IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jpubli/v9y2021i3p36-d613320.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Fact Checkers Facing Fake News and Disinformation in the Digital Age: A Comparative Analysis between Spain and United Kingdom

Author

Listed:
  • Casandra López-Marcos

    (Department of Communication Sciences and Sociology, Rey Juan Carlos University, 28942 Madrid, Spain)

  • Pilar Vicente-Fernández

    (Department of Communication Sciences and Sociology, Rey Juan Carlos University, 28942 Madrid, Spain)

Abstract

The current media ecosystem, derived from the consolidation of Information and Communication Technologies, shows a scenario in which the relationship between the media and their audience is being redefined. This represents a challenge for journalistic practice. In the digital age, the public actively participates in the construction and dissemination of news through social networks. Faced with this loss of control by the media, fake news and disinformation are emerging as one of the main problems of journalistic practice in a competitive business context, and with a high saturation of news content. In this situation, fact checkers emerge as key players in the information verification process. This research comparatively analyses the main fact checkers in Spain and the United Kingdom through content analysis applied to their corporate websites to understand their characteristics and working methodologies. The results underline that they are concerned with the concepts of transparency and honesty, along with showing their funding streams. The rigorousness of the verification process also stands out, as well as the importance of dialogue with the audience in their work. While in Spain they are featured by their non-profit nature and their international coverage, UK fact checkers focus on national information and are sometimes conceived as a business.

Suggested Citation

  • Casandra López-Marcos & Pilar Vicente-Fernández, 2021. "Fact Checkers Facing Fake News and Disinformation in the Digital Age: A Comparative Analysis between Spain and United Kingdom," Publications, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-18, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jpubli:v:9:y:2021:i:3:p:36-:d:613320
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6775/9/3/36/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6775/9/3/36/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mirko Duradoni & Stefania Collodi & Serena Coppolino Perfumi & Andrea Guazzini, 2021. "Reviewing Stranger on the Internet: The Role of Identifiability through “Reputation” in Online Decision Making," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-12, April.
    2. Andreas Hein & Maximilian Schreieck & Tobias Riasanow & David Soto Setzke & Manuel Wiesche & Markus Böhm & Helmut Krcmar, 2020. "Digital platform ecosystems," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 30(1), pages 87-98, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Weking, Jörg & Desouza, Kevin C. & Fielt, Erwin & Kowalkiewicz, Marek, 2023. "Metaverse-enabled entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 19(C).
    2. Maik Hesse & Timm Teubner & Marc T. P. Adam, 2022. "In Stars We Trust – A Note on Reputation Portability Between Digital Platforms," Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, Springer;Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), vol. 64(3), pages 349-358, June.
    3. Matzner, Martin & Pauli, Tobias & Marx, Emanuel & Anke, Jürgen & Poeppelbuss, Jens & Fielt, Erwin & Gregor, Shirley & Sun, Ruonan & Hydle, Katja Maria & Aas, Tor Helge & Aanestad, Margunn & Gordijn, J, 2021. "Transitioning to Platform-based Services and Business Models in a B2B Environment," SMR - Journal of Service Management Research, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 5(3), pages 143-162.
    4. Garcia-Perez, Alexeis & Cegarra-Navarro, Juan Gabriel & Sallos, Mark Paul & Martinez-Caro, Eva & Chinnaswamy, Anitha, 2023. "Resilience in healthcare systems: Cyber security and digital transformation," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    5. Dolata, Ulrich, 2023. "Industrieplattformen: Eine neue Form der Handlungskoordination in der Wirtschaft," Research Contributions to Organizational Sociology and Innovation Studies, SOI Discussion Papers 2024-01, University of Stuttgart, Institute for Social Sciences, Department of Organizational Sociology and Innovation Studies.
    6. Zhong Wang & Rui Xu, 2022. "Price Controls and Platform Ecosystem: A Comparative Analysis of Parking Applications between Beijing and London," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-17, May.
    7. Yong Xiang & Yunhui Ma & Meiling Ji & Yangyang Su, 2024. "Interconnected Knowledge: Examining the Evolution of Graduate Student Innovation Ecosystems," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(3), pages 14036-14075, September.
    8. Lerch, Christian M. & Horvat, Djerdj & Jasny, Johannes, 2024. "When manufacturers turn into digital platform providers: A transformation model to understand the platformization pathway," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 273(C).
    9. Attila Havas & Doris Schartinger & K. Matthias Weber, 2022. "Innovation Studies, Social Innovation, and Sustainability Transitions Research: From mutual ignorance towards an integrative perspective?," CERS-IE WORKING PAPERS 2227, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.
    10. Dolata, Ulrich, 2024. "Industry platforms: A new mode of coordination in the economy," Research Contributions to Organizational Sociology and Innovation Studies, SOI Discussion Papers 2024-02, University of Stuttgart, Institute for Social Sciences, Department of Organizational Sociology and Innovation Studies.
    11. Rainer Alt, 2020. "Evolution and perspectives of electronic markets," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 30(1), pages 1-13, March.
    12. Jürgen Anke & Jens Poeppelbuss & Rainer Alt, 2020. "It Takes More than Two to Tango: Identifying Roles and Patterns in Multi-Actor Smart Service Innovation," Schmalenbach Business Review, Springer;Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft, vol. 72(4), pages 599-634, October.
    13. Konrad Nübel & Michael Max Bühler & Thorsten Jelinek, 2021. "Federated Digital Platforms: Value Chain Integration for Sustainable Infrastructure Planning and Delivery," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-17, August.
    14. Abi Saad, Elie & Tremblay, Nathalie & Agogué, Marine, 2024. "A multi-level perspective on innovation intermediaries: The case of the diffusion of digital technologies in healthcare," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    15. Santarsiero, Francesco & Schiuma, Giovanni & Carlucci, Daniela & Helander, Nina, 2023. "Digital transformation in healthcare organisations: The role of innovation labs," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    16. Chang, Victor & Doan, Le Minh Thao & Ariel Xu, Qianwen & Hall, Karl & Anna Wang, Yuanyuan & Mustafa Kamal, Muhammad, 2023. "Digitalization in omnichannel healthcare supply chain businesses: The role of smart wearable devices," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    17. Andrey E. Shastitko & Natalia S. Pavlova & Nadezhda V. Kashchenko, 2020. "Antitrust regulation of product ecosystems: The case study of Kaspersky Lab. – Apple Inc," Upravlenets, Ural State University of Economics, vol. 11(4), pages 29-42, September.
    18. Ruokolainen, Jari & Nätti, Satu & Juutinen, Milla & Puustinen, Juha & Holm, Anu & Vehkaoja, Antti & Nieminen, Hannu, 2023. "Digital healthcare platform ecosystem design: A case study of an ecosystem for Parkinson's disease patients," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    19. Ha, Seungyeon & Kim, Seongcheol, 2024. "Developing a conceptual framework for digital platform literacy," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(3).
    20. Peng, Hui & Lu, Yaobin & Gupta, Sumeet, 2023. "Promoting value emergence through digital platform ecosystems: Perspectives on resource integration in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jpubli:v:9:y:2021:i:3:p:36-:d:613320. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.