Raskrinkavanje.me is a fact-checking project developed by Center for Democratic Transition (CDT). Raskrinkavanje is a distinct team within the organization, with its own organizational and editorial structure, focused solely on fact-checking. More on this link: https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/o-raskrinkavanju-me.

CDT is a legal entity registered in the register of NGOs in Montenegro. More information about the CDT is available at https://en.cdtmn.org/our-organization/.

The scanned copy of the Decision on the Registration is in the attachment. 

Raskrinkavanje is a distinct unit within a legally registered organization. Details of this are easily found on its website.

1. When and why was your fact-checking operation started?

Fact-checking work on our platform started in September 2018, with the goal to fight against disinformation in Montenegro and the Balkan region.

2. How many people work or volunteer in the organization and what are their roles?

We have eight people who work on our fact-checking project. Four of them are investigative journalists, one editor in chief, one coordinator of the fact-checking projects, and two expert analysts working on analytical documents and research.

3. What different activities does your organization carry out?

Our primary goals are counteracting media manipulations, increasing the quality of media content, media literacy of readers, and respecting professional standards on the media scene. We are fighting against misinformation and propaganda. We believe that the notion that "the media should not be trusted" is wrong and dangerous, as well as the uncritical acceptance of everything that can be heard, seen, and read in the media and that any misinformation, regardless of the source and source of the media. transmitted, detrimental to democracy and society as a whole. Therefore, we analyze media content and publications on social networks in the field of international and regional politics, human rights and democracy, which are suspected to contain incorrect information, misinformation, false news, or other forms of manipulation.

4. What are the goals of your fact-checking operation over the coming year?

We will continue to thoroughly check suspicious information and its sources through compliance with the methodology we have developed and which provides us with a basis for assessing media content of questionable credibility. In addition to the evaluations of individual media publications, we periodically prepare summary analyses of the situation regarding media manipulations in the areas of international and regional policies, human rights and democracy, which are suspected of containing inaccurate information, misinformation, false news or other forms of manipulation. Our focus in the previous period was on the fake news regarding the pandemic of coronavirus, and it will stay one of the main topics as long as it is the topic of conspiracy theories and fake news. 

The unit was set up exclusively for the purpose of fact-checking.

In the period of the last six months Raskrinkavanje.me published 175 articles debunking disinformation – whether in media outlets or in social media accounts (minimum 5 debunked articles per week) all our analyses can be found here: https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/raskrinkano/ 

Six months prior to the date of application (June-November) the applicant has published an average of one fact check a day.

All our fact checks can be found here: https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/raskrinkano/  . We cover all topics that are related to international and regional policies, human rights and democracy, which are suspected of containing inaccurate information, misinformation, false news or other forms of manipulation that are, or can be a matter of public interest. Due to the importance of the topic, most of the fact check in the previous three months were related to some form of fake news about the coronavirus pandemic. 

At least 83% of the applicant’s fact checks focus on claims related to issues that relate to or could have an impact on the welfare or well-being of individuals, the general public or society.

Almost half of all fact checks in the analysed 6 months work were about coronavirus, and 8% of all fact checks were directly connected to the elections.

There is no financial relationship that our organization has with any politician or political party. We are maintaining good communication with politicians or political parties for the sake of good analyses with the answers we are getting from them for our stories. CDT, founder of Raskrinkavanje, being an election monitoring organization and member of GNDEM, also maintains strict non-partisanship. https://gndem.org/declaration-of-global-principles/

In the previous year CDT was funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) in the amount of $24,000 for the project Fostering improved media standards; Balkan Trust for Democracy (BTD) in the amount of $23,080 for the project Combating the coronavirus infodemic in Montenegro and International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) for the project Combating COVID19 infodemic in Montenegro in the amount of $39,840

Donors have no influence on our work. 

Based on the 6 months (June-November) analysis of the applicant's work, the applicant's editorial output is not controlled by the state, a political party or politician.

Our organization is completely neutral and our funders have no contribution to our editorial content or decision making. Our safeguards at every level of our organization ensure our neutrality. We have very strong restrictions on staff political activity, fundraising safeguards, conflict of interest policy, feedback processes, external reviews, and more. Ultimately, it is for our audience to judge for themselves whether we succeed—we would encourage readers to judge our individual fact checks and our body of work as a whole. We always provide links to all sources in our debunk articles so that everyone can, at any time, check for themselves the credibility of our words.

All information about funding you can see on our website on this link: https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/finansiranje/

The applicant has a statement on its site ensuring readers its funders do not influence its reports and editorial policy.

Raskrinkavanje covers a wide range of topics, international and regional politics, human rights and democracy, as well as publications of special public importance. In the previous year majority of our work and focus was on the infodemic (coronavirus pandemic influenced fake news).

In our selection of articles for analysis, we do not target any media, we target news. News from media outlets, TV stations, or social networks such as Facebook profiles. We are looking into suspicious news that has big outreach, that is viral on social media. Only after the fact-checking is done, we look for all media that published the false information. Covering these topics in our analysis we use rankings from clickbait to Fake news to mark selected posts/articles.

Raskrinkavanje has the same, non-partisan approach to all issues covered in our analysis. In the previous year, we covered topics that involved, or had as a topic, various politicians from different parties. The approach in all the analysis is always the same, sources are visible in all of them, and given to readers to access.

We do not discriminate against the media in relation to editorial policy, and treat disinformation equally, whether it is published in pro-Western or anti-Western, pro-government or pro-opposition media. As we do not monitor any individual media, but the entirety of (dis)information space, you will notice that most of our articles actually refer to more than one outlet. Examples:

https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/analiza/crkvena-zvona-ne-uticu-na-koronavirus (In4s, news-portal, anti-Western, pro-opposition)

https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/analiza/vanredne-okolnosti-zahtijevaju-vanrednu-paznju (Vijesti, Daily, pro-Western, pro-opposition)

https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/analiza/nije-pravo-naoruzanje-fotografija-stara-vise-od-godinu (Antena M, news portal, pro-Government)

https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/analiza/teorije-zavjere-sa-javnog-servisa (RTCG, the public broadcaster, pro-Government)

https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/analiza/iskrivljena-interpretacija-podataka-u-strategiji-ne-pise-da-se-abortusi-vrse-zbog-odabira-pola (Dan, Daily, pro-opposition)

Dealing with internal political issues is not among our priorities. Still, when we deal with misinformation targeting political figures or parties, we treat public officials, representatives of ruling and opposition parties in the same way. Examples:

https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/analiza/u-pozdravu-nakon-emisije-nema-niceg-zakulisnog-i-senzacionalnog (target: Predrag Bošković, then Minister of Defense and Nevenka Ćirović, a politician from Democrats Party)

https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/analiza/poslanik-nebojsa-medojevic-ne-gradi-zgradu-u-tivtu (target: Nebojsa Medojevic, a politician from Democratic Front)

https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/analiza/selektivno-prenosenje-stavova-filipa-adzica (target: Filip Adzic, a politician from URA)

https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/analiza/neprihvatljivo-je-svako-spekulisanje-o-zdravlju-gradana (target: Zdravko Krivokapic, Prime minister-designate)

https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/analiza/lazne-objave-o-dukanovicevom-zdravstvenom-stanju (target: Milo Đukanović, President of Montenegro).

All our analysis are on this link: https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/raskrinkano/ 

Attached you can find an excel sheet with all of them and the topics they cover. 

Based on the 6 months analysis and sample of previous work (including examples given by the applicant), it is certain the applicant fact-checks using the same high standards of evidence and judgement for equivalent claims regardless of who made the claim.

The platform monitors texts published in online media, social networks as well as print media, and major news television shows in Montenegro. Our team of journalists and researchers read and analyze media and content on social networks on a daily basis, with a special focus on viral publications whose accuracy is questionable. We follow the announcements and texts, through which we reach the media, whose list is updated daily on our site. Suspicious news is also reported to us by citizens - they have the opportunity to do so on our website as well as through our communication channels (Facebook and Twitter profile of Raskrinkavanje).

We tend to from time to time, conduct campaigns inviting citizens to report to us any news they find suspicious – in these terms we made a TV campaign in spring when infodemic started to spread worldwide. One example is on this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGDWHkXwM4w

As of August 2020, Raskrinkavanje is Facebook’s partner for Montenegro, as part of their Third-Party Fact-Checking program. Facebook users are now enabled to report content that they suspect is fake directly through that network - tagged content enters the system to which Raskrinkavanje has direct access. Through this, we also receive many anonymized reports from users, which supports greatly our mission to debunk false information that affects citizens.

More about our methodology read here: https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/metodologija 

The applicant does not unduly concentrate its fact-checking on any one side, considers the reach and importance of claims it selects to check and publishes a short statement on its website to set out how it selects claims to check.

It gives priority to public interest topics.

It is also evident the applicant's fact-checking focus is not on the internal political issues.

Based on the assessed, the applicant did not have a need to disclose in its fact checks relevant interests of the sources it quotes nor to disclose any commercial or other such relationships it has.

The applicant is not as an organization affiliated with nor declares or shows support for any party, any politician or political candidate, nor does it advocate for or against any policy positions on any issues save for transparency and accuracy in public debate.

We maintain a strong non-partisanship policy, including restrictions on staff political activity, and carefully recruiting staff sensitive to these issues. Our non-partisanship policy, including its application on staffing, can be found on these links: https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/o-nama/ and https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/Impressum 

The applicant sets out its policy on non-partisanship for staff on its site. Based on the assessed fact checks, the applicant’s staff do not get involved in advocacy or publicise their views on policy issues the organization might fact check in such a way as might lead a reasonable member of the public to see the organization’s work as biased.

The applicant identifies the source of all significant evidence used in their fact checks, providing relevant links in such a way that users can replicate their work if they wish. Sometimes in the fact checks the applicant uses print screens instead of links.

The applicant uses the best available primary, not secondary, sources of evidence wherever suitable primary sources are available.

Based on the assessed fact checks, the applicant does seem to check all key elements of claims against more than one named source of evidence save where the one source is the only source relevant on the topic.

Based on the assessed, the applicant did not have a need to disclose in its fact checks relevant interests of the sources it quotes.

Raskrinkavanje.me is a fact-checking project developed by the Center for Democratic Transition (CDT). CDT is a legal entity registered in the register of NGOs in Montenegro. More on this link: https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/o-nama/

The scanned copy of the Decision on the Registration is in the attachment. 

Raskrinkavanje.me is a fact-checking project developed by the Center for Democratic Transition (CDT). CDT is a legal entity registered in the register of NGOs in Montenegro. More on this link: https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/o-raskrinkavanju-me

The scanned copy of the Decision on the Registration is in the attachment. 

 Information on funding through the Facebook program is posted on our website under the section ''Financing''. https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/finansiranje/ 

The applicant is a fact-checking project developed by the parent organization (NGO).

The applicant has on its site details of each source of funding (over 5,000 USD) for 2020.

However it also states that in the each year's end it will publish information on funding through the Facebook program, and it has not done it yet.

The applicant is a fact-checking project developed by the parent organization (NGO).

The applicant has on its site details of each source of funding (over 5,000 USD) for 2020.

CDT, as the founder of Raskrinkavanje, respects all standards of transparency of the work of non-governmental organizations, publishes detailed program and financial annual reports. In addition to publishing annual work reports, we also publish all current projects, amounts of funds, and donors in order to achieve full standards of transparency of NGO work. Year after year, Transparify rates our transparency with five stars, which means that we are among the most transparent research centers in the world. More information on the link: https://www.cdtmn.org/nasa-transparentnost/

Findings for Raskrinkavanje are available for viewing here: https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/o-nama/ 

Applicants is a fact-checking website of a parent organization, which is made clear on the applicant's site.

Information about Raskrinkavanje’s team is published in our Impressum on this link: https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/Impressum  

A page on the applicant’s website sets out the applicant’s organizational structure and makes clear by whom editorial control is exercised.

Names and biographies of our journalists, editors, and staff that work on the Raskrinkavanje project is on this link: https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/Impressum 

A page on the applicant’s website details the professional biography of all those who play a significant part in its editorial output.

Contact information with email addresses and phone numbers where any interested user can contact us is stated in our Impressum section here: https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/Impressum

Our readers can contact us and share suspicious articles via the online form on our website here:  https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/prijavite-clanak/ 

Readers also contact us often through other communication channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram).

That information is listed in our ‘Methodology’ section here: https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/metodologija.

We also occasionally organize media campaigns to engage readers and encourage them to report suspicious news to us, such as one we had in April 2020 https://www.vijesti.me/vijesti/drustvo/430405/sprijecimo-obmane-i-manipulacije.  

The applicant provides easy means on its website and via social media for users to communicate with the editorial team.

Raskrinkavanje platform aims to combat media misinformation, which we recognize in the growing trend of spreading inaccurate information presented as facts, placing false and unverified news, and various forms of violating the basic postulates of the journalistic profession that should ensure independent, objective and truthful information to the public. Our methodology is available here: https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/metodologija  

The applicant publishes on its website a very thorough statement about the methodology it uses to select, research and publish its fact checks.

Half of all the applicant's fact check during a 6 months period was about coronavirus, which is important in the matter of reach and importance of the claims. The applicant does not focus on the internal political issues and had few fact checks (8% of total) about state elections.

The applicant sets out in its fact checks relevant evidence that appears to support the claim as well as relevant evidence that appears to undermine it.

The applicant in its fact checks assesses the merits of the evidence found using the same high standards applied to evidence on equivalent claims, regardless of who made the claim.

In the assessed fact checks, there is no evidence the applicant contacted those who made the claim to seek supporting evidence, as it was already checked through other available sources.

There’s a dedicated page to invite readers to submit claims to fact-check on Rasrkinkavanje.me website. It is on this link: https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/prijavite-clanak/

Apart from the website, our readers are sending us suspicious news on our social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) or our email addresses that are also visible on the website here: https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/Impressum

In addition, all users of the social network Facebook are enabled to report content that they suspect is fake directly through that network - tagged content enters the system to which Raskrinkavanje has direct access. Facebook also has its own algorithm that suggests suspicious or problematic news.

Raskrinkavanje platform analyzes articles and publications that are in the public interest. Raskrinkavanje does not analyze private posts on social networks and posts that are not in the public interest. When selecting the publications we analyze, Raskrinkavanje gives priority to publications concerning international and regional policy, human rights, and democracy, as well as publications of special public importance. This is explained in the Methodology section of our website (2. Izbor članaka) https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/metodologija.  

There’s a dedicated page to invite readers to submit claims to fact-check on Rasrkinkavanje.me website. It is on this link: https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/prijavite-clanak/

Apart from the website, our readers are sending us suspicious news on our social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) or our email addresses that are also visible on the website here: https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/Impressum

In addition, all social network users are enabled to report content that they suspect is fake directly through that network - tagged content enters the system to which Raskrinkavanje has direct access. Facebook also has its own algorithm that suggests suspicious or problematic news.

Raskrinkavanje's platform analyzes articles and publications that are in the public interest. Raskrinkavanje does not analyze private posts on social networks and posts that are not in the public interest. When selecting the publications we analyze, Raskrinkavanje gives priority to publications concerning international and regional policy, human rights, and democracy, as well as publications of special public importance. This is explained in the Methodology section of our website (2. Izbor članaka) https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/metodologija.  

The link towards the Methodology section is added to the 'Submit the article' page, with an explanation to readers, and call to them to visit methodology page so they can be more familiar with the way we give our marks. https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/prijavite-clanak/ 

The applicant encourages users to send in claims to check via page on its site: https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/prijavite-clanak/.

To be completely transparent on this page they added link toward methodology (https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/metodologija).

Please also add a sentence as an explainer. Readers should know to consult the methodology page to find out what is legit to expect will be fact-checked.

The applicant encourages users to send in claims to check via page on its site: https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/prijavite-clanak/.

To be completely transparent on this page they added link toward methodology (https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/metodologija).

If it is determined that we have misjudged the media report and/or based the margin on misinformation, we will publicly acknowledge the mistake and correct it. The mistake is corrected by correcting the disputed part and/or grade in the original analysis, and a prominent note is added to the text of the analysis that the analysis was subsequently changed. Resolving complaints is usually done within one business day unless additional verification is required which may take longer than that. It is explained here: https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/o-nama/

Also, our ratings of Facebook posts may be challenged by the publisher, or the publisher may correct inaccurate published information, in accordance with the Facebook rules and procedures. We answer the complaints from the publisher no later than 24 hours after we got the complaint on the email address that is published on our website in part called ‘’Facebook program’’ Publisher can view how the correction for the Facebook marking can be made on this link: https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/facebook-program   

The applicant has a clear corrections policy on fact checks that is easily visible and accessible on the applicant’s website.

The policy sets out clear definitions of what it covers, and how mistakes are handled.

It has no part stating some complaints may justify no response.

We continue to adhere to our corrections policy at all times by encouraging feedback or inquiry from users to all our fact-checks and making clear that there are channels where this can be done. At Raskrinkavanje, we believe that corrections are an effective tool for underpinning accountability and transparency. Our corrections policy https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/o-nama/ offers more details to this.

Corrections that we made in the previous year were mostly caused by the reaction of the evaluated media outlet after their dement on the wrote article. Here are a few examples:

https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/analiza/koronavirus-nije-vratio-delfine-u-veneciju - claim that the water in the canals of Venice is clean since navigation has been suspended, so now they are managed by various species of fish, but also by many dolphins. Dolphins have been spotted both in the harbor and in the city itself. The media outlet corrected these claims after our debunking, and we added their denial in our analysis.

https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/analiza/nije-bilo-udara-na-podgoricu - claim that there was an attack on the capital of Montenegro, Podgorica. This claim was corrected after our debunking, and we added their denial in our analysis.

https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/analiza/lazi-o-hrvatskim-huliganima-i-neredima-u-crnoj-gori - claim that hooligans from Croatia arrive in groups to make chaos on Montenegrin protests. This claim was corrected after our debunking and we added the correction to our analysis.

https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/analiza/centralna-banka-nije-sakrila-podatke-o-platnom-prometu-i-kamatama - article which we edit after we published it, which is visible on the bottom of the text, with the information we didn’t put the first time. 

In the one relevant example the applicant provided (https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/analiza/centralna-banka-nije-sakrila-podatke-o-platnom-prometu-i-kamatama), the applicant made a correction openly and transparently.

Information about complaints regarding the IFCN Code can be found in the section "About Us" section here:  https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/o-nama/

Information about complaints regarding the IFCN Code can be found in the section "About Us" section here: https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/o-raskrinkavanju-me  

The link to the Code of Principles was also added to the page. https://www.raskrinkavanje.me/o-nama/ 

The applicant informs users that if they believe the signatory is violating the IFCN Code, they may inform the IFCN, with a link to the IFCN site.

However, it is not clear in what cases the users should approach IFCN, which is why the applicant should also put a link to the Code of Principles.

The applicant informs users that if they believe the signatory is violating the IFCN Code, they may inform the IFCN, with a link to the IFCN site and a link to the Code of Principles.

Not applicable (we are a project of an NGO, not a media company). 

N/A.