The basis of good, reliable, and sustainable media business is growing through a loyal audience base, and that is best achieved through good reporting and building trust. Exactly this trust needs to be based on media’s commitment to reporting on the truth based on facts.
Today, in the overflow of content, speed on which people expect news and the constant want to capture the attention of the audience, various outlets as well as individuals are purposely distributing disinformation for various personal, political, or misguided business gain. The fight against disinformation needs to be at an all-time high and the forefront of this battle is thorough fact-checking.
There is also the fact that mistakes in reporting occur unintentionally, and they are just a testament that all reporters are also human. In these cases, it is important that the media outlet be open to addressing these issues and willing to correct them.
Fact-checking needs to be done firstly by reporters in an educated and detailed way, before publishing of any information. On the other side, the pressure to do this right comes from fact-checking organizations which process any information which has already been published in the goal of correcting and addressing any disinformation that has reached the audience.
Indicator that this has become necessary and even a world-wide issue is the fact that the number of fact-checking organizations has grown to eight times more in the past seven years alone.
