Istinomer was established by the non profit organization Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability, CRTA. It is registered in the Serbian Registry of Public Media [Registar javnih glasila]. All these information are clearly stated in the "About" section on the Istinomer website: 

https://www.istinomer.rs/o-istinomeru/

See the link: http://pretraga.apr.gov.rs/javnaglasila/PublicMediaBasicData.aspx?beid=3715&rnd=8FD269C0FB71CA88365D1D3A23DC6BE5DC2F516A and document confirming registration.

This registry does not keep record of the purpose of certain media, including Istinomer. However, Istinomer is officially and publicly defined as a fact-checking portal, dedicated to fact-checking and rating politicians' and public officials' claims, which is Istinomer's core business. Istinomer is also publishing fact-based analysis on Serbian politics and finance as well as interviews and video features, timelines and other forms of journalistic pieces.

Istinomer is registered in Serbian Media Registry and is widely recognized as CRTA's fact-checking outlet. 

Online media Istinomer (Eng. Truth-o-Meter) was launched in 2009 by its founding organization CRTA as the first fact-checking platform in the region. It was established to provide the audience with an effective fact-checking mechanism for the assessment of politicians’ and public officials’ accountability based on what they are saying and promising to their constituents and how do they actually perform. Istinomer established comprehensive, precise and transparent methodology used to evaluate politicians’ and public officials’ claims in three categories: truthfulness, consistency and fulfillment of promises. It uses uniform standards and methodology for each fact-check, relying on verifiable facts only, in order to ensure the highest level of objectivity and fairness.

For the last ten years since Istinomer is established, it applied the highest professional standards and strict methodology in fact-checking in order to ensure impartialness and objectivity and to preserve credibility. Istinomer strives to rate as many different politicians and public officials and we evaluated 73 different claims in 2019.

Istinomer disclosed many facts on accountability in the work of public officials and institutions through providing the public in Serbia with access to credible information on key political developments and issues of public importance. Istinomer also tries to provide a simple explanation for its conclusions and tend to be open to readers in cases when it is impossible to give a rating, mostly due to the lack of official data.

Besides fact-checking, Istinomer became recognized for its in-depth analyses of major developments and issues of public importance, as well as for video fact-checks, interviews and innovative visual presentations of its findings in the online and digital sphere.

Istinomer team includes 8 journalists, a project coordinator and media analyst and their biographies are published within Impressum on Istinomer website (see the link https://www.istinomer.rs/redakcija/)

This year, Istinomer's goal is to reach a broader audience and to encourage media outlets on national, local and regional level to use Istinomer’s fact-checking content as a source of information in its reporting.

Istinomer completely fulfils IFCN's criteria. In their about section readers could easily find more about Istinomer, information such as when and why it was established, but also who are the people behind the outlet. In 2020 they've set a feasible goal - to reach a broader public and cooperate with other media, a very much needed cooperation in today's world. 

Istinomer is making effort to fact-check the claims that are referring to the facts in the public interest. Therefore, focus is on public officials, since they have the opportunity to exercise power and to use public funds, so they should be accountable to the public. Besides public officials, Istinomer team also rates different opposition politicians’ statements and collects their promises, particularly during the election campaign. Political affiliations of the people Istinomer evaluates play no role in its fact checks, but verifiable facts only. During last three months, Istinomer has been reporting and fact/checking the statements on the unemployment rate, GDP growth, average salary rates, capital investments, threats to media freedoms, issues and challenges facing underrepresented groups, and other key issues of public importance.

In the last three months, Istinomer has regularly published fact-checks, sometimes even a couple of fact-checks per week. The relevant topics they've chosen range from economy, health, media, political system etc. 

In the last three months, Istinomer has published relevant fact-checks on various topics. The topics vary from week to week and reflect the current events in the country.

Istinomer is initiative of the nongovernmental organization Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability, CRTA, which can be seen in registration document attached bellow. Since it was established, Istinomer received funds from projects CRTA was awarded by international donors and non profit organizations interested in strengthening democracy and accountability in Serbia. In order to preserve its credibility and non-partisanship and ensure unbiased reporting CRTA does not apply for any public funds in Serbia, i.e. funds from state or local budgets.

In the "About" section (https://www.istinomer.rs/o-istinomeru), Istinomer published the list of donors for the last two years and the amount of money it was granted by each donor. In 2018, Istinomer's work was supported by the projects from the German foreign ministry (48.666 euro), Czech foreign ministry (27.550 euro), Irex ( 24. 260 USD) and Internews (19 746 USD). In 2019, Istinomer work was supported with grants from Czech foreign ministry ( 34 420 EUR) and Internews (9. 955 USD). Also, part of Istinomer’s funding was provided by the institutional grant that Rockefeller Brothers Fund granted to CRTA (9.000 USD). Funds were used for operational costs of Istinomer, video production, organization of training for journalists, conferences, panel discussions and other events.

Within "About" page the link to the CRTA's site is also provided, where all the financial audit reports of CRTA can be found - http://crta.rs/sr/ko-smo-mi/ (page bottom)

Having in mind that most of independent media outlets in Serbia, which receive funds for different projects from international donors, are regularly being labeled as traitors and mercenaries in the tabloid press and by the public officials, Istinomer's policy is to not publish the name of the donor bellow every text. This serves only to avoid any doubts in Istinomer's objectivity, as it develops the editorial policy independently, and chose the projects that want to apply for and make a pitch with its own ideas. No donor has ever requested or even suggested what articles or fact checks Istinomer should publish. On the other hand, Istinomer is transparent about the sources of funding and all the financial reports of CRTA are public, as already explained.

Istinomer has provided relevant and credible information about their donors. The same information is available to the public as well in the "about section" on their website. The section reveals how much money they've received in the last two years together with the donor's name. Financial reports are also available, with more details.

https://www.istinomer.rs/o-istinomeru/

With their team being publicly exposed and their strict rules on fact-checking process and choice of topics, it seems like Istinomer has taken all precautionary measures to ensure objectivity and independence of their work no matter who their donors are. 

For the last ten years since Istinomer is established, it applied the highest professional standards and strict methodology in fact-checking in order to ensure impartialness and objectivity and to preserve credibility. Istinomer strives to rate as many different politicians and public officials and it evaluated 73 different claims in 2019. However, Istinomer team is also aware that more then others fact checks the claims of the current President Aleksandar Vucic, who was Prime Minister twice before his presidency. This is due to the fact that he is the most powerful person in the country and that he delivers public speeches on regular basis, presenting numerous facts that need to be examined for the sake of public interest.

Istinomer team of fact-checkers tends to use video materials to have original citations whenever possible in order to avoid misquoting and misinterpretation. When this is not possible, verbatim quotations published in different media outlets are being used. Journalists of Istinomer always contact people they rate in order to request further information about the given statement, whether it be comment or data. This way they also have the opportunity to react in case their statement was misquoted or taken out of context. 

Journalists also contact responsible institutions in a search for data and use publicly available information and databases (both local and international), as well as FOI requests to obtain certain documents, contracts, etc.

Istinomer is open and honest about the sources in our articles - it names the source for every fact, every number and note when it was obtained (if this is relevant, as some figures may change over time). 

Istinomer team analyzes reports of domestic and international institutions and think thanks, search credible databases and consult experts in different fields, university professors, NGOs. No conclusion in the fact checks could be made based on unnamed sources, as Istinomer use on-the-record sources and official documents.

Selection of the clams for the fact checks is made at the editorial meetings. Istinomer team usually chooses recent claims, important statements where there is a strong public interest and never fact check claims only to prove someone was wrong. Istinomer examines something if journalists believe there is a demand for verified facts on a certain topic.

Istinomer also has internal procedures regarding methodology that explain steps in creation of Istinomer's fact checks. These internal procedures oblige Istinomer journalists: to contact the actor for comment and/or data, to always refer to official information/research/statistical data (when possible), to contact the expert (individual or organization) for more information about the researched topic, to follow the copyright rules (especially for photos) etc.

Below you may find examples of 10 fact checks published in 2019:

https://www.istinomer.rs/izjava/plate-medicinskih-sestara-od-50-000-do-54-000-dinara/

https://www.istinomer.rs/izjava/za-vreme-djilasa-studio-b-nijednom-nije-pozvao-nikoga-iz-sns-a/

https://www.istinomer.rs/izjava/najmanje-35-istih-imena-na-spisku-podrske-protestima/

https://www.istinomer.rs/izjava/niko-nije-promenio-vise-stranaka-od-marinike-tepic/

https://www.istinomer.rs/izjava/ove-godine-samo-dva-mafijaska-ubistva-u-beogradu/

https://www.istinomer.rs/izjava/moj-otac-nema-nikakve-veze-sa-firmom-gim/

https://www.istinomer.rs/izjava/gradjani-izglasali-da-se-stari-savski-most-premesti-na-usce/

https://www.istinomer.rs/izjava/imamo-ubedljivo-najjeftiniju-struju-u-evropi/

https://www.istinomer.rs/izjava/prosle-godine-u-beogradu-bilo-30-kriminalnih-ubistava-2012-i-2013-po-sest/

https://www.istinomer.rs/izjava/na-protestu-13-aprila-bilo-izmedju-7-400-i-7-500-ljudi/

In all provided articles the same criteria have been used. Unfortunately, most of the articles refer to the claims made by current public officials. It shows another problem in Serban media scene where opposition leaders do not get enough space in media. That being said it's no wonder ruling party officials occupy the attention of fact-checkers more. 

https://www.istinomer.rs/o-istinomeru/

Istinomer's criteria and methodology are published on their website and easily accessible to their readers. 

Based on the review of Istinomer fact-checks I may say that they reflect the methodology published on their website. 

All the sources and information, quotes etc. have been cited in all the articles. The proofs vary from fact-check to fact-check, but there is always more than one source provided. 

https://www.istinomer.rs/o-istinomeru/

Istinomer is a member of the Press council, an independent, self-regulatory body that brings together publishers, owners of print and online media, news agencies and media professionals. As a member organization Istinomer is obliged to respect and to actively promote the Serbian Journalists' Code of Ethics. This code sets high standards for professional reporting, giving concrete guidelines necessary to ensure objectivity and fairness. One of the most important sections of the Code, section III, refers to the prevention of corruption and conflict of interest, including prevention from direct involvement of journalists in political parties and advocacy organizations:

“Work in PR and marketing agencies, lobbying agencies, public bodies and institutions, and political parties, is incompatible with the profession.

Guidelines:

• Participation in a political, electoral or a media campaign (political parties / companies, and other) cannot be performed simultaneously with journalistic / editorial work. The political activity of the family members of journalists / editors could also cause real or apparent conflict of interest.”

There is a strict rule for Istinomer team members when it comes to their non-partisanship policies. The rules are available to Istinomer's readers in their about section. Besides that, Istinomer is a member of the Press council.

Istinomer provides links and proofs used in their fact-checks so their readers can easily fact-check the claims by themselves too. They also publish parts of the documents used. 

Their sources vary and are always cited properly.  Their credibility and relevance are usually explained in an understandable way. 

The claims and sources are cross-checked through the use of documents, other sources claimed, experts comments and publicly available information. 

The sources are named, and it's obvious what side they represent. 

Istinomer is fact-checking initiative of the non governmental organization Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability, CRTA, which can be seen in registration document attached bellow.

Istinomer is an independent media outlet founded by NGO. 

https://www.istinomer.rs/o-istinomeru/

In their about section, they explain their relationship with CRTA, the founder, and details on their funding. Together with information on their donors and money, they've linked CRTA's financial records with more detailed information. 

https://www.istinomer.rs/o-istinomeru/

Their team members are named, so it's easily accessible to their readers. Their methodology of picking and working on certain topics is explained within their about page. 

https://www.istinomer.rs/redakcija/

Biographies of their team members are published in the Impressum. 

https://www.istinomer.rs/o-istinomeru/

The rules on leaving comments and sending proposals for fact-checks are visible to all users. 

There are three main criteria Istinomer team is using for selecting statements for fact-checking and evaluation: that the statement contains verifiable fact, that it has been published in a number of different media and that is of public interest.

Istinomer readers may find the general explanation on how Istinomer works and more details on our methodology and rating system in the 'About' section. Istinomer has three categories of ratings - truthfulness (scale from true to false), consistency (scale from consistent to inconsistent) and promises (scale from promise kept to not even started). All the ratings are followed by short and simple explanation, which enable readers to understand core methodology. 

https://www.istinomer.rs/o-istinomeru/

The criteria and methodology are explained in details in Istinomer about section.

The fact-checks I've reviewed fully reflect the criteria they claim to use. However, it's not explained within the fact-check what is the reason for checking the specific claim.

Istinomer is using various sources while explaining them to their readers. The sources vary from those supporting the claim and those undermining them. 

The same merits were applied, however, it's visible that claims made by ruling party members present the majority of fact-checked claims. 

By randomly choosing fact-checks to review, and not many corrections being made after publishing, it seems that the claims were chosen objectively and were quoted properly. However, I think that in accordance with the new rules IFCN has imposed,  it should become a practice to ask for additional comments people who originally made the claim.

"Proveri me!" (Fact-check Me!) extension for web browsers enables readers of the most popular and most influential Serbian news portals to easily and with just one click communicate with Istinomer journalists and to suggest specific politicians’ and public officials’ statements or potentially false information from news and media articles for the Istinomer fact-checking. (https://www.istinomer.rs/o-fektcekingu/proveri-me/)

Also, as a result of established cooperation with the Danas daily (danas.rs) and cable network, TV N1 (rs.n1info.com) Istinomer team succeed to post the "Istinomer button" on these websites and provide their readers with easy to use fact-checking function. Every page on Danas and N1 websites has a field readers can use to propose the topics and statements to Istinomer team. Although, this is a handy solution for readers, in many cases they still fail to send proper statements for fact-checking, that fit our criteria and methodology. They either don't send quotes or send quotes where people are expressing their point of view, which we do not fact check. Therefore, most demands that are in accordance with our methodology that we receive from our readers come through email or social media channels - Facebook and Twitter.

Istinomer promotes the option of submitting a fact-check proposals on their website, and through their partnership with N1 and Danas. 

https://www.istinomer.rs/o-istinomeru/

The correction policy has been easily accessible to all the readers. 

Their correction policy is clear and when it comes to any amends in the articles they should be visible to the public. 

Istinomer has publicly admitted we may make mistake in our work, but would never miss the opportunity to correct inaccurate or imprecise article after the mistake was done. Istinomer team is also committed to respecting Serbian Journalists' Code of Ethics in order to maintain the highest professional standards, including those on correction policy. (see the link http://www.istinomer.rs/o-istinomeru) Istinomer is obliged to respect the Law on Public Information and Media, which envisaged procedures for corrections in detail, which it fully respects.

Istinomer is transparent about all the changes after the text was published and therefore it always adds a note at the end of the text explaining what was amended - whether it was false information or additional data was inserted for some reason.

For example, in the evaluation of the claim gave by the finance minister Sinisa Mali, Istinomer team added a detailed explanation of changes that were done within the article. Link to the fact-check - https://www.istinomer.rs/izjava/trecu-godinu-zaredom-imamo-suficit-javni-dug-je-506-odsto/

The amends are visible to the public, they include a date and the reason for changes, together with a detailed explanation of how the mistake was made and how it was corrected. 

https://www.istinomer.rs/o-istinomeru/

Within Istinomer's about section, readers are informed that the outlet is an IFCN signatory and how they can complain in case they think the outlet is a violating the IFCN code.

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