Fact-checking in Colombia: RedCheq in 2019 regional elections
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7764/cdi.53.40653Keywords:
fact-checking, television journalism, misinformation, political communication, social networks, Colombia, RedCheqAbstract
Globally, there is a social concern regarding the effects of disinformation in electoral processes; in fact, the community of verification journalists has evaluated contents and statements during elections. This research delves into fact-checking journalism in Colombia through the case study of the RedCheq platform during the 2019 regional elections. Through a quantitative content analysis, this article analyzes the geographic scope, the typology of verified information, the tools employed, and the characteristics of the checked actors. The results show the regional reach of RedCheq's fact-checking journalism practice in Colombia. The fact-checks on electoral matters, justice, and the economy predominated. Besides, there was a balance between verifying public statements and tracking social networks to identify misleading content. The analysis revealed ideological impartiality to assess the check of content propagated by the political parties that competed in the elections. The latter is relevant in order to provide institutionality and legitimacy to fact-checking journalism, which faces accusations about following ideological bias.
References
Amazeen, M. A. (2019). Practitioner perceptions: Critical junctures and the global emergence and challenges of fact-checking. International Communication Gazette, 81(6-8), 541-561. https://doi.org/10.1177/1748048518817674
Amazeen, M. A. (2015). Revisiting the Epistemology of Fact-Checking. Critical Review, 27(1), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/08913811.2014.993890
Bernhard, L. (2021). Fact-checking direct democracy. When journalists set out to correct misinformation. In S. Baume, V. Boillet, & V. Martenet (Eds.), Misinformation in Referenda (pp. 77-90). Routledge.
Brandtzaeg, P. B., Følstad, A., & Chaparro-Domínguez, M. Á. (2018). How Journalists and Social Media Users Perceive Online Fact-Checking and Verification Services. Journalism Practice, 12(9), 1109-1129. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2017.1363657
Carrera, P. (2018). Estratagemas de la posverdad (The stratagems of post-truth). Revista Latina De Comunicación Social, (73), 1469-1481. https://doi.org/10.4185/RLCS-2018-1317
Cheruiyot, D. & Ferrer-Conill, R. (2018). “Fact-Checking Africa”. Epistemologies, data and the expansion of journalistic discourse. Digital Journalism, 6(8), 964-975. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2018.1493940
Corporación Latinobarómetro. (2018). Corporación Latinobarómetro 2018. Santiago de Chile. https://www.latinobarometro.org/latContents.jsp
Cortés, C. & Peñarredonda, J. (2018). Politics (on WhatsApp) is Dynamic: Disinformation and the Spread of Political ‘Chains’ in Colombia. Linterna verde. Retrieved fromhttps://bit.ly/3P9DzVE
Dajer, D. (2021). Colombia: The use of social media in democratic spaces: a double-edged sword. In L. Schirch (Ed.), Social Media Impacts on Conflict and Democracy (pp. 59-80). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003087649
DANE. (2019a). Censo nacional de población y vivienda (National Population and Housing Census). https://sitios.dane.gov.co/cnpv/#!/
DANE. (2019b). Encuesta de cultura política (ECP) (Political culture survey). https://www.dane.gov.co/index.php/comunicados-y-boletines/estadisticas-sociales/ cultura-politica
DANE. (2019c). PIB por departamento. (GDP by department). https://www.dane.gov.co/index. php/estadisticas-por-tema/cuentas-nacionales/cuentas-nacionales-departamentales
de Rezende-Damasceno, D. & Patrício, E. (2020). JOURNALISM AND FACT-CHECKING: typification of sources used for checking and criteria for selecting fact-checked material –an analysis by Agência Lupa and Aos Fatos. Brazilian Journalism Research, 16(2), 368-393. https://doi.org/10.25200/BJR.v16n2.2020.1212
Duque-Daza, J. (2014). Partidos y partidismo. Los partidos políticos colombianos y su enraizamiento en la sociedad (Parties and partisanship. Colombian political parties and their roots in the society). Revista De La Facultad De Derecho Y Ciencias Políticas, 44(120), 311-347. https://revistas.upb.edu.co/index.php/derecho/article/view/3265
Duque-Daza, J. (2019). La oposición partidista en Colombia 2010-2018. Radicalización de derecha y confrontación de izquierda (Party Opposition in Colombia 2010-2018. Rightwing Radicalization and Left-wing Confrontation). Fórum. Revista Departamento de Ciencia Política, (16), 59-92. https://doi.org/10.15446/frdcp.n16.78258
Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa. (2019). Cartografías de la información (Information mapping). https://bit.ly/3QsSJpV
Graves, L. (2017). Anatomy of a Fact Check: Objective Practice and the Contested Epistemology of Fact Checking. Communication, Culture & Critique, 10(3), 518-537. https://doi.org/10.1111/cccr.12163
Graves, L. (2018). Boundaries Not Drawn. Journalism Studies, 19(5), 613–631. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670x.2016.1196602
Graves, L. & Cherubini, F. (2016). The Rise of Fact-Checking Sites in Europe. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/our-research/risefact-checking-sites-europe
Graves, L. & Konieczna, M. (2015). Qualitative Political Communication| Sharing the News: Journalistic Collaboration as Field Repair. International Journal of Communication, 9, 19. https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/3381
Graves, L., Nyhan, B., & Reifler, J. (2016). Understanding Innovations in Journalistic Practice: A Field Experiment Examining Motivations for Fact-Checking. Journal of Communication, 66(1), 102-138. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12198
Helberger, N. (2020). The Political Power of Platforms: How Current Attempts to Regulate Misinformation Amplify Opinion Power. Digital Journalism, 8(6), 842-854. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2020.1773888
Humprecht, E. (2020). How Do They Debunk “Fake News” A Cross-National Comparison of Transparency in Fact Checks. Digital Journalism, 8(3), 310-327. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2019.1691031
Josephi, B. (2013). How much democracy does journalism need? Journalism, 14(4), 474-489. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884912464172
Lim, C. (2018). Checking how fact-checkers check. Research & Politics, 5(3), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1177/2053168018786848
Lowrey, W. (2017). The Emergence and Development of News Factchecking Sites. Institutional logics and population ecology. Journalism Studies, 18(3), 376-394. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2015.1052537
Lyons, B., Mérola, V., Reifler, J., & Stoeckel, F. (2020). How Politics Shape Views Toward Fact- Checking: Evidence from Six European Countries. The International Journal of Press/ Politics, 25(3), 469-492. https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161220921732
Marchal, N., Neudert, L., Kollanyi, B., & Howard, P. N. (2018). Polarization, Partisanship and Junk News Consumption on Social Media During the 2018 US Midterm Elections. Project on Computational Propaganda. https://bit.ly/3SpaEzI
Marietta, M., Barker, D. & Bowser, T. (2015). Fact-Checking Polarized Politics: Does The Fact-Check Industry Provide Consistent Guidance on Disputed Realities? The Forum, 13(4), 577-596. https://doi.org/10.1515/for-2015-0040
Mathews, N. (2020). Life in a news desert: The perceived impact of a newspaper closure on community members. Journalism, 23(6), 1250-1265. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884920957885
Medina-Uribe, P. (2018). In Colombia, a WhatsApp campaign against *Posverdad*. The Wilson Quarterly. https://www.wilsonquarterly.com/quarterly/the-disinformation-age/incolombia-a-whatsapp-campaign-against-posverdad
Mena, P. (2019). Principles and Boundaries of Fact-Checking: Journalists’ Perceptions. Journalism Practice, 13(6), 657-672. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2018.1547655
Newman, N., Fletcher, R., Schulz, A., Andi, S., Craig, R., & Kleis-Nielsen, R. (2021). Digital News Report 2021. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-report/2021
Nyhan, B. & Reifler, J. (2014). The Effect of Fact-Checking on Elites: A Field Experiment on U.S. State Legislators. American Journal of Political Science, 59(3), 628-640. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12162
Nyhan, B., Porter, E., Reifler, J., & Wood, T. J. (2019). Taking Fact-Checks Literally But Not Seriously? The Effects of Journalistic Fact-Checking on Factual Beliefs and Candidate Favorability. Political Behavior, 42, 939–960. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-019-09528-x
Palau-Sampio, D. (2018). Fact-checking y vigilancia del poder: La verificación del discurso público en los nuevos medios de América Latina (Fact-checking and scrutiny of power: Supervision of public discourses in new media platforms from Latin America). Communication & Society, 31(3), 347-365. https://doi.org/10.15581/003.31.3.347-363
Robertson, C. T., Mourão, R. R., & Thorson, E. (2020). Who Uses Fact-Checking Sites? The Impact of Demographics, Political Antecedents, and Media Use on Fact-Checking Site Awareness, Attitudes, and Behavior. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 25(2), 217-237. https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161219898055
Rodríguez-Pérez, C., Paniagua-Rojano, F. J., & Magallón-Rosa, R. (2021). Debunking Political Disinformation through Journalists’ Perceptions: An Analysis of Colombia’s Fact-Checking News Practices. Media and Communication, 9(1), 264-275. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v9i1.3374
Singer, J. B. (2020). Border patrol: The rise and role of fact-checkers and their challenge to journalists’ normative boundaries. Journalism, 22(8), 1929-1946. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884920933137
Tenove, C. (2020). Protecting Democracy from Disinformation: Normative Threats and Policy Responses. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 25(3), 517-537. https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161220918740
Thomson, T. J., Angus, D., Dootson, P., Hurcombe, E., & Smith, A. (2020). Visual Mis/ disinformation in Journalism and Public Communications: Current Verification Practices, Challenges, and Future Opportunities. Journalism Practice, 16(5), 938-962. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2020.1832139
Ufarte Ruiz, M. J., Calvo Rubio, L. M., & Murcia Verdú, F. J. (2022). Combatir las noticias falsas. El perfil profesional del verificador de la información en España (Fight fake news. The professional profile of the information verifier in Spain). Vivat Academia. Revista de Comunicación, (155), 265-295. https://www.vivatacademia.net/index.php/vivat/article/view/1365
Uscinski, J. E. (2015). The Epistemology of Fact Checking (Is Still Naìve): Rejoinder to Amazeen. Critical Review, 27(2), 243-252. https://doi.org/10.1080/08913811.2015.1055892
Uscinski, J. E. & Butler, R. W. (2013). The Epistemology of Fact Checking. Critical Review, 25(2), 162-180. https://doi.org/10.1080/08913811.2013.843872
Valencia-Nieto, D. G., Pereira-González, J. M., & Rodríguez-Leuro, J. A. (2019). Condiciones Laborales y Sociales de los Periodistas en las Regiones de Colombia (Labor and Social Conditions of Journalists in the Regions of Colombia). Mediaciones Sociales, 18, 85-105. https://doi.org/10.5209/meso.66907
Vázquez-Herrero, J., Vizoso, Á, & López-García, X. (2019). Innovación tecnológica y comunicativa para combatir la desinformación: 135 experiencias para un cambio de rumbo (Technological and communicative innovation to fight misinformation: 135 experiences for a change of direction). Profesional De La Información, 28(3). https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2019.may.01
Wintersieck, A. L. (2017). Debating the Truth: The Impact of Fact-Checking During Electoral Debates. American Politics Research, 45(2), 304–331. https://doi.org/10.1177/1532673X16686555
Zommer, L. (2015). El boom del fact checking y la vuelta a las fuentes (The fact checking boom and the return to sources). In G. Roitberg & F. Piccato (Comps.), Periodismo disruptivo (Disruptive Journalism) (pp. 111-118). La Crujía.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Cuadernos.info
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.