Faktograf is legally registered as an electronic media with the Croatian Agency for Electronic Media (AEM registry added as attachment). Faktograf was created as a joint project of Croatian Journalists' Association (HND) http://hnd.hr/eng/ and civil society organization GONG http://gong.hr/en/, with the main purpose of fact-checking. HND was formerly registered as Faktograf's publisher, but this was later changed to GONG due to the need for simpler coordination regarding project grants which are Faktograf's main source of funding.

The applicant is a legally registered media that publish exclusively fact-checking content. This is checked both from an evidence the applicant provided and again by looking in an online registry on the day of assessment.

Fact-checks of statements made by politicians are gathered here:

https://faktograf.hr/izjave/

Articles debunking popular untruths are gathered here:

https://faktograf.hr/analize/

The applicant has published 30 reports in the past three months, that is 2,3 fact-checks per week. In random samples I checked, claims were evaluated based on their accuracy.

Ten fact-checks proving the consistency of our fact-checking:

https://faktograf.hr/2018/09/04/tko-laze-policija-ili-izbjeglice-s-masnicama-na-ledima/

https://faktograf.hr/2018/08/13/mrezama-se-siri-lazna-izjava-ministra-turizma-o-smecu-na-plazama-koje-bi-rijesile-koncesije/

https://faktograf.hr/2018/08/01/desnica-obozava-lagati-o-svedskoj-a-jutarnji-joj-pomaze-u-proboju-u-mainstream/

https://faktograf.hr/2018/07/20/dalic-ne-poklanja-novac-djeci-modric-nije-ugrizao-kolindu-za-dojku/

https://faktograf.hr/2018/06/25/mala-laz-za-nase-medije-velika-navlakusa-za-klikove-ne-armstrong-nije-vidio-izvanzemaljce/

https://faktograf.hr/2018/09/12/grabar-kitarovic-o-jogurtu-kruhu-zabrani-izjasnjavanja-hrvat-ic-om-i-migrantima/

https://faktograf.hr/2018/08/10/bozo-petrov-lovro-kuscevic-elektronicko-glasovanje/

https://faktograf.hr/2018/08/03/plenkovic-ovom-poreznom-reformom-pokazujemo-socijalnu-osjetljivost/

https://faktograf.hr/2018/07/09/pernar-merkel-zataskava-ubojstvo-djeteta/

https://faktograf.hr/2018/07/13/divjak-ucitelji-su-slusali-samo-jedan-semestar-matematike/

We fact-check statements of top officials, members of government, members of parliament and other elected officials and deputies, including local authorities. We fact-check claims made by the members of ruling parties as well as by the opposition. We are focused on statements of great public interest or on statements that are in the public eye at the moment. We also debunk common untruths or misconceptions which achieve prominence on social media.

We maintain coherent standards across fact-checks, regardless whether it's a claim of the ruling politician or opposition. However, our researches are more focused on the government members and members of influential groups because their decisions have greater impact on everyday lives of the citizens.

In every fact-check we have the same procedure – we give link on the public statement and then we try to determine the truth by comparing what is said with documents, registers, statistics, court decisions, articles previously published on this topic or the opinion of eminent experts.

We have five grades – from “Ni f od Fakta“ that stands for statements that are completely untrue to “Fakt“, meaning that the statement is completely based on facts. Grades are explained on our website http://faktograf.hr/sto-su-ocjene/ Grade for every statement is placed in the corner of the picture added to the article. During the last year we've started to work more intently on debunking false information, as they started to appear more often within Croatian social media, but mainstream news media as well. We don't award grades to topics we debunk.

The applicant covers a variety of subjects and speakers. In applicant's fact-checks various topics can be found - from statements on inner politics to non-political issues such as random fake news spread through social networks. Statements covered by fact-checks were both made by the ruling political party and opposition, with natural moderate predominance of the ruling party.

Statute of Croatian Journalists Association (http://hnd.hr/dokumenti) states that HND is an independent non-profit organization, free of influences from political parties or the government.

Statute of GONG (http://gong.hr/media/uploads/statut_gong_17.12.2015._final.pdf) states that GONG is non-partisan and independent organization, founded in 1997 to encourage citizens to actively participate in political processes. Its goal is promoting and elevating human and civil rights, as well as encouraging and empowering citizens to participate in political processes.

Being joint project of HND and GONG, Faktograf is obliged to respect the same principles. We are not involved in political parties or in supporting political candidates.

The applicant sent proofs that its founding organizations are committed to be independent and non-partisan. It has also stated in the application that it is "obliged to respect the same principles" as their founding organizations. "We are not involved in political parties or in supporting political candidates", the applicant adds.

On applicant's website such policy is not published, but the applicant has fulfilled requested in its application - as explained above.

We choose statements on the basis of relevance or interest for particular topic in public. We start with providing link to the statement and then, as can be seen from the examples provided above, give links on every document, registry or other source that we use in checking the truthfulness of the statement. Readers can use those links to establish the correctness of our conclusions. If we cannot provide a hyperlink to the source, we name the source and quote it in detail.

Sources that are relevant for our fact-checks are: official documents like statements from the institutions, laws, statistics; domestic and international relevant organizations' reports; relevant media. More on our methodology on a following links: http://faktograf.hr/metodologija/

and

http://faktograf.hr/sto-su-ocjene/

In its fact-checks, the applicant links sources of claims and evidence used in fact-checking.

On the applicant's methodology page it is stated that the applicant checks statements of politicians. However, part of their work - as explained so far in this assessment - is also debunking fake news not related to politics. Although the applicant states their work correctly, for full scope of what the applicant fact-checks, it can be advised to add additional information on the website.

https://faktograf.hr/metodologija/

The applicant has named overall sources of funding (not the amount of incomes but there are names of funding sources). There is also somewhat detailed overview of spending from 2015 to 2018, with plan of spending for 2018.

On the same page the applicant's registration form is clearly noted.

https://faktograf.hr/metodologija/

Based on randomly checked fact-checks on the applicant's website, all authors and key actors behind the fact-checking project are clearly listed on the site and their biographies are indicated.

http://faktograf.hr/kontakt/

Also, information about Faktograf's email, Twitter and Facebook contacts are published at the end of each article published on Faktograf's pages. 

By publishing information on its website, under easily found page "contact us", the applicant has indicated an email address and phone number it can be contacted through.

Beside that, information on email, Twitter and Facebook accounts are added under each published fact-check.

https://faktograf.hr/metodologija/

The applicant explains its fact-checking methodology publicly and clearly in an accessible place.

N.B. On the applicant's methodology page it is stated that the applicant checks statements of politicians. However, part of their work - as explained so far in this assessment - is also debunking fake news not related to politics. Although the applicant states their work correctly, for full scope of what the applicant fact-checks, it can be advised to add additional information on the website.

At the end of each article, the following is posted (with links to our social media accounts), inviting readers to contact us:

"Imate prijedloge, pohvale ili kritike? Uočili ste neku izjavu za koju vjerujete da bi je Faktograf trebao obraditi? Želite nas upozoriti na neodgovorno ponašanje političara? Pišite nam na info@faktograf.hr ili nas kontaktirajte putem Twittera ili Facebooka".

General contact details for Faktograf can be found here:

https://faktograf.hr/kontakt/

Editor-in-chief's contact e-mail can be found here:

https://faktograf.hr/impressum/

Faktograf also cooperates with the regional news network N1, allowing their readers to suggest claims to fact-check via their own webpage: http://hr.n1info.com/

Same as for complaints and comments, for sending claims the applicant has indicated an email address and phone number on the website page "contact us", and also information on email, Twitter and Facebook accounts are added under each published fact-check.

On another page, the applicant made it clear that those statements that contain claims related to objective facts, and the accuracy of which can be determined by objective verification - are the one being evaluated.

https://faktograf.hr/impressum/

On its website, on page https://faktograf.hr/impressum, the applicant has explained that its correction policy is in accordance with law on media, and pointed to the email through which the correction can be requested. The applicant linked the law on media there, without going in depth about the way the request will be handled, which should be explained in the law.

- Marijana Petir, member of the European Parliament, reacted to a fact-check published on Faktograf and penned by a leading legal expert on the topic that was discussed, as well as a former president of Croatia Ivo Josipović. Her request for correction was published in it's full form and later even sparked additional debate between the two:

http://faktograf.hr/2018/03/12/petir-istanbulska-konvencija-rimski-statut-ivo-josipovic/

https://faktograf.hr/2018/03/13/petir-odgovara-josipovicu-istanbulska-konvencija-ne-donosi-nista-osim-nejasne-definicije-roda/

https://faktograf.hr/2018/03/15/ivo-josipovic-odgovor-marijana-petir-istanbulska-konvencija-rimski-statut/

- Faktograf's standard approach to correcting mistakes within its own texts is to correct the mistake and add an explanation at the bottom of the text (in italic), in accordance with the established practice followed by most online media. Examples of such practice can be seen here:

https://faktograf.hr/2018/01/17/udzbenik-snaga-rijeci-ministarstvo-obrazovanja/

https://faktograf.hr/2018/03/17/grabar-kitarovic-argentina-lobiranje-gospodarstvo/

The applicant provided one reaction from March 2018. In this case, the applicant reacted professionally and published answers in its original form. However, from the content of answers/complaints the applicant received in this example, it is not clear that the applicant did anything wrong. Two politicians are arguing about an issue, having obviously different opinions and arguments. However, the applicant responded to their complaints in a timely manner by publishing what they demanded. All corrections are linked within these stories.