always preferred to being first. Trust and truth are immensely important to everything we do. The business model is based on reliability. Errors and mistakes, which can happen, are always swiftly and transparently corrected (see chapter Korrekturregeln: https://www.dpa.com/de/unternehmen/faktencheck/#faktencheck-regeln).

More information about our editorial principles: https://www.dpa.com/de/unternehmen/faktencheck/#aufbau-und-redaktionelle-grundsaetze

Fact-checking is the main part of our daily work in the editorial department since every information and story we publish has to be fact-checked beforehand. But we are also publishing dedicated fact-checking formats on a regular basis.

All details on our dedicated fact-checking operation: https://www.dpa.com/faktencheck

The dedicated fact-checking project of dpa is part of the central editorial office of the organization, which is a legally registered press agency owned by over 170 newspaper and magazine publishers as well as (public) broadcasters.

Per partnership agreement, dpa has to deliver its editorial products exclusively to the clients, while it is not allowed to publish its German language content directly to readers. For that reason we are not able to publish our fact-checks directly on our own website. But we are able to link to recent publications of our content on clients' websites as well as providing screen shots from the material in our archives.

Link list: https://www.dpa.com/de/unternehmen/faktencheck/#aktuelle-dpa-faktenchecks

dpa-Factchecks regularly published by clients:

Westfälische Nachrichten (Münster): https://www.wn.de/Welt/Faktencheck

Neue Presse (Coburg): https://www.np-coburg.de/deutschlandwelt/faktencheck/

Grafschafter Nachrichten (Nordhorn): https://www.gn-online.de/faktencheck/

dpa also factchecks social media content for Facebook. The articles with information about the factchecks are published here: https://www.presseportal.de/nr/133833 All of these factchecks are also published on our client portal and can be used for publication by all of our clients.

The applicant evaluates distinct claims on the basis of their accuracy on a regular basis, that is, often more than one fact-check per day for its costumers (the owning newspaper publishers and broadcasters).It provides an extensive sample of the most recent fact-checks, although they are not intended for direct publication but provided exclusively to the costumers (https://www.presseportal.de/nr/133833).

January, 22nd, 2020 PULMONARY DISEASE IN CHINA: AS DANGEROUS AS SARS? dpa version + clients' version: (NWZ.de), (Zeit.de)
We are not only fact-checking politicial issues, but take a broader approach. In this case our science desk conducted the fact-check supported by our fact-checking unit.

January, 21st, 2020 TRUMP SAVES THE US-ECONOMY - IS IT TRUE? dpa version + clients' version: (Gießener Allgemeine), (RND.de)
In regular cases we try to answer in our fact-checks the one main disputed question, but in cases like this it is more helpful for the reader to split a very complex topic into several parts which have to be verified separately. 

December 13th, 2019: MILLIONS OF UNEMPLOYED IN GERMANY, COMPANIES CAN'T FIND ENOUGH SKILLED EMPLOYEES. HOW TO EXPLAIN THIS CONTROVERSY   
dpa version + clients' version:  (zdf.de), (fr.de)  

December 9th, 2019:  MORE WHITE CHRISTMASES IN THE PAST?  dpa version + clients' version: (stuttgarter-zeitung.de), (RND.de)
To provide consumers with timely fact-checks we are also picking topics not only based on newsworthy events, but also on seasonal reasons. 

November 29th, 2019: WE MANAGED TO DEAL WITH THE OZON LAYER. IS THIS ENOUGH TO DEAL WITH CLIMATE CHANGE? dpa version + clients' version: (zeit.de), (Süddeutsche.de)

November 28th, 2019:  25 GLOBAL CLIMATE CONFERENCES - WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR?  dpa version + clients' version: (zeit.de), (Südkurier.de)

November 19th, 2019:  FACTS INSTEAD OF FAKE NEWS? FACT-CHECKING THE NEW AFD-STUDY dpa version + clients' version: (Volksstimme.de), (zeit.de)

November 18th, 2019:  5G: IS IT MAKING US SICK? dpa version + clients' version: (Nordbayern.de), (Focus.de), (Arcor.de) 

November 14th, 2019: ANTI-MEASLES-VACCINATION: RUMORS VS. FACTS dpa version + clients' version: (Die Harke), (Welt.de) 

November 3rd,.2019: FACT-CHECKING FLUORID: HOW MUCH TOOTH PASTE IS DANGEROUS? dpa version + clients' version: (t-online.de), (Hamburger Abendblatt), (Radio Bielefeld)

October 10th, 2019: TERROR ATTAC ON SYNAGOGE IN HALLE: WHAT WE DO KNOW, WHAT WE DON'T KNOW dpa version + clients' version: (ZDF.de), (Stern.de)
We use the format "Was wir wissen. Was wir nicht wissen" (What we know and what we don't know) to provide a quick overview over verified facts about an ongoing situation and also to analyse and debunk rumors or hoaxes which are spread on social media and the internet.

Ideally a dpa fact-check contains the parts "Claim", "Assessment" and "Facts". This format ist supposed to provide great clarity for the readers. What exactly is the claim? How is dpa assessing the claim? And on what facts is the dpa's verdict based? The evaluation should contain a clear verdict: "The claim is right (or wrong)." But it's also possible that we have to use "softer" verdicts, if the case is not black and white. Then we use phrases like "is mostly true" or "is mostly wrong". 

dpa covers a great variety of subject areas, and its fact-checking segment does so, too. The provided examples address a wide range of topics and demonstrate the involvement of various newsroom desks.

Journalists working for dpa are free and independent in their reporting. We mustn't declare any preferences or support for political parties, religious or cultural beliefs, any industry or other interest group.

The employment contracts of every editorial staff states clearly: "The employee is obliged to obeying the fundamental rules of the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa), wihich state that the production of dpa services has to be impartial and independent from influences by parties, groups with ideologies, economic and financial institutions, and governments." Those rules are also valid for the company's leadership. They are also incorporated in the partnership contract.

Article 5:  http://docs.dpaq.de/15788-gesellschaftervertrag.pdf

dpa commits itself as an organization as well as its members to the principles of independent, non-partisan reporting. These principles are set out in the articles of association (§5, paragraph 2) and part of the individual contracts of the employees (ibid. §5, paragraph 2).

Journalists at dpa try to present their fact-checks in the most transparent way possible. By that we hold ourselves accountable for the way we research and work. We are e.g. including all hyperlinks to public information in our articles. Our goal is to provide our fact-checks in a way that all readers are able to replicate the fact-checking using these hyperlinks. They can, for example, check in public documents if we used the correct figures. Ideally we put the readers in the position of being able to evaluate dpa’s working method and researching topics even further. If we are not able to link directly to websites containing the information we used we make sure to mention in our Facts Checks from which source the information came and how we obtained it.

For more details please check: https://www.dpa.com/de/unternehmen/faktencheck/#faq

dpa discloses all sources used in its fact-checks and provides hyperlinks to the sources, if available. Its readers or clients, respectively, find this information in the original dpa pieces within the written text and in the form of a bibliography at the end (yet, it has, unfortunately, no control if the publishers, which use the fact-checks, adopt this approach).

Shareholders, funding sources: https://www.dpa.com/de/unternehmen/faktencheck/#aufbau-und-redaktionelle-grundsaetze

Annual financial report 2018 in German: https://geschaeftsbericht2018.dpa.com/de/geschaeftsbericht-2018/geschaeftsbericht-2018

Annual financial report 2018 in English: https://annualreport2018.dpa.com/en/report-2018/annual-report-2018

Articles of incorporation: http://docs.dpaq.de/15788-gesellschaftervertrag.pdf

dpa has a very clear rule of ownership - a special feature of the organization that ought to prevent interference in the first place - and it further provides comprehensive information about their revenues and investments.

Fact-checking team: https://www.dpa.com/de/unternehmen/faktencheck/#faktencheck-team

Editorial board, supervisory board, and sharholders: https://www.dpa.com/de/unternehmen/eigentuemer-leitung

The members of the fact-checking team of dpa disclose their full names, and short paragraphs outline their career path and fields of expertise. Further, the organization provides information about the holders of the management, regulatory bodies, and other key positions.

Editorial department: https://www.dpa.com/de/kontakt/redaktion/

Communications department: https://www.dpa.com/de/kontakt/pressestelle/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dpa 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DeutschePresseAgenturGmbH/

Linked.In: https://www.linkedin.com/company/deutsche-presse-agentur/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dpa_com

Both dpa and its fact-check project provide several possibilities to contact the team and the company on its website and social media channels. Moreover, it provides additional information on how to submit claims to check and invites readers to contact them with useful information or critic.

https://www.dpa.com/de/unternehmen/faktencheck/

More details in the FAQ section: https://www.dpa.com/de/unternehmen/faktencheck/#faq

The fact-check project of dpa provides extensive information about its approach and principles on a general information webpage and further offers (links to) material about the subject of fact-checking and verification in more general. The information webpage is quite comprehensive and clearly structured, and thus easily accessible for interested readers/clients.

https://www.dpa.com/de/unternehmen/faktencheck/#faktencheck-team  (see 2nd section)

The project indicates the basic requirements and the most important specifications that readers are requested to take into account when submitting a claim to check right above its contact information. The information is relatively short but builds on the self-explanations of the project given before and therefore well comprehensible.

See section "Korrekturregeln": https://www.dpa.com/de/unternehmen/faktencheck/#faktencheck-regeln

We mostly receive alerts about presumed errors as well as complaints and requests via Twitter at https://twitter.com/dpa and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/DeutschePresseAgenturGmbH/, which we always take seriously. Furthermore, our clients can always reach us via our B2B web-portal www.dpa-news.com where they among other things alert us about complaints they have received by their readership about certain stories. We are also reachable around the clock for the public by phone under the numbers posted in our contacts section  https://www.dpa.com/de/kontakt/redaktion

The project devotes a full paragraph to explain its correction policy, its underlying rationale, and the applied criteria and illustrates its explanations by examples.

Typical correction:http://docs.dpaq.de/15791-200124fc_berichtigung_lungenaerzte.pdf

                             http://docs.dpaq.de/15792-200124fc_berichtigung_dieselabgas.pdf

Transparent, proactive, and public explanation of retraction: http://docs.dpaq.de/14294-f27745a3-a3ae-4fbb-85d0-0c2ecdb28aaf.pdf

See above: the paragraph explaining the correction policy provides examples of corrections.