FactCheckNI
We're Northern Ireland's first fact-checking organisation. And we want to fact-check the 2017 election to the Northern Ireland Assembly and its aftermath.
We need to raise £5,000 to ensure that we have enough experienced investigators at the ready.
Our media monitoring room is set to go -- we need your help!
What's the money for?
Researching claims and writing up articles takes time and money.
We're a new organisation, less than a year old, and in that time we've benefitted from some spectacular interns and new freelancers. During an election campaign, we simply need more seasoned pros to devote time and energy -- and we need to pay them.
We're leasing some extra space with the goodies you'd expect to have -- desks, monitors, newspapers, lots of tea and coffee.
Any evidence you can do this work?
Absolutely. With lesser resources last year, we were able to cover a claim from every major party in last year's Assembly election, as well as the EU referendum campaign.
Imagine how much more we could cover with your assistance!
Why fact-check in Northern Ireland?
For better community relations.
The difference in perceptions and reality in relation to facts can have a negative impact on intercommunity relations.
One significant case in point was in March 2014, with images taken out of context of a burning Union flag spread through multiple social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter. These postings can provoke people to riotous behaviour, and we show how you can quickly check yourself to see if the images are genuine.
Fact‐checking enables citizens to exercise their most important civil right and responsibility ‐‐ to think critically and make informed decisions.
Our vision is a society that doesn’t allow claims to foster volatile events.
Why should we trust you?
Your skepticism is encouraging -- we train members of the public to have a healthy skepticism of what the see and hear.
All of our concise articles provide source links, for you to investigate and examine yourself.
FactCheckNI is an initiative of the Northern Ireland Founadtion, which is an independent, non-profit organisation based in Belfast. The Foundation works in partnership with Transformative Connections, which is a social enterprise that focuses on the role of technology in promoting peacebuilding and positive social change.
We are non-partisan, and as a charity must provide a public good, which is educating everyone on the importance of media literacy.
Our staff and volunteers receive training on how to research and write our articles, which are submitted to an independent advisory panel for review and editing before publication.
Our advisory panel includes professional journalists, legal experts, community leaders, and social scientists.
We are a signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network’s Code of Principles.
How are you funded?
FactCheckNI is one of a dozen projects awarded grant funding in 2015, from Building Change Trust and its Civic Activism Programme (2015‐2018), which aims to enable the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector to better facilitate meaningful participation of individuals and communities in decision‐making processes that impact upon their lives.
Funding from Building Change Trust will end by March 2017.
The Northern Ireland Foundation, as lead organisation, will keep the FactCheckNI website live. But without further funding, our articles will trickle and our impact will lessen.
We are actively exploring longer-term, sustainable financing. This appeal will show your public support for this crucial endeavour, particularly with widespread attacks on the value of facts.
What's in it for me?
Friends of Facts list: Become a virtual source of truth -- on our FactCheckNI website we'll publish your name to our "source list" of fact lovers.
Stress ball: Take it out on the ball, not someone else.
Mug: Remind yourself daily of your contribution towards truth as a better future.
Party: Join the FactCheckNI crew for an informal post-election analysis
Adopt-a-fact: We'll research a claim of interest to you (fitting with our editorial guidelines).