This article was accepted into the corpus but its outbound wikilinks were never NER-processed — typical at the deepest BFS hop or when the run's entity cap was reached. No expansion funnel to show.
| Fact (website) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Fact |
| Type | Fact-checking website |
| Founded | 2016 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Owner | Fact Media LLC |
| Launch date | 2016 |
Fact (website) is an American online fact-checking and investigative journalism platform founded in 2016. It focuses on political claims, viral content, and public statements related to elections, policy debates, and international affairs. The site combines original reporting with sourced verification and publishes verdicts on accuracy for statements circulating on social media and in mainstream outlets.
The site was launched in 2016 amid heightened attention to misinformation during the 2016 United States presidential election, an environment that also saw expanded activity from organizations such as Snopes, PolitiFact, FactCheck.org, The Washington Post's Fact Checker, and Full Fact. Early coverage intersected with major events including the 2016 United States presidential campaign, controversies involving WikiLeaks, and claims tied to the 2016 Democratic National Committee email leak. In subsequent years the site reported on developments connected to the 2018 United States midterm elections, the 2020 United States presidential election, and international incidents such as the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Throughout its history the publication has operated alongside other investigative outlets like ProPublica, The Intercept, Reuters, Associated Press, and Bloomberg News in pursuing verifiable reporting.
The organization behind the website was incorporated as a small media LLC with private capital and has received funding from individual donors, grants from philanthropic foundations, and advertising revenue. Its financial support landscape resembles funding patterns observed at nonprofit entities like the Knight Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Open Society Foundations, though the site is structured as a for-profit entity rather than a nonprofit like OpenSecrets trackers or some public-interest newsrooms. Board members and principals have backgrounds in digital media, law, and political communications similar to executives at Vox Media, The Atlantic, and BuzzFeed. The outlet has disclosed partnerships for specific investigations with academic institutions such as Harvard University, technology collaborations involving companies like Twitter and Meta Platforms, Inc., and occasional dataset sharing with research groups at Stanford University and Oxford University.
Content types include verdict-driven fact checks, long-form investigations, explainers, and data-driven reports. The editorial workflow echoes practices common to legacy organizations including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and investigative units like Center for Investigative Reporting and McClatchy. Articles typically cite primary sources such as government records from agencies like the Federal Election Commission, court filings from United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, transcripts from congressional hearings in the United States Congress, and technical reports from institutions such as National Institutes of Health or World Health Organization where relevant. The site publishes corrections and updates in a manner similar to correction policies at BBC News, NPR, and The Guardian.
The methodology emphasizes source tracing, document verification, and expert consultation. Investigations have enlisted subject-matter experts from universities including Columbia University, Yale University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology to assess technical claims. Analysts use digital forensics techniques akin to work by teams at Bellingcat, metadata analysis approaches used by Amnesty International's Signal Project, and archival research comparable to projects at the National Archives and Records Administration. The site often cross-references primary datasets from agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and election returns maintained by state Secretaries of State to adjudicate accuracy. Transparency practices include publishing source documents and methodology notes, following standards recommended by the International Fact-Checking Network and journalistic codes practiced by organizations like Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
Reception has been mixed: the site has been cited by outlets including CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News for particular findings, while researchers at universities such as George Washington University and University of Oxford have included its work in broader studies of misinformation. Critics have raised concerns about potential ideological bias, comparisons to partisan fact-checking critiques directed at entities like The Atlantic and National Review, and transparency about funding similar to criticisms levelled at other media startups. Media-watch groups such as Media Matters for America and Freedom House have both praised and questioned aspects of its reporting. Legal and political actors, including litigants in cases before the Supreme Court of the United States and state election officials, have occasionally disputed its conclusions.
The site’s investigations have been used by journalists at outlets such as Reuters, Associated Press, and Bloomberg and cited in policy discussions in state legislatures and congressional hearings in the United States Congress. Its work has also informed social media moderation decisions at platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube, and has been referenced in academic studies at institutions including Princeton University and University of California, Berkeley examining the spread of false claims. The publication participates in networks with other verification projects including collaborations modeled after those of First Draft News and coalitions similar to the Trust Project.
Category:American news websites