Factcheck.kz is the project of the International Center for Journalism "MediaNet". The registration documents of "MediaNet" would be sent to your e-mail.

MediaNet itself is NGO established by the group of Kazakhstani journalists in 2004. Our mission is to support the development of the civil society in Kazakhstan and Central Asia by consolidating the potential of independent media outlets, supporting public organizations, human rights activists and promoting freedom of speech. For further reference see our website -

http://medianet.kz/en/ob-organizacii

Factcheck.kz is a project of the International Center for Journalism “MediaNet” in Kazakhstan. Information about the projects and financial statement (last updated 2017-03-30) https://infonpo.kz/ru/db/view/?id=11758 (in Russian)

The Center is registered as a public fund in 2004. Applicant’s scan copy of the Certificate of state registration is included. The document submitted in two languages (Kazakh, Russian). English translation is available. Factcheck.kz project was launched in 2017. The project presents content in two languages: Kazakh and Russian.

Note: The official web-site of the center www.medianet.kz has a report from 2006 to 2016. There is information about Factcheck.kz project under the current project section in Russian language.

All our fact checks are published on the main website - factcheck.kz - in Russian and Kazakh languages. The translated versions in English can be found here - https://goo.gl/7mrmV3. We write both in Russian and Kazakh because these are the most popular languages in Kazakhstan and also they define two distinct groups of readers.

The latest fact-checks are presented on Factcheck.kz’s homepage https://factcheck.kz/kaz/ - in Kazakh and https://factcheck.kz - in Russian and. Also on the home page there are categories in two languages, where users can sort the content by last, most discussed, the most popular, and in last seven days. https://factcheck.kz/kaz/category/tarazy/ (Kazakh), https://factcheck.kz/category/verdict/ (Russian)

10 fact checks in English with links to appropriate articles in Russian and Kazakh can be found here - https://goo.gl/DSjVA8.

You can read about our standards here - https://factcheck.kz/o-nas/, English version here - https://goo.gl/1Hvsce.

Briefly speaking we check the claims made by politicians, official figures, media outlets and organizations. There are four main principles when choosing which claim to check: first, whether the claim contains the fact (not the opinions or suggestions), second if the theme of the claim is actual for the society, third if it is checkable in terms of access to open sources and open data, fourth in terms of how much time and people are needed to check the claim.

We use only open sources links to which we provide in every fact check. For some materials we ask the independent experts to clarify the situation and nuances.

We clearly state our transparency in everything - funding, organization, sources, methodology on our website - so adhering to the same principles as IFCN.

From Factcheck.kz application: “There are four main principles when choosing which claim to check: first, whether the claim contains the fact (not the opinions or suggestions), second if the theme of the claim is actual for the society, third if it is checkable in terms of access to open sources and open data, fourth in terms of how much time and people are needed to check the claim.

We use only open sources links to which we provide in every fact check. For some materials we ask the independent experts to clarify the situation and nuances.”

As an assessor I chose my own 10 materials (5 Kazakh language and 5 Russian language) to show that factcheck.kz picks topic from different fields and the fact that has been checked in each article is relevant to the standard.

The above mentioned standards are clear and easy to understand. The project covers a variety of subjects and speakers which can bee seen from their recent fact-checked materials:

https://factcheck.kz/kaz/basty-bet/ministrometr-tamara-dujsenova-uadesinde-turdy-ma/ - Checking the Ministry of Health statements (Kazakh).

https://factcheck.kz/kaz/basty-bet/nur-kz-saitynyng-koshirmesi-paida-boldy/ - Checking the clone of the popular website in Kazakhstan (Kazakh).

https://factcheck.kz/kaz/basty-bet/shyndyk-kazakstanga-2017-zhyldyn-kantar-kyrkujek-ajlarynda-17824-tonna-zhylky-eti-akelindi/ - Verifying the numbers related to meat consumption in Kazakhstan (Kazakh).

https://factcheck.kz/kaz/basty-bet/zhalgan-kazakstanda-ajel-adamdarga-enbekaky-toleude-diskriminaciya-zhok/ - Gender discrimination in labour (Kazakh).

https://factcheck.kz/kaz/basty-bet/kazakstan-buu-nyn-mugedekter-kukygy-turaly-konvenciyasyn-saktap-otyr-ma/ - Does Kazakstan keeps the diabled rights that states by UN (Kazakh).

https://factcheck.kz/glavnoe/manipulyaciya-deti-zachatye-metodom-eko-besplodny/ - Lab-grown babies and it’s side effects. (Russian)

https://factcheck.kz/glavnoe/polupravda-kazahstan-zanyal-7-mesto-v-reytinge-schastlivyh-stran/ - Kazakhstan got 7 place as the happiest nation. (Russian)

https://factcheck.kz/glavnoe/mify-i-pravda-o-gosattestacii-shkol-v-kazaxstane/ - State School Accreditation problems (Russian)

https://factcheck.kz/glavnoe/rassylka-v-whatsupp-preduprezhdaet-o-telefonnom-moshennichestve/ - Alarming about froud in WhatsApp Messenger.

https://factcheck.kz/glavnoe/manipulyaciya-blagodarya-sankciyam-rossiya-rasplatilas-s-bolshej-chastyu-vneshnix-dolgov/ - Russia’s foreign sunction helps to deal with foreign debt.

The project checks facts related to finance, education, health and other sectors of society and not trying to concentrate on one side of the topic. For example, there are articles (8) where researcher do fact check education claim. Also articles consists of not only factcheck.kz words but also there are quotations from real experts used to clarify specific nuances of an issue.

You can find it here in Russian - https://factcheck.kz/o-nas/ and here in English - https://goo.gl/hQcPJT

From applicant’s document: “The editor's office strongly refuses to publish in their articles information of an illegal nature, or with propaganda and advertising. Our project have no contractual or verbal obligations towards state bodies, companies of quasi-public sector and commercial organizations”.

Factcheck.kz makes its priority to stay outside “political and other camps”. It is written in their policy and by scanning the content of the project we can see the diversity of the content. Moreover, factcheck.kz provides and examples when the authors check claims by officials and prominent specialists in society. The facts verified and the explanation is given mostly by several experts. 

We provide the links to all open sources, documents, data, etc. that we use during fact-checking in the articles so the reader can go through the process himself. If needed or if the file can disappear or be altered we upload it directly to our website with the reference to the original source.

The project includes all key sources as an internal link into articles or present them at the end of the article or embed the document into the text. The way of showing the key sources are always clearly referenced. For example, if the reader wants to double check the source, the provided link leads to the original article which contains the fact. 

As it is said on the "About us page" (https://factcheck.kz/o-nas/), in the footer of the website and in the end of each article (e.g. https://factcheck.kz/glavnoe/pravda-v-kazaxstane-na-kazhdogo-advokata-prixoditsya-po-3900-grazhdan/) factcheck.kz is developed and supported with the help of Soros Foundation Kazakhstan. As the project exists less than one year (we started in May 2017) other ways of funding including crowdfunding are discussed currently.

The project factchek.kz clearly states on website and under each articles that the project has been financially supported by Soros-Kazakhstan Foundation. Since the project is part of MediaNet initiatives the detailed financial statement about the funding is on the main website medianet.kz under the financial report section. The financial report for the 2017 is going to be published on March.

All the details in English can be found here - https://goo.gl/QQVvuH 

The authors and name of the editorial team are not clearly listed on the website. Their bios are not available. However, the applicant provided the bio of authors and send it to the assessor. Each article on the website has an author. The factcheck.kz project coordinator explained this fact with two reasons: 1) it is not safe to be publicly known as a factchecker in the country 2) Some fact-checkers work on other places and do not want to be directly associated with other projects. Some media companies doesn’t allow to work officially in two or more places.

In Russian - https://factcheck.kz/obratnaya-svyaz/

The contact form is under the About us section and at the right bottom of the homepage. In both cases reader need to do an extra action to reach out.

https://factcheck.kz/kaz/biz-turaly/obratnaya-svyaz-2/ Kazakh

https://factcheck.kz/obratnaya-svyaz/ - Russian 

The principles of our Truth-O-Meter can be found here in Russian - 

https://factcheck.kz/kak-my-opredelyaem-pravdomer/ 

and here in English - 

https://goo.gl/iWzwLX 

Also we have a special section devoted to methodology - 

https://factcheck.kz/category/metodika-fch/ We translate two articles to English - https://goo.gl/BhwR7E

from factchek.kz: “The methodology used by the Factcheck.kz is based on international standards and fact-checking tools. Factcheck.kz uses only open sources to verify the facts.

In accordance with the collected evidence and the "truth-teller" criteria, the editor's

office delivers a verdict and publishes it on the website together with the collected

evidence.

Any person can co-participate in the project by proposing a fact for verification, as

well as his version of the verification procedure and evidence base.

The Factcheck.kz reserves the right to choose the method of verification and

sources of evidence.

In case of controversial situations, the Factcheck.kz is ready to consider

counter arguments, as well as the possibility of establishing an expert working

group to recheck the verdict.

The Factcheck.kz can also establish a working expert group in certain cases, when

it is complicated to make an unambiguous verdict. The Factcheck.kz project is principally oriented towards the legislation of Kazakhstan, international legislation, as well as internationally recognized values and ethical norms”.

The website has clear explanation of truth-o-meter. There is a step-by-step explanation of fact-checking methodology under the “About us” section.

Again in Russian - https://factcheck.kz/obratnaya-svyaz/

The site has dedicated section that explains to readers how to send claims and which claims can be fact-checked. The contact form allows to enter message and to choose between “Do you want to send us a fact to check?” and “Send us feedback about the project”.

Our readers can participate openly in the process offering corections and claims. For some questions we can organize a discussion with the group of independent experts. 

Also you can read in Russian - 

https://factcheck.kz/o-nas/

English version - 

https://goo.gl/1Hvsce

The resource has a public corrections policy and shows two examples of it in the application form. At the end of the each article editorial team clearly explains readers that in case of disagreement the verdict will be revised and additional documents will be uploaded.

The details about the case on plagiarism can be found in Russian here - https://factcheck.kz/glavnoe/pravda-izdannaya-kisi-kniga-rasula-zhumaly-soderzhit-narusheniya-avtorskogo-prava/, in English there - https://goo.gl/DSjVA8, article "TRUTH | The book by Rassul Zhumaly published by KAZISS contains copyright infringement". Mr. Zhumaly whose book was in the epicenter of the situation sent us the complaint where he stated that his work is more of political publicism so the detailed list of all publications and other materials he could cite is not needed. He also threatened us with court. Nevertheless we didn’t change the verdict.

Another case is the article on the external debt of Russia and Kazakhstan - https://factcheck.kz/glavnoe/pravda-i-u-rossii-vneshnij-gosudarstvennyj-dolg-menshe-chem-u-kazaxstana/. Independent expert Kasymkhan Kapparov pointed out that it is not correct to compare the measures that are analyzed in the fact check. However we found out that this exact claim is true but the context has some inaccuracy so we’re preparing another material where we will clarify it.

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