- Priority Area Supporting Research into Media, Disinformation and Information Literacy Across Europe
- Year 2022, 2023, 2024
- Country Belgium, Poland, Slovakia
- Project Status Completed
Disinformation helped destabilise a number of rational public spheres and is part of the Kremlin’s hybrid warfare. Many fact-checking initiatives are trying to counter it, including training, technology and collecting databases. However, the sustainability of these activities and their integration into regular media work has received relatively little attention.
This research project focuses on the sustainability (financial, organisational, trust) of integrating fact-checking activities into media. It will collect data, develop concepts, and design models and test them in the sandbox environment, involving researchers, media professionals (managers, journalists), and experts with a background in fact-checking from 7 countries. At the conceptual level, the project will deepen our understanding of under-researched areas in geographical (Central and Eastern Europe) and conceptual (sustainability, especially financial and organisational) sense.
As application-oriented research, the project aims at turning fact-checking into a sustainable activity for media in Eastern Europe, also in terms of business model, extending from short-term journalism work. Models and recommendations developed in the project could be replicated beyond its focus region, leveraging existing experience, and using proven media and fact-checking networks.
The operational focus is on Ukraine, Belarus and Russia – via subcontracting – and three EU countries: Poland, Slovakia and Bulgaria. Project outcomes are replicable beyond the focus region.
The impact of the project will be realised at three levels:
