Organization: Faktisk.no
Applicant: Olav Østrem
Assessor: Ester Appelgren
Conclusion and recommendations
Ester Appelgren wrote:
Faktisk is a nice and extremely ambitious initiative. With the rich data-driven content, it is a stand alone journalistic publication in itself, even though it is based on already published claims. I truly enjoyed reading the content.
Faktisk.no follows the Fact-Checkers’ Code of Principles, except for two criteria:
1. The website has only existed since the 5th of July 2017. It is therefore impossible to evaluate the site during a three month period as stated in the criteria (It has only existed for a few weeks!).
Since it’s introduction, Faktisk.no has published at least one report a day (mon-fri), sometimes more. The reports, as well as the website’s About us section are in line with the Code of Principles and I recommend that it is approved, even though it has existed for such a short time. The reason for my approval is that the site is run by experienced investigative journalists and is owned by four of the largest Norwegian media companies.
2. In the “About section”, there is no overview of spendings and it is unclear how much external funding that the initiative have received so far. I therefore recommend that overall spendings and a more detailed list of the obtained funding is included in the “Om oss” (About Us) section or in a separate document that can be reached with a link from this section page.
Ester Appelgren recommended Accept
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.
Faktisk.no
03-Oct-2017 (7 years ago)
https://w2.brreg.no/enhet/sok/detalj.jsp?orgnr=919036508 (Norwegian company registration authority)
Ester Appelgren Assessor
03-Oct-2017 (7 years ago)
Yes, Faktisk.no is currently owned by four registered Norwegian media companies and has provided registration number and ownership status. It encourages external funding, and contributing organizations is selected by two members of the Faktisk board.
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.
Faktisk.no
03-Oct-2017 (7 years ago)
Ester Appelgren Assessor
03-Oct-2017 (7 years ago)
It has so far 45 publications, but has only existed for less than a month (First report published on the Faktisk.no website on the 5th of July)
done 1b marked as Partially 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.
Faktisk.no
03-Oct-2017 (7 years ago)
https://www.faktisk.no/faktasjekker/n0/kommuneokonomien-har-ikke-vaert-sa-god-siden-forrige-artusen
https://www.faktisk.no/faktasjekker/a8/ogsa-hoytlonte-menn-tar-ut-mer-pappaperm-nar-fedrekvoten-oker
We follow the IFCN Code of Principles, as well as the journalistic ethic guidelines of the Norwegian Press Association. Also, we have made our own open guidelines stated openly here: https://www.faktisk.no/metode/
In short, we identify, pick and fact check important, surprising, interesting and/or influential factual claims made in the public domain - including the political discussion, in the media, in social medias e.t.c. We also strive to uncover and stop the spread of so called "false news" and "alternative facts".
When fact checking, we give the subjects who has made the claims an early opportunity verify context and support their claims with documentation.
After fact checking, we conclude with one of our five categories: True, Partly true, Not sure, Partly false of False.
If the claim is found mostly true, not sure, mostly false or false, the subject of the fact check is given the opportunity to comment the conclusion.
All our fact checks are free for all to use.
Ester Appelgren Assessor
03-Oct-2017 (7 years ago)
So far the 45 reports have varied subjects. The stories are usually framed towards aspects of Norwegian politics and the current governement, regardless of topic. This is for example done with the aid of meta tags, labeling subjects into searchable categories even though they might not have an obvious connection to Norwegian politics. There are also frequently international news of relevance to the Norwegian setting that are fact-checked.
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.
Faktisk.no
03-Oct-2017 (7 years ago)
We follow the IFCN Code of Principles, as well as the journalistic ethic guidelines of the Norwegian Press Association. Our staff is not allowed to do politics or participate in activities compromising our nonpartisanship.
Ester Appelgren Assessor
03-Oct-2017 (7 years ago)
Yes, the reports both support and question the current administration and also the past. Faktisk.no explains that staff are using open journalistic methods, and that they work according to the Norwegian journalistic ethical standards. Links are provided these documents, and also thereby implicitly stating that they are not involved in political parties or advocacy organizations, as such topics are adressed in the Norwegian ethical standars for the press.
Given recent events involving the Swedish branch of IBM and the Swedish government IT scandal, a board member belonging to IBM, as is the case of Faktisk.no is a bit odd to me. But IBM Norway is of course another branch of IBM and perhaps the IBM member in this context stands for innovation perspectives and knows a lot about the technological side of the Norwegian media industry. Nevertheless, with the events in Sweden, the brand IBM is perhaps not the first company that comes to mind as an excellent partner to investigative journalism inititives with their demands on keeping sources safe. This does not affect the approval of Faktisk, it was just something I noted as ironic while going through the About us section of the website
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.
Faktisk.no
03-Oct-2017 (7 years ago)
All our fact checks has its own section where we in detail explain every stage and use of sources in the particular fact check. In this way, they can review our methods, work and line of thinking. We are open about our sources and documentation, and share this openly by uploads, links and citations.
Ester Appelgren Assessor
03-Oct-2017 (7 years ago)
The published reports are impressively rich in terms of relevant links to sources, claims, statistics and in particular relevant quotes to emphasize if a claim is false or not.
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.
Faktisk.no
03-Oct-2017 (7 years ago)
Ester Appelgren Assessor
03-Oct-2017 (7 years ago)
Faktisk.no partly explains sources of income. The initiative is a non-profit “Limited company” where share holders will not get dividend.
They do state that the owners (four media companies) have contributed with 2 million NOK each in 2017, and that they will pay 1 million each the coming year. Furthermore they state that they hope to raise 4 million NOK from external funding. Logotypes of five companies that have contributed with external funding are visible on the website. They have contributed with financial or technologial support, however, it is unclear how much these companies actually have paid. Furthermore, I did not find any details about the spending.
done 4a marked as Partially 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.
Faktisk.no
03-Oct-2017 (7 years ago)
Ester Appelgren Assessor
03-Oct-2017 (7 years ago)
It is easy to find contact information to Staff members and their bios are accesible to read.
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.
Faktisk.no
03-Oct-2017 (7 years ago)
Ester Appelgren Assessor
03-Oct-2017 (7 years ago)
It is easy to find contact information to Staff members and their bios are accesible to read.
done_all 4c marked as Fully 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.
Faktisk.no
03-Oct-2017 (7 years ago)
Ester Appelgren Assessor
03-Oct-2017 (7 years ago)
The methodology is clearly explained on a separate webpage on the site.
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.
Faktisk.no
03-Oct-2017 (7 years ago)
kontakt@faktisk.no
Ester Appelgren Assessor
03-Oct-2017 (7 years ago)
It is clear how to contact staff members, but the initiative is not encouraging readers to send in claims that they would like to have fact-checked. I belive that this is not the intention of the site. Perhaps it sometimes do occur, but it seems to me that claims selected for reports are selected with journalistic criteria in mind, by the journalists working at Faktisk. I have selected Partial here for this reason, and I do not think this aspects needs to be altered, if altered the initiative would have a different aim than it seems to have today.
done 5b marked as Partially 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.
Faktisk.no
03-Oct-2017 (7 years ago)
Ester Appelgren Assessor
03-Oct-2017 (7 years ago)
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.
Faktisk.no
03-Oct-2017 (7 years ago)
As you see, our fact checks has its own correction log at the end. We have a public and open correction policy. This is the only correction this far.
Ester Appelgren Assessor
03-Oct-2017 (7 years ago)
All stories come with a set of sub headlines such as claim, conclusion, context, overview, etc. if there is a correction to a story, I only found two stories with corrections, this is clearly stated at the end of the story under the sub headline “Rettelser” which means corrections.