[1]Artwork for International Fact-Checking Day by Gianluca Costantini [2], used with permission. See more at bit.ly/factcheckit [1].
While April 1 celebrates jokes and white lies, April 2 has become a day of sobering up and fact-checking. As of this year, truth-seekers around the world introduced their own holiday — International Fact-Checking Day.
April Fool's Day [3] celebrations possibly have their roots in the Roman Saturnalia [4], a carnival time when social roles were reversed, and when normally forbidden activities like gambling were allowed. Two thousand years later, it still takes the form of masquerades and a reversal of moral norms, allowing for pranks and harmless lies.
International Fact-Checking Day [5] is promoted by the International Fact-Checking Network, founded by the Poynter institute in partnership with dozens fact-checking organizations around the world [6]. International Fact-Checking Day is not a single event, but a diverse range of activities aimed at raising public awareness about the importance of facts — and fact-checking — in politics, journalism, and everyday life.
Bill Adair, Professor of Journalism and Public Policy at Duke University, and the creator of PolitiFact, tweeted:
Ten years ago there were a handful of fact-checking sites; today, the world’s 115 sites celebrate Intl. Fact-Checking Day. A great day!
— Bill Adair (@BillAdairDuke) April 2, 2017 [7]
People celebrating the International Fact-Checking Day use the hashtag #FactCheckIt [8] to promote activities which range from public events and workshops to a fake news sprint conducted by PolitiFact [9].
Celebramos el día internacional del Fact-checking. Esta noche, verificamos a políticos extranjeros #Factcheckit [8] https://t.co/02GbayS3zD [10] pic.twitter.com/iIWG2Cin4I [11]
— El Objetivo (@ObjetivoLaSexta) April 2, 2017 [12]
We celebrate the international day of Fact-checking. Tonight, we check foreign politicians.
Alexios Mantzarlis, the director of the International Fact-Checking Network, has been using his Twitter profile to document and inform about many of the activities related to the day around the globe:
In Braamfontein, @AfricaCheck [13] got students to “vote with their feet” on whether a news story was fake https://t.co/9m9KiklBa1 [14] #FactCheckIt [15] pic.twitter.com/015S20lEOP [16]
— Alexios (@Mantzarlis) April 2, 2017 [17]
In Rio, at @agencialupa [18]‘s workshop, journalism students said fact-checking should be in the curriculum https://t.co/0ZrhKzOh78 [19] #FactCheckIt [15] pic.twitter.com/Q8DTl7BiZl [20]
— Alexios (@Mantzarlis) April 2, 2017 [21]
In Milan, @factcheckers_it [22] is holding 4 back-to-back hands-on fact checking workshops with high school students #FactCheckIt [15] pic.twitter.com/YjGH910aoF [23]
— Alexios (@Mantzarlis) April 2, 2017 [24]
In Nairobi, @PesaCheck [25] held a seminar with tips on fact-checking claims about public finances #FactCheckIt [15] https://t.co/mfCMipaFPX [26] pic.twitter.com/ZpdS83hHI1 [27]
— Alexios (@Mantzarlis) April 2, 2017 [28]
Taking into consideration the pressing need to incorporate media literacy and especially fact-checking into the educational system, the members of the fact-checking network prepared a free lesson plan [29], which has already been translated into 12 languages, with more translations on the way.
Introduce your class to the basics of fact-checking, and help them navigate through an ocean of information, rumors, hoaxes and lies with our lesson plan. The lesson plan was designed by fact-checkers and endorsed by instructional designers. It is conceived for students aged 14-16 but can be used with students of other ages too.