Fact-checking in Iberoamerica. A sex/gender analysis
Iniciativas de vericación de datos en el ámbito iberoamericano. Un análisis
sexo/género
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How to cite this article:
Montiel Torres, M. F. and Teruel Rodríguez, L. (2024). Fact-checking in Iberoamerica. A sex/gender analysis.
Doxa Comunicación
, 38, pp. 119-148.
https://doi.org/10.31921/doxacom.n38a1953
María Francisca Montiel Torres.
PhD candidate in Education and Communication at the University of Malaga. Her lines
of research are related to data journalism, disinformation and its impact on citizens, and fact-checking agencies taking
sex/gender into account. A graduate in Sciences (Mathematics) from the University of Malaga, she completed Doctoral
Courses with Research Prociency in the Information and Communications Technology Program, and specialised
courses in High Level Languages and Computer Programming. She has a Certicate of Pedagogical Aptitude and is a
Professor of EGB at the University of Malaga. She has had leadership roles in the Institute of Educational Sciences and
in Central IT Services (University of Malaga), the Planning and Development Society (Malaga Provincial Council) and
has been General Director of Quality, Innovation and Prospectives in Tourism at the Andalusian Regional Government.
She is a participant in the project “Impact of disinformation in Andalusia: Cross-sectional analysis of audiences and
journalistic routines and agendas. Desinfoand” of the call for Projects of Excellence, Andalusian Plan for Research,
Development and Innovation (PAIDI).
University of Malaga, Spain
[email protected]
ORCID: 0009-0004-8486-1947
Laura Teruel Rodríguez.
Senior Lecturer in Journalism in the Department of Journalism of the University of Malaga,
specialised in political journalism, polarisation, disinformation, and social networks. She has participated in six national
research projects on which she has focused her scientic work. She is currently Principal Investigator of the project
“Impact of disinformation in Andalusia: cross-sectional analysis of audiences and journalistic routines and agendas.
Desinfoand” of the call for Projects of Excellence, Andalusian Plan for Research, Development, and Innovation (PAIDI
2020). She is also a researcher on the national project (Ministry of Science and Innovation, Challenges): “e impact of
misinformation on journalism: content, professional routines and audiences” (PID2019-108956RB-I00)”. She completed
her research and teacher training at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Oslo (Norway), the London School of
Economics - Instituto Cañada Blanch- (UK), the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires- (Argentina),
the University of Milan and the Università Degli Studi of Padua (Italy). She is a regular contributor to
Agenda Pública -El
País,
where she has published forums on misinformation and polarisation in Spain-, the Parliament program (RNE),
e
Conversation
,
Canal Sur Radio and Television, Cadena Ser, Málaga Televisión, and 7TV, Málaga.
University of Malaga, Spain
[email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0002-7575-8401
is content is published under Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License. International License CC BY-NC 4.0
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1. Introduction
In today’s world, what is colloquially known as fake news, has gained in importance and taken on special characteristics that
have made it a major object of study in academia in general and Communication Sciences in particular. Multiple factors have
brought this about; among them, the crisis of intermediation in journalism following the emergence of digital information
environments (Segura, 2014) and the formation of the hybrid media system, in which the agents and environments involved
in information processes have become more diverse (Chadwick, 2017). New forms of digital consumption, together with
the economic crisis that has crucially aected the media since 2007 (Mayoral, Parratt & Morata, 2019), have led to a loss of
journalistic credibility (Newman & al., 2022) that has left citizens more exposed to the misinformation that ows through
Relationship, Information and Communication Technologies and social networks in particular.
Concern about this phenomenon has also been growing among the general population. In the European context, the study
“Fake News and Disinformation Online” (European Commission; 2018), shows that 85% of citizens consider fake news to be
a real problem in their country. Furthermore, 83% believe that hoaxes have a direct impact on the development of democracy
Received: 13/04/2023 - Accepted: 25/10/2023 - Early access: 17/11/2023 - Published: 01/01/2024
Recibido: 13/04/2023 - Aceptado: 25/10/2023 - En edición: 17/11/2023 - Publicado: 01/01/2024
Abstract:
e massive implementation of Relationship, Information and
Communications Technologies, especially social networks, as well
as changes in habits of information consumption in a hybrid media
system have triggered the exponential proliferation of fake news. To
combat this, dedicated fact-checking agencies have been set up, their
mission being to debunk untrue content in political or media discourse.
e objective of this paper is to analyse fact-checking agencies in Latin
America, Spain, and Portugal to learn their characteristics, paying
special attention to the role that women play in this new profession,
through the case study of all the projects included in the annual report
of the Reporters’ Lab census (n=54). e data shows that the majority
of projects were established in 2018-2019 and remain active, are linked
to civil society and have created networks to foster cooperation against
the established powers. Women represent over half of the workforce
in these agencies. is study quanties, in a non-equal employment
and journalistic context, the percentage of female fact-checkers, and
concludes that they are a majority, even in management positions. It
reects on how this business model oers opportunities for equality
despite the dangerous Ibero-American scenario for journalism and
women.
Keywords:
Fact-checking; disinformation; fake news; sex-gender analysis.
Resumen:
La implantación masiva de las Tecnologías de la Relación, la Informa
-
ción y las Comunicaciones, especialmente las redes sociales y la modica
-
ción de hábitos de consumo informativo en un sistema híbrido de medios
han desencadenado la proliferación exponencial de noticias falsas. Ante
esta situación, se desarrollan iniciativas dedicadas a la vericación de da
-
tos, cuya misión es desmontar los contenidos inveraces del discurso políti
-
co o mediático. El objetivo de este artículo es analizar estas iniciativas en
Iberoamérica para conocer sus características atendiendo especialmente
al papel que desempeñan las mujeres en esta nueva profesión, mediante
el estudio de caso de los proyectos recogidos en el informe anual del censo
del Reporters’ Lab (n=54). Los datos muestran que la mayoría se iniciaron
en 2018-2019 y siguen activos, están vinculados a la sociedad civil y han
creado redes para favorecer la cooperación frente a los poderes estableci
-
dos. Las mujeres representan más de la mitad de la fuerza laboral. Esta
investigación cuantica, en un contexto laboral y periodístico no parita
-
rio, el porcentaje de mujeres vericadoras, y concluye que es mayoritario,
incluso en los puestos directivos. Se reexiona sobre cómo este modelo de
negocio ofrece oportunidades para la igualdad a pesar del peligroso esce
-
nario iberoamericano para el periodismo y las mujeres.
Palabras clave:
Fact-checking; vericación de la información; desinformación; fake
news; análisis sexo-género.
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in general and declare that they are especially concerned about deliberate misinformation aimed at inuencing elections and
immigration policies. 88% of the population surveyed in Spain believe that fake news is a danger to democracy in general and
to the country itself. Among those surveyed in Portugal, 82% think that it poses a danger to democracy in general, rising to 84%
where the danger refers to democracy in their country.
Although use of the term
fake news
is discouraged, it being considered an “oxymoron for the simple reason that what is false
and spurious is not news but a ctional narrative” (Rodríguez Pérez, 2019; 67), the truth is that it has become widely used
when referring to the phenomenon being studied. According to the Cambridge Dictionary (2023)
fake news
is “false stories
that appear to be news, spread through the internet or other media, usually created for political inuence or as a joke”, the
dictionary adds that “there is concern about the power of fake news to aect electoral results.” e Collins
Dictionary (2023)
includes a nuance in the denition of the concept, speaking of “false and often sensational information disseminated under
the guise of news.”
e European Commission includes fake news within the global term disinformation which it denes as “veriably false
or misleading information that is created, presented and disseminated for prot or to deliberately mislead the population,
and which may cause public detriment.” (European Commission; 2018;3) and has clearly positioned itself against it in the
economic, social, political, and military spheres.
In any case, this is content that has been intentionally created from falsehoods and is designed to confuse readers (Allcott &
Gentzkow, 2017) for two fundamental motives: rstly, ideological, since the confusion created may be detrimental to political
opponents or be benecial to its creator or disseminator, and secondly, economic, because misinformation or the transmission
of incorrect data may prove benecial to the economic activities of its promoter or be directly protable for them.
e classication of reference on the subject is that of Wardle & Derakhshan (2017). ese authors argued that the use of
simplistic terms such as fake news hides critical distinctions about incorrect and malicious information, the true-false
dichotomy camouages nuances, and they therefore establish a framework that provides a working model for dierent
perspectives: misinformation or false information caused by inadvertent errors, disinformation
or intentionally fabricated
false content, and malinformation
or fact-based information that has been manipulated and then used and spread to inict
damage. “Misinformation is often not easy to identify, as it mixes truths, usually decontextualized, with falsehoods” (Wardle &
Derakhshan (2017). Other authors (Rubin, et al., 2015; Salaverría et al., 2020) have later expanded the classication identifying
more subtle characteristics of information disorders or contemplating the importance of digital applications in creating new
manifestations such as deepfakes (Mridha et al., 2021; Gómez et al., 2021).
ere is no doubt that the publication of content through social media has brought with it a qualitative change and a quantitative
increase in information disorders (Journell, 2017). us, the
Global Inventory of Organized Social Media Manipulation: e
Global Disinformation Order
opened its 2019 report by stating that “computational propaganda – the use of algorithms,
automatisms and big data to shape public life – has become a ubiquitous and permeating part of our daily lives” (Oxford
Internet Institute, 2021)
Much remains to be learnt about the vulnerabilities of people, institutions and society when faced with sophisticated
manipulation. Amorós (2018: 65-66) states that “for fake news to go viral, emotion must prevail over reection” and points to
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three key elements present in false content that make us fall into the misinformation trap as intended by those who create it:
an eye-catching headline, a revelation that rearms or outrages us, and a legitimate and reliable appearance.
Vosoughi and colleagues (2018) found that fake news spread signicantly farther, faster, deeper, and more widely than true
news across all information categories. e reason is thought to be that it is more novel, and inspires fear, disgust and surprise,
that is, it appeals to emotions. Another interesting nding was that robots accelerate the spread of true and fake news at the
same rate, implying that fake news spreads more than the truth because humans, not robots, are more likely to spread it. Calvo
and Aruguete (2021) argue that hoaxes go viral to create feelings of community among those who distribute them.
As a consequence of the greater circulation of fake news and the ease with which it spreads across digital platforms, fact-
checking has become an activity that has gained considerable importance over recent years, especially among journalists.
In the words of
Jane Elizabeth of the
American Press Institute
(Elizabeth, J., 2014) “e goal of fact-checking should be to
provide clear, rigorously vetted information to consumers so they may use the facts to make fully cognizant choices in voting
and other essential decisions”. Walter and others (2020) dene it as the systematised practice of verifying statements made by
public gures and institutions and publishing the results of said process. erefore, their objectives are to ensure the veracity
of the information disseminated, especially on social networks and platforms, to scrutinize power, and turn information
into knowledge that can be taken on board by citizens. Nyhan and Reier (2015) see fact-checking contributing eectively to
demands for accountability from public gures and to providing better information for citizens, something key to reinforcing
democracy.
Although the organisation of these agencies as companies is recent, fact-checking as a task has existed in newsrooms for a long
time.
Internal or a priori fact-checking emerged as a sign of quality in American news magazines in the 1920s and 30s, and broadly
refers to routines of fact-checking and accuracy to ensure that published information reects reality. It has become an essential
part of the professional routine of specialised journalists when they work, basically, with data or statements. External or ex post
fact-checking consists of publishing an evidence-based analysis of the truthfulness of a political statement, report, or any other
type of news information (Graves & Amazeen, 2019).
It is interesting, to say the least, that the rst professionals clearly assigned to carry out journalistic fact-checking in the 1930s
were women at the New York magazine TIME (New York Times, 2017). TIME’s rst fact-checker was Nancy Ford. In the decades
that followed, becoming what was then called a “verier” was a relatively well-regarded step for young female graduates. e
job of fact-checking was later opened to men, by 1973 TIME had four men in the role.
Since then, many have been the media outlets and civic platforms which have launched sections, work groups or spaces aimed
at checking information published by other media, disseminated through social networks, or declared by leading political
gures.
e rst sites specialised in fact-checking data were
Snopes
founded in 1995 (
snopes.com
) originally focused on urban legends,
and
e Smoking Gun
(thesmokinggun.com
), in 1997, which reviews legal documents, records of arrests and mugshots. e
year 2003 saw the launch of political fact-checking site
FactCheck.org
by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University
of Pennsylvania together with Brooks Jackson of the Associated Press in 2003, the Wall Street Journal and CNN. It has been
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followed by, among others, PolitiFact in 2007 as a project of e Tampa Bay Times, Les Décodeurs in France in 2009, linked to
Le Monde, BILDblog in Germany in 2004, BBC Reality Check in the United Kingdom, Pagella Politics in Italy or Maldito Bulo in
Spain. In Latin America, the pioneering agency has been the Argentinian
Chequeado
, active since 2010.
e Trust Project
agency (
thetrustproject.org
) was launched in 2017, with the participation of large technology companies
such as Google, Facebook, Twitter or the Bing search engine, as well as media and civic foundations, with the aim of increasing
transparency and trust in the media, showing their sources and procedures to act as an indicator of the veracity of news that
expands contextual information.
In order to analyse global fact-checking activity, the Duke Reporters’ Lab, a journalism research centre, was set up at Sanford
School of Public Policy, a part of Duke University (Duke University Reporters’ Lab, 2023). eir main projects focus on fact-
checking, but they also occasionally look at trust in the media and related topics. It is funded primarily by the Knight Chair,
as well as the Knight Foundation, the Google News Initiative, the Facebook Journalism Project, and Craig Newmark. Its
contributors include e Washington Post, PolitiFact,
FactCheck.org
and other fact-checkers; Google, Facebook, YouTube,
Schema.org
, Jigsaw and other technology organisations; the software development collective Bad Idea Factory; researchers
and computer scientists at Duke University, the University of Texas at Arlington, and Digital Democracy, an initiative of Cal
Poly’s Institute for Advanced Technology and Public Policy; the International Fact Checking Network and others.
A product of particular interest for this study was introduced in 2014: the global database of fact-checking sites, maintained by
the DeWitt Wallace Center for Media & Democracy at Duke University, which oers textual and map-based information. It can
be accessed freely and is widely used in academic research. (Vizoso, A. & Vázquez-Herrero, J. 2019, Rodríguez Pérez, C; 2020).
is database and its associated map are kept regularly updated and a summary report is issued annually on the performance
of global fact-checking sites, both active and inactive, the latter being reviewed separately. A special case is those projects that
primarily perform data-checking during elections, but which remain active if they have a check that crosses multiple election
cycles.
e International Fact-Checking Network, IFCN, (International Fact-Checking Network. IFCN, 2016) was created in 2015. It is
a unit of the Poynter Institute whose objective is to bring together journalists dedicated to fact-checking at an international
level promoting best practices and the exchange of information in the eld. By September 2023, the list of signatories of the
IFCN Code had reached 109 fact-checking agencies that were either active or in the process of being updated, 25 of these were
initiatives from Latin American countries, Spain, and Portugal (International Fact-Checking Network. IFCN, 2023). e gure
is increasing in general terms but (from 91 registrations) has fallen slightly in the Ibero-American region (down from 27 the
previous year). It should be noted that AFP’s generic membership applies to each of its entities.
e criteria underpinning IFCN’s Code of Principles are similar to those of the Duke Reporters’ Lab, but with a dierent
mission. e veried signatories of the IFCN code are typically the organisations behind fact-checking agencies, even when
they are involved in several projects for dierent audiences. e IFCN also deploys independent advisors to conrm that each
signatory rigorously adheres to the principles and to help identify organisations that meet the highest editorial and ethical
standards. e Duke Reporters’ Lab has a broader goal. It seeks to identify individual fact-checking providers, websites, and
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programs, places the public can turn to for reliable fact-checking reports, even when these reports have distinctive brand
names, names or URLs.
e European Fact-Checking Standards Network (EFCSN, 2022), made up of more than 40 European fact-checking
organisations, presented its European Code of Standards for Independent Data-Checking Organisations in November 2022.
e project is backed by the European Commission and has established principles of professional conduct and transparency
for fact-checking agencies operating within the European Union. e European Fact-Checking Standards Network opened its
rst round of applications in January 2023 for organisations wishing to join up.
Although fact-checking has become an essential task within the global information and communication system and as such
an object of research, such research fundamentally focuses on the hoaxes themselves, on fact-checking methodologies, on
the attitude of the media and citizenship towards the task itself or even on its organisational structure (International Fact-
Checking Network. IFCN. 2023). However, there are few analyses of the professionals dedicated to the task and even fewer that
consider whether they are women or men (Funke, 2019), (Global Media Monitoring Project, 2021), (Zippia, 2023).
e main objective of this study is to analyse fact-checking agencies in the Ibero-American context: Spain, Portugal and Central
and South America, studying international projects located in the corresponding countries, which have Spanish or Portuguese
as the main language for their fact-checking tasks.
e study strives to understand as specic objectives, rstly, where these organisations carry out their activities, since when,
and how they are organised internally. us, this work highlights the fact-checking agencies operating in Latin America, Spain
and Portugal and systematises the study of their typology and size. We consider the typology and trajectory of these agencies
as well as their geographical distribution.
e second specic objective is to analyse the presence of women in their work teams, the tasks they perform and the degree of
responsibility they hold, to thus further research on equality in this new area of journalistic activity. Studies of the profession of
journalism have primarily addressed labour structures in conventional media and this approach is novel being as it is a recent
phenomenon that has manifested itself through new business models. We ask, as a research question, whether women form a
majority in the labour force of these companies and what positions they hold.
And nally, the study compares the gender gap detected in active fact-checking agencies with that in the labour market in
the countries studied. We are interested in knowing if the gender gap presents the same patterns in the eld of fact-checking.
2. Methodology
e Census of fact-checking agencies prepared by Duke University’s Reporters’ Lab (Duke University Reporters’ Lab, 2023)
and the International Labor Organization’s public labour statistics database (ILOSTATS, 2023) have both been utilised for
this study. e Reporters’ Lab has an updated web space which, by means of a map, geographically locates the existing fact-
checking agencies around the world. An original statistical approach has been taken from these sources, complementing this
secondary data with the primary information obtained directly by researchers from the websites of the agencies themselves,
which give added value to this research.
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e selection criterion utilised to delimit the sample has been the country where the fact-checking media or projects are
located. 15 countries in America and Europe have been covered: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba,
Ecuador, Spain, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Portugal, Uruguay, and Venezuela. e information compiled and analysed refers
to the date on which their activity began and whether they are currently active, have remained continuously active, what
type of organisations they are associated with, whether they are journalistic organisations, academic institutions or civic or
independent projects, the data concerning the make-up of their work teams was generated by the authors of this study, both
concerning the number of people and the tasks they perform.
Once the media outlets that meet the selection criteria were located, an analysis sheet was applied to all of them, the following
variables being collected (Table 1):
Table 1. Variables considered
Name of agency
Country
City
Format (URL)
General link to the main promoter
Specic promoter
Year established
Size of work team
Women and men in it
Activity carried out by each of the members
Signatory of the IFCN Code
Source: created by the author
To systematise the tasks carried out by the people working in fact-checking agencies, three categories have been established:
production/administration, writing/editing, and technical support, with one complementary task, training. In terms of
responsibility, management and non-management positions are dierentiated.
e methodological technique utilised is the case study, an analysis of the characteristics of each of the fact-checking agencies
studied, with their corresponding contingency tables and relationships between variables.
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Finally, the proportionality of the sexes employed in fact-checking agencies has been contrasted with that of the general labour
market using statistics from the International Labor Organization (International Labor Organization. ILOSTATS; 2023-1, 2023-
2, 2023-3).
3. Results
3.1. Fact-checking sites in the world
Duke Reporters’ Lab (Duke University Reporters’ Lab, 2023) published their tenth report on the Global Fact-checkers Census
in June 2023. According to this report, as of that date, there were 417 operational sites in over one hundred countries around
the world. is number has grown by 47% since 2018 (Table 2, Figure 1) although growth has slowed in recent years (Stencel,
M. et al., 2023).
Table 2. Change in active fact-checking agencies
201820192020202120222023
Total289351401419424417
Entrants
68836734203
Leavers2117161592
Annual variation
47665119111
Source: Duke Reporters’ Lab (2023). Created by the authors
Figure 1. Active fact-checking agencies by year
Table 2. Change in active fact
-
checking
agencies
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
Total
289
351
401
419
424
417
Entrants
68
83
67
34
20
3
Leavers
21
17
16
15
9
2
Annual variation
47
66
51
19
11
1
Source: Duke Reporters
’
Lab (2023). Created by the authors
Figure 1: Active fact
-
checking
agencie
s by year
Source: Duke Reporters
’
Lab (2023). Created by the authors
The greatest growth was recorded in 2019, when 83 new fact
-
checking sites and
organis
ations were recorded (Figure 2). These numbers mark a recessive trend that can
be interpreted as a loss of interest or
may
mean that the growth of recent years has
saturated the market or
halt
ed as a
consequence
of
the global pandemic. More than a third
of the growth since 2019 came from existing fact
-
checking sites that added new outlets
to expand their reach to other places and different audiences, such as France Press, the
French international news service.
Figure 2: Changes in
fact-
checking
agencie
s by year
Source: Duke Reporters
’
Lab (2023). Created by the authors
Fact-checkers
, like their audiences, are a multilingual community, and many of them
publish their findings in
several
languages, either on the same website or, in some cases,
on alternative sites. English is the commonest language, followed by Spanish, French,
289
351
401
419
424
417
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
201820192020202120222023
Fact-
checking agencies by year
68
83
67
34
20
3
-20
0
20
40
60
80
100
201820192020202120222023
New
fact-
checking agencies
News
Annual variation
Source: Duke Reporters’ Lab (2023). Created by the authors
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e greatest growth was recorded in 2019, when 83 new fact-checking sites and organisations were recorded (Figure 2). ese
numbers mark a recessive trend that can be interpreted as a loss of interest or may mean that the growth of recent years has
saturated the market or halted as a consequence of the global pandemic. More than a third of the growth since 2019 came
from existing fact-checking sites that added new outlets to expand their reach to other places and dierent audiences, such as
France Press, the French international news service.
Figure 2. Changes in fact-checking agencies by year
Table 2. Change in active fact
-
checking
agencies
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
Total
289
351
401
419
424
417
Entrants
68
83
67
34
20
3
Leavers
21
17
16
15
9
2
Annual variation
47
66
51
19
11
1
Source: Duke Reporters
’
Lab (2023). Created by the authors
Figure 1: Active fact
-
checking
agencie
s by year
Source: Duke Reporters
’
Lab (2023). Created by the authors
The greatest growth was recorded in 2019, when 83 new fact
-
checking sites and
organis
ations were recorded (Figure 2). These numbers mark a recessive trend that can
be interpreted as a loss of interest or
may
mean that the growth of recent years has
saturated the market or
halt
ed as a
consequence
of
the global pandemic. More than a third
of the growth since 2019 came from existing fact
-
checking sites that added new outlets
to expand their reach to other places and different audiences, such as France Press, the
French international news service.
Figure 2: Changes in
fact-
checking
agencie
s by year
Source: Duke Reporters
’
Lab (2023). Created by the authors
Fact-checkers
, like their audiences, are a multilingual community, and many of them
publish their findings in
several
languages, either on the same website or, in some cases,
on alternative sites. English is the commonest language, followed by Spanish, French,
289
351
401
419
424
417
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
201820192020202120222023
Fact-
checking agencies by year
68
83
67
34
20
3
-20
0
20
40
60
80
100
201820192020202120222023
New
fact-
checking agencies
News
Annual variation
Source: Duke Reporters’ Lab (2023). Created by the authors
Fact-checkers, like their audiences, are a multilingual community, and many of them publish their ndings in several
languages, either on the same website or, in some cases, on alternative sites. English is the commonest language, followed
by Spanish, French, Arabic, Portuguese, Korean, German, and Hindi, according to the 2022 census (Stencel, M. et al., 2022).
According to the same census, almost two-thirds of fact-checkers are associated with media organisations. But there are also
other ties and business models, including links to academic institutions and non-governmental or nonprot organisations.
Some of these fact-checkers have agreements with various organisations. More than a fth of the community operates
independently (Stencel, M. et al., 2022).
3.2. Fact-checking sites in Latin America
Table 3 and Figure 3 show the relationship by country of location of the 54 active fact-checking agencies working in Spanish
or Portuguese from the Duke Reporters’ Lab census in 2023 that have been utilised in this study, from among the 417 in the
global census, practically 13% of the total (Duke University Reporters’ Lab; 2023).
Fato ou Fake
from the Globo Group, Brazil
has not been considered, since its most recent fact-checking is from April 2023, neither has
BioBioChile Notas Fakenews
since
its current activity consists, fundamentally, of the dissemination of information about fake news and not fact-checking itself,
nor have Fake News Report, of Chile, whose last fact-checking is from 2020, Ecuador Verica, because it reports to Ecuador
Chequea, or El Observador, from the TV channel La Sexta, Spain, because its fact-checking is handled by Newtral.
128 |
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doxa.comunicación
Table 3. Active fact-checking agencies by country (2023)
Country
Fact-checking agencies
Argentina3
Bolivia2
Brazil8
Chile9
Colombia4
Costa Rica
2
Cuba1
Ecuador1
Spain7
Guatemala1
Mexico4
Peru4
Portugal4
Uruguay1
Venezuela3
Total54
Source: Duke Reporters’ Lab (2023). Created by the authors
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María Francisca Montiel Torres and Laura Teruel Rodríguez
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Figure 3. Active fact-checking agencies by country (2023)
According to th
e
same census, almost two
-
thirds of fact
-
checkers are associated with
media organi
s
ations. But there are also other
ti
es and business models, including links to
academic institutions and non
-
governmental or nonprofit organi
s
ations. Some of these
fact-check
ers have agreements with
various
organis
ations. More than a fifth of the
community operates independently (Stencel, M. et al., 2022).
4.2. Fact
-
checking sites in Latin America
Table 3 and Figure 3 show the relationship by country of location of the 54 active fact
-
checking
agencies
working
in Spanish or Portuguese from the Duke Reporters' Lab
census
in 2023 that have been
utili
sed in this
study,
from among the 417 in the global
census, practically 13% of the total (Duke University Reporters' Lab; 2023).
Fato ou Fake
from
the Globo Group, Brazil has not been considered, since its most recent
fact-
checking
is
from April 2023, neither has
BioBioChile Notas Fakenews
since its current activity
consists, fundamentally, of the dissemination of information about fake news and not fact
-
checking itself, nor have Fake News Report, of Chile, whose last fact
-
checking is from
2020, Ecuador Verifica, because it reports to Ecuador Chequea,
or
El Observador, from
the TV channel La Sexta, Spain, because its fact
-
checking is handled by Newtral.
Table 3. Active fact
-
checking
agencie
s by country (2023)
Country
Fact-
checking
agencies
Argentina
3
Bolivia
2
Brazil
8
Chile
9
Colombia
4
Costa Rica
2
Cuba
1
Ecuador
1
Spain
7
Guatemala
1
Mexico
4
Peru
4
Portugal
4
Uruguay
1
Venezuela
3
Total
54
Source: Duke Reporter
s
' Lab (2023). Created by the authors
Figure 3: A
ctive
fact-
checking
agencie
s by country (2023)
3
2
8
9
4
2
11
7
1
444
1
3
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
ArgentinaBoliviaBrasilChileColombiaCosta
Rica
CubaEcuadorEspañaGuatemalaMéjicoPerúPortugalUruguayVenezuela
Active fact
-
checking agencies
Source: Duke Reporters’ Lab. Created by the authors
Table 4. Characteristics of active fact-checking agencies (2023)
CountryNameurlCityTypeAssociation
Year of
creation
IFCN
(Sept
2022)
Argentina
AFP Factual
(Argentina)
https://factual.afp.com/afp-
argentina
Buenos Aires
Media
France Press
2018ifcn
ArgentinaChequeadohttps://www.chequeado.com
Buenos Aires
NGO
Fundación de la Voz
Pública
2010ifcn
ArgentinaReversohttp://www.reversoar.com/
Buenos Aires
MediaChequeado2021
Bolivia
Bolivia Verica
https://boliviaverica.bo/
La Paz
NGO
Fundación para el
Periodismo
2019
Bolivia
Chequea Bolivia
https://chequeabolivia.bo/CochabambaIndependent
Centro de Estudios
de la Realidad
Económica y Social
(CERES)
2019
Brazil
AFP Checamos
(Brazil)
https://checamos.afp.com/
afp-brasil
Rio de Janeiro
Media
France Press
2018ifcn
Brazil
Agencia Lupa
https://piaui.folha.uol.com.
br/lupa/
Rio de Janeiro
Media
UOL Group
2019ifcn
Brazil
Aos Fatos
https://www.aosfatos.org
Rio de Janeiro
Independent2015ifcn
Brazil
Boatos
(“Rumores”)
Boatos.orgBrasiliaIndependent2013
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
130 |
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doxa.comunicación
BrazilComprova
https://projetocomprova.
com.br/
Sao Paulo
Media
Associação Brasileira
de Jornalismo
Investigativo
2018
Brazil
Estadão Verica
https://politica.estadao.com.
br/blogs/estadao-verica/
Sao Paulo
Media
Estadao Group
2018ifcn
BrazilE-farsashttp://www.e-farsas.com
Sao Paulo
Independent2012
BrazilUOL-Confere
https://noticias.uol.com.br/
confere
Sao Paulo
Media
UOL Group
2017ifcn
Chile
AFP Factual
(Chile)
https://factual.afp.com/afp-
chile
SantiagoMedia
France Press
2018ifcn
Chile
Cazadores de
Fake News
https://cazadoresdefakenews.
info/
SantiagoIndependent2019
Chile
El Polígrafo
https://digital.elmercurio.com/SantiagoMedia
El Mercurio
2013
ChileFastCheckCLhttps://fastcheck.cl/SantiagoIndependent2019ifcn
Chile
FactCheking CL
https://factchecking.cl/Santiago
Academic
institution
Ponticia Universidad
Católica de Chile
2018
Chile
La Tercera
https://www.latercera.com/
etiqueta/fact-checking/
SantiagoMedia
La Tercera
2019
Chile
Mala Espina
Check
https://www.malaespinacheck.
cl
SantiagoIndependent2019ifcn
Chile
Meganoticias’
Noticias Falsas
https://www.meganoticias.cl/
temas/Noticias-falsas/
SantiagoMedia
Canal Mega TV
2019
Chile
Observatorio
de Datos del
Periodismo y la
Comunicación
https://observatoriodedatos.
com/category/fact-checking/
Santiago
Academic
institution
Adolfo Ibáñez
University
2019
Colombia
AFP Factual
(Colombia)
https://factual.afp.com/afp-
Colombia
BogotaMedia
France Press
2018ifcn
Colombia
Colombia Check
https://colombiacheck.com/BogotaIndependentSeveral2016ifcn
Colombia
Detector de
mentiras
https://lasillavacia.com/
detector-mentiras
BogotaMedia
La Silla Vacía
2014ifcn
ColombiaRedCheckhttps://redcheq.com.co/BogotaMedia
e Editorial Board
2019
Costa RicaDoble Check
http://doblecheck.cr
San José
Academic
institution
Radioemisoras UCR
2018
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
doxa.comunicación |
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Costa RicaNo coma cuento
https://www.nacion.com/no-
coma-cuento/
San José
Media
La Nación
2018
Cuba
El toque de facto
https://eltoque.com/
proyectos/eltoque-defacto-
vericacion-datos
HavanaMedia
El Toque
2020
Ecuador
Ecuador
Chequea
https://www.ecuadorchequea.
com/
QuitoNGOFUNDAMEDIOS2019ifcn
Spain
AFP Comprovem
(Fact Check )
https://comprovem.afp.com/
list
BarcelonaMedia
France Press
2023ifcn
Spain
AFP Factual
(Spain)
https://factual.afp.com/afp-
espana
MadridMedia
France Press
2018ifcn
Spain
EFE
Vericahttps://verica.efe.com/MadridMedia
EFE Agency
2019ifcn
SpainMaldita.eshttps://maldita.es/MadridIndependent2014
SpainNewtralhttps://www.newtral.es/MadridIndependent2018ifcn
SpainVericathttps://www.vericat.cat/BarcelonaIndependent2019ifcn
SpainInfoveritashttps://info-veritas.com/Independent
AGRANDA, SL
2022
GuatemalaFáctica
https://www.agenciaocote.
com/proyectos/factica/
Guatemala
city
Independent
Ocote Agency
2022
Mexico
AFP Factual
(Mexico)
https://factual.afp.com/afp-
mexico
Mexico City
Media
France Press
2018ifcn
Mexico
El sabueso
(Animal político)
https://www.animalpolitico.
com/sabueso/
Mexico City
MediaAnimalPolítico2015ifcn
Mexico
Ficciones
Informativas
https://escenariotlx.com/
ccionesinformativas/
TlaxcalaMedia
Escenario Tlaxcala
2021
MexicoVericadohttps://vericado.com.mx/MontereyIndependent2018
Peru#ConvocaVerica
https://convoca.pe/verica/
reportaje
LimeMediaConvoca2020
Peru
Ojo Biónico
https://ojo-publico.com/
ojobionico
LimeIndependent
Ojo Público
2018
Peru
Salud con Lupa’s
Comprueba
https://saludconlupa.com/
comproba/
LimeMedia
Salud con Lupa
2019
PeruVericador
https://larepublica.pe/
vericador/
LimeMedia
Grupo La República
Publicaciones SA
2019ifcn
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
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doxa.comunicación
Portugal
Fact Checks do
Observador
http://observador.pt/seccao/
observador/fact-check/
LisbonMedia
El Observador
2015
PortugalPolígrafohttps://poligrafo.sapo.pt/LisbonIndependent2019ifcn
Portugal
Público’s Prova
dos Factos
https://www.publico.pt/prova-
dos-factos
LisbonMediaPúblico2016
Portugal
Viral Check
https://reporterslab.org/fact-
checking/#
LisbonIndependent2021ifcn
Uruguay
AFP Factual
(Uruguay)
https://factual.afp.com/afp-
uruguay
MontevideoMedia
France Press
2018ifcn
Venezuela
Cocuyo
Chequea
https://efectococuyo.com/
category/cocuyo-chequea/
CaracasMedia
Efecto Cocuyo
2018
VenezuelaCotejohttps://cotejo.info/BarquisimetoNGO
Asociación Civil
Medianálisis
2016
Venezuela
Es paja
https://espaja.com/CaracasIndependent
Transparencia
Venezuela
2019
Source: Duke Reporters’ Lab (2023). Created by the authors
A majority of them, 40, that is, 74%, practically three quarters, are located in the national capital (Table 4).
It should be noted that the agencies called AFP Factual, located in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Spain, Mexico, and
Uruguay, are sub-agencies of the France Press agency which work together.
e degree of complementarity and shared work carried out by many of the agencies, both nationally and between countries
is also worth highlighting. us, we nd Reverso and Chequeado in Argentina, RedCheck in Colombia, which is supported by
Colombia Check, Ecuador Verica, supported by Ecuador Chequea or El Objective in Spain, whose fact-checking personnel
are employees of Newtral, their sub-contractor. Among these agencies we must mention LatamChequea (
https://chequeado.
com/latamchequea/#/
), a network of fact-checkers from Latin America, the United States, Spain, and Portugal created and led
by Chequeado that was established in 2014 and currently brings together 38 media outlets in 18 countries. Its objective is to
share experiences and tools to improve the quality of public debate and foster collaborative processes between media in the
region to thus reinforce fact-checking and the struggle against disinformation.
Regarding their organisation and nancing, dierent categories can be established depending on whether they are integrated
into media groups and media outlets; are independent, based on private agencies or an associative network; are linked to non-
governmental or non-prot organisations or are dependent on academic institutions.
Although Table 5 and Figure 4 show the classication of the Duke Reporters’ Lab census that refers to what may be considered
the most important association, many of them share a relationship with the media, civil society and non-governmental
organisations and university departments, without forgetting international companies and institutions like the European
Journalism Centre in the Netherlands, the National Endowment for Democracy, Facebook, Google, the International Center for
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
doxa.comunicación |
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María Francisca Montiel Torres and Laura Teruel Rodríguez
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
Journalists, the omson Foundation, the Poynter Institute’s International Fact-Checking Network, Open Society Foundations,
Oxfam or PolitiFact.
Table 5. Active fact-checking agencies by category (2023)
CategoryNumberPercentage
Percentage of the global census
(2022)
Media2953.70%
59%
Independent1833.33%
23%
NGO47.41%
12%
Academic
institution
35.56%
6%
Total54100%
100%
Source: Duke Reporters’ Lab (2023). Created by the authors
Figure 4. Active fact-checking agencies by category (2023)
Table 5. Active fact
-
checking
agencie
s by
category
(2023)
Category
Number
Percentage
Percentage
of
the global
census
(2022)
Media
29
53.70%
59%
Independent
18
33.33%
23%
NGO
4
7.41%
12%
Academic institution
3
5.56%
6%
Total
54
100%
100%
Source: Duke Reporter
s
' Lab (2023). Created by the authors
Figure 4: Active fact
-
checking
agencie
s by
category
(2023)
Source: Duke
Reporters
' Lab (2023). Created by the authors
29 of the 54
agencie
s
studi
ed, that is 54%, are
associated
with
the media; 18, 33%,
consider themselves independent or unaffiliated; 4 are associated with NGOs
,
7%,
and
finally
3 with academic institutions, 6%. The percentages are similar to the total number
of
fact-
checking
agencie
s
gather
ed in the database where, in the 2022 census, 59% were
associated
with the media, 23% were considered independent, 12% affiliated with NGOs
and 6% with an academic institution.
T
here seem to be fewer ties to the media in Latin
America,
agencie
s considered to be
independent
being favoured
.
If we look at the year the agencies were set up, the oldest
agency
is Chequeado from
Argentina, linked to the NGO Fundación de la Voz Pública, which has been active since
2010 and is one of the top ten fact
-
checkers
in the world, whilst the
newest
fact-checkers
are
Fáctica
from
Guatemala. and Infoveritas
from
España, which began to operate in
2022, both of these being
independent,
and AFP Comprovem (Fact Check), a Catalan
version of AFP Factual existing since 2023. If the Latin American data on the creation of
fact-
checking sites is compared with the
development
of new global
agencie
s, it can be
seen
that activity in the southern cone in
2018-
2019 was considerably greater than total
activity in terms of
the
setting up of
agencies.
ϱϰй
ϯϯй
ϳй
ϲй
Fact-
checking agencies by association
Media
Independent
NGO
Academic Institution
Source: Duke Reporters’ Lab (2023). Created by the authors
29 of the 54 agencies studied, that is 54%, are associated with the media; 18, 33%, consider themselves independent or
unaliated; 4 are associated with NGOs, 7%, and nally 3 with academic institutions, 6%. e percentages are similar to the
total number of fact-checking agencies gathered in the database where, in the 2022 census, 59% were associated with the
media, 23% were considered independent, 12% aliated with NGOs and 6% with an academic institution. ere seem to be
fewer ties to the media in Latin America, agencies considered to be independent being favoured.
134 |
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doxa.comunicación
If we look at the year the agencies were set up, the oldest agency is Chequeado from Argentina, linked to the NGO Fundación
de la Voz Pública, which has been active since 2010 and is one of the top ten fact
-
checkers
in the world, whilst the newest
fact-checkers are Fáctica from Guatemala. and Infoveritas from España, which began to operate in 2022, both of these being
independent, and AFP Comprovem (Fact Check), a Catalan version of AFP Factual existing since 2023. If the Latin American
data on the creation of fact-checking sites is compared with the development of new global agencies, it can be seen that activity
in the southern cone in 2018-2019 was considerably greater than total activity in terms of the setting up of agencies.
Figure 5. Active fact-checking agencies by year of establishment
Figure 5. Active fact
-
checking
agencie
s by year of
establishment
Source: Duke Reporter
s
' Lab (2023). Created by the authors
4.3. The people who do the checking. Sex/gender analysis
In order to collect data on the people who work in these
agencie
s and analy
s
e the role of
women
therein
, the corresponding websites have been visited and the data they offer in
their personnel section ha
s
been catalog
u
ed, taking into account their sex and the type of
tasks they perform, data that is not
includ
ed in the Duke Reporters' Lab reports.
This information was not available on all websites, either because
it
did not exist or
because they were not disaggregated from the parent institution or company, especially
true of those
associat
ed
with
the media. In
such
cases the data was requested through their
respective
contact channels, either via the web or via email. And finally, when this route
did not prove to be effective, individual authorship of the fact
-
checking
over
the most
recent period
(January-
July 2023) was looked at. All of which provides added value to
this
study.
It should be noted that, when refining the data, a series of restrictive criteria have been
established. Thus, Ecuador's two fact
-
checking
agencie
s, Ecuador Verifica and Ecuador
Chequea, which share Ecuador Chequea personnel, are considered, for the purposes of
this study, to be a single fact
-
checking site; for the Reverso and Chequeado
agencies
in
Argentina, which also share personnel, staff were counted as working for
Chequeado,
and
in Spain where El Objective
from
L
a Sexta uses Newtral personnel, only Newtral has
been
considered and, from among its personnel, only those specifically dedicated to fact
-
checking tasks, as stated on its public website.
After these refinements, the global sample was deemed to be representative and reliable
for the purposes of this
study.
The first conclusion is that women predominate in the media analy
s
ed in all the countries,
except in Chile, Ecuador, and Venezuela.
57%
of the total
of
personnel analy
s
ed were
women and 43% men, a difference of 14 percent (Figure 7). The country with the most
people counted is Spain (86) followed by Portugal (78), Brazil (70), Argentina (52) and
Chile (34) (Figure 6).
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
20102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023
Fact-
checking aencies by year of establishment
Source: Duke Reporters’ Lab (2023). Created by the authors
3.3. e people who do the checking. Sex/gender analysis
In order to collect data on the people who work in these agencies and analyse the role of women therein, the corresponding
websites have been visited and the data they oer in their personnel section has been catalogued, taking into account their sex
and the type of tasks they perform, data that is not included in the Duke Reporters’ Lab reports.
is information was not available on all websites, either because it did not exist or because they were not disaggregated from
the parent institution or company, especially true of those associated with the media. In such cases the data was requested
through their respective contact channels, either via the web or via email. And nally, when this route did not prove to be
eective, individual authorship of the fact-checking over the most recent period (January-July 2023) was looked at. All of which
provides added value to this study.
It should be noted that, when rening the data, a series of restrictive criteria have been established. us, Ecuador’s two fact-
checking agencies, Ecuador Verica and Ecuador Chequea, which share Ecuador Chequea personnel, are considered, for
the purposes of this study, to be a single fact-checking site; for the Reverso and Chequeado agencies in Argentina, which also
share personnel, sta were counted as working for Chequeado, and in Spain where El Objective from La Sexta uses Newtral
doxa.comunicación |
nº 38, pp. 119-148
| 135
January-June of 2024
María Francisca Montiel Torres and Laura Teruel Rodríguez
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
personnel, only Newtral has been considered and, from among its personnel, only those specically dedicated to fact-checking
tasks, as stated on its public website.
After these renements, the global sample was deemed to be representative and reliable for the purposes of this study.
e rst conclusion is that women predominate in the media analysed in all the countries, except in Chile, Ecuador, and
Venezuela. 57% of the total of personnel analysed were women and 43% men, a dierence of 14 percent (Figure 7). e country
with the most people counted is Spain (86) followed by Portugal (78), Brazil (70), Argentina (52) and Chile (34) (Figure 6).
Figure 6. Personnel in active fact-checking agencies by country and sex (2023)
Figure 6. Personnel in active fact
-
checking agencies by country and sex (2023)
Source: Duke Reporter
s
' Lab (2023). Fact
-
checking
agency
websites.
Created by the authors
Figure 7: Personnel in active fact
-
checking
agencie
s by sex (2023)
Source: Duke Reporters' Lab (2023). Fact
-
checking
agency
websites.
Created by the authors
Among the
agencie
s with the greatest number of people employed are Chequeado from
Argentina, with 38, Bolivia Verifica, with 21, Agencia Lupa from Brazil, with 31,
Maldita.es from Spain, with 44 and Polígrafo and Viral Check from Portugal, with 30
employees
. The di
fferences
in the number
s
of people dedicated to fact
-
checking may be
due to the typ
e
of
agency
, thus those specifically dedicated to fact
-
checking employ more
personnel, some dedicated to administrative or technical work at the same time
as
checking
, while in others these tasks are assumed by the global structure sustaining the
agencies.
To contextuali
s
e the personnel data disaggregated by sex, the active population and
employment data provided by the International Labor Organization (International Labor
Organization. ILOSTATS, 2023
-
1, 2023
-
2) ha
s
been used, the data figuring in Table 6
and Figure 8. For the purposes of the study, active population is understood to be all
people of working age who are currently employed or unemployed, while
the
employed
or active population are considered to be all those of working age who, during the
specified time, were engaged in paid employment or self
-employment.
24
12
27
18
10
3
1
7
35
5
8
15
35
0
10
28
17
43
1616
9
5
3
51
3
1616
43
5
10
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Personnel in active fact
-
checking agencies by sex & country
Men
Women
43%
57%
Personnel in fact
-
checking agencies by sex
Men
Women
Source: Duke Reporters’ Lab (2023). Fact-checking agency websites. Created by the authors
Figure 7. Personnel in active fact-checking agencies by sex (2023)
Figure 6. Personnel in active fact
-
checking agencies by country and sex (2023)
Source: Duke Reporter
s
' Lab (2023). Fact
-
checking
agency
websites.
Created by the authors
Figure 7: Personnel in active fact
-
checking
agencie
s by sex (2023)
Source: Duke Reporters' Lab (2023). Fact
-
checking
agency
websites.
Created by the authors
Among the
agencie
s with the greatest number of people employed are Chequeado from
Argentina, with 38, Bolivia Verifica, with 21, Agencia Lupa from Brazil, with 31,
Maldita.es from Spain, with 44 and Polígrafo and Viral Check from Portugal, with 30
employees
. The di
fferences
in the number
s
of people dedicated to fact
-
checking may be
due to the typ
e
of
agency
, thus those specifically dedicated to fact
-
checking employ more
personnel, some dedicated to administrative or technical work at the same time
as
checking
, while in others these tasks are assumed by the global structure sustaining the
agencies.
To contextuali
s
e the personnel data disaggregated by sex, the active population and
employment data provided by the International Labor Organization (International Labor
Organization. ILOSTATS, 2023
-
1, 2023
-
2) ha
s
been used, the data figuring in Table 6
and Figure 8. For the purposes of the study, active population is understood to be all
people of working age who are currently employed or unemployed, while
the
employed
or active population are considered to be all those of working age who, during the
specified time, were engaged in paid employment or self
-employment.
24
12
27
18
10
3
1
7
35
5
8
15
35
0
10
28
17
43
1616
9
5
3
51
3
1616
43
5
10
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Personnel in active fact
-
checking agencies by sex & country
Men
Women
43%
57%
Personnel in fact
-
checking agencies by sex
Men
Women
Source: Duke Reporters’ Lab (2023). Fact-checking agency websites. Created by the authors
136 |
nº 38, pp. 119-148
|
January-June of 2024
Fact-checking in Iberoamerica. A sex/gender analysis
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
doxa.comunicación
Among the agencies with the greatest number of people employed are Chequeado from Argentina, with 38, Bolivia Verica,
with 21, Agencia Lupa from Brazil, with 31,
Maldita.es
from Spain, with 44 and Polígrafo and Viral Check from Portugal, with 30
employees. e dierences in the numbers of people dedicated to fact-checking may be due to the type of agency, thus those
specically dedicated to fact-checking employ more personnel, some dedicated to administrative or technical work at the
same time as checking, while in others these tasks are assumed by the global structure sustaining the agencies.
To contextualise the personnel data disaggregated by sex, the active population and employment data provided by the
International Labor Organization (International Labor Organization. ILOSTATS, 2023-1, 2023-2) has been used, the data
guring in Table 6 and Figure 8. For the purposes of the study, active population is understood to be all people of working age
who are currently employed or unemployed, while the employed or active population are considered to be all those of working
age who, during the specied time, were engaged in paid employment or self-employment.
Table 6. Active population and employed population by sex and country in thousands
Active populationEmployed population
CountryYear
Both
genders
MenWomen%Men%Women
Both
genders
MenWomen%Men%Women
Argentina
202113,413.47,557.15,856.356.34%43.66%12,241.66,960.75,280.956.86%43.14%
Bolivia
20226,645.23,518.23,127.052.94%47.06%6,149.13,274.62,874.553.25%46.75%
Brazil
2022107,877.360,519.447,357.956.10%43.90%97,919.056,003.041,916.057.19%42.81%
Chile
20229,675.15,561.64,113.557.48%42.52%8,877.05,125.93,751.157.74%42.26%
Colombia
202224,629.814,270.310,359.557.94%42.06%22,032.213,039.88,992.459.19%40.81%
Costa Rica
20222,521.41,497.11,024.359.38%40.62%2,235.91,367.5868.361.16%38.84%
Cuba
20145,105.53,197.41,908.162.63%37.37%4,918.83,080.21,838.662.62%37.38%
Ecuador
20228,356.04,834.13,521.957.85%42.15%8,041.84,676.43,365.458.15%41.85%
Spain
202223,415.312,357.911,057.452.78%47.22%20,390.510,965.29,425.353.78%46.22%
Guatemala
20227,171.24,470.02,701.262.33%37.67%6,952.44,373.92,578.562.91%37.09%
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
doxa.comunicación |
nº 38, pp. 119-148
| 137
January-June of 2024
María Francisca Montiel Torres and Laura Teruel Rodríguez
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
Mexico
202259,209.535,587.323,622.260.10%39.90%57,281.634,440.722,841.060.13%39.87%
Peru
202219,350.410,538.38,812.154.46%45.54%18,605.210,190.48,414.854.77%45.23%
Portugal
20225,222.72,615.12,607.650.07%49.93%4,908.72,470.12,438.650.32%49.68%
Uruguay
20221,806.3977.0829.354.09%45.91%1,664.1909.8754.354.67%45.33%
Venezuela
202014,654.38,829.45,824.960.25%39.75%13,551.48,186.65,364.860.41%39.59%
Source: International Labor Organization. ILOSTATS (September 2023). Created by the authors
Contrary to what can be observed in the sample of fact-checking agencies in all the countries in our study, the number of
women who form part of the labour force, whether in the active population or the employed population, is lower than that of
men, with considerable percentage dierences, over 10%, except in Bolivia, Spain, Portugal and Uruguay, in both cases, and in
Peru concerning the active population, while in the personnel counted in the agencies studied there is a 14% average majority
of women over men.
Figure 8. Employed population by country and sex
Table 6: Active population and employed population by sex and country in thousands
Active population Employed population
Country
Year
Both
genders
Men
Women
%Men
%Women
Both
genders
Men
Women
%Men
%Women
Argentina
2021
13,413.4
7,557.1
5,856.3
56.34%
43.66%
12,241.6
6,960.7
5,280.9
56.86%
43.14%
Bolivia
2022
6,645.2
3,518.2
3,127.0
52.94%
47.06%
6,149.1
3,274.6
2,874.5
53.25%
46.75%
Brazil
2022
107,877.3
60,519.4
47,357.9
56.10%
43.90%
97,919.0
56,003.0
41,916.0
57.19%
42.81%
Chile
2022
9,675.1
5,561.6
4,113.5
57.48%
42.52%
8,877.0
5,125.9
3,751.1
57.74%
42.26%
Colombia
2022
24,629.8
14,270.3
10,359.5
57.94%
42.06%
22,032.2
13,039.8
8,992.4
59.19%
40.81%
Costa Rica
2022
2,521.4
1,497.1
1,024.3
59.38%
40.62%
2,235.9
1,367.5
868.3
61.16%
38.84%
Cuba
2014
5,105.5
3,197.4
1,908.1
62.63%
37.37%
4,918.8
3,080.2
1,838.6
62.62%
37.38%
Ecuador
2022
8,356.0
4,834.1
3,521.9
57.85%
42.15%
8,041.8
4,676.4
3,365.4
58.15%
41.85%
Spain
2022
23,415.3
12,357.9
11,057.4
52.78%
47.22%
20,390.5
10,965.2
9,425.3
53.78%
46.22%
Guatemala
2022
7,171.2
4,470.0
2,701.2
62.33%
37.67%
6,952.4
4,373.9
2,578.5
62.91%
37.09%
Mexico
2022
59,209.5
35,587.3
23,622.2
60.10%
39.90%
57,281.6
34,440.7
22,841.0
60.13%
39.87%
Peru
2022
19,350.4
10,538.3
8,812.1
54.46%
45.54%
18,605.2
10,190.4
8,414.8
54.77%
45.23%
Portugal
2022
5,222.7
2,615.1
2,607.6
50.07%
49.93%
4,908.7
2,470.1
2,438.6
50.32%
49.68%
Uruguay
2022
1,806.3
977.0
829.3
54.09%
45.91%
1,664.1
909.8
754.3
54.67%
45.33%
Venezuela
2020
14,654.3
8,829.4
5,824.9
60.25%
39.75%
13,551.4
8,186.6
5,364.8
60.41%
39.59%
Source: International Labor Organization. ILOSTATS (September 2023)
.
Created by the authors
Contrary to what can be observed in the sample of fact
-
checking
agencie
s in all the
countries in our study, the number of women who
form
part of the labo
u
r force,
whether
in the active population or the employed population, is lower than that of men, with
considerable percentage differences,
over
10%,
except
in
Bolivia, Spain, Portugal and
Uruguay, in both cases
,
and
in
Peru
concerning
the active population, while in the
personnel counted in the
agencie
s studied there is a 14% average majority of women
over
men.
Figure 8: Employed population by country and sex
Source: International Labor Organization. ILOSTATS (September 2023)
.
Created by the authors
Regarding the type of
association
, the personnel
are
distributed as shown in Table 7 and
Figure 9. The largest number of people corresponds to the
agencie
s related with the media
(more than 44%), followed by
agencie
s classified as independent, no
n-government
al
organisations and lastly, academic institutions.
0,00%
10,00%
20,00%
30,00%
40,00%
50,00%
60,00%
70,00%
Employed population by country & sex
%Men
%Women
Source: International Labor Organization. ILOSTATS (September 2023). Created by the authors
Regarding the type of association, the personnel are distributed as shown in Table 7 and Figure 9. e largest number of people
corresponds to the agencies related with the media (more than 44%), followed by agencies classied as independent, non-
governmental organisations and lastly, academic institutions.
138 |
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|
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Fact-checking in Iberoamerica. A sex/gender analysis
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
doxa.comunicación
Table 7. Personnel in active fact-checking agencies by association and sex (2023)
Category
NumberPercentage
MenWomenTotal
% Men% Women
Media
8613221839.4560.55
Independent
779016746.1153.89
NGO
33336650.0050.00
Academic institution
14264035.0065.00
Total
21028149142.7757.23
Source: Duke Reporters’ Lab (2023). Fact-checking agency websites. Created by the authors
Figure 9. Personnel in active fact-checking agencies by category (2023)
Table 7. Personnel in active fact
-
checking
agencie
s by
associa
tion and sex (2023)
Category
Number
Percentage
Men
Women
Total
%Men
%Women
Media
86
132
218
39.45
60.55
Independent
77
90
167
46.11
53.89
NGO
33
33
66
50.00
50.00
Academic
institution
14
26
40
35.00
65.00
Total
210
281
491
42.77
57.23
Source: Duke Reporters' Lab (2023). Fact
-
checking
agency
websites.
Created by the authors
Figure 9: Personnel in active fact
-
checking
agencie
s by
category
(2023)
Source: Duke
Reporters
' Lab (2023). Fact
-
checking
agency
websites.
Created by the authors
If Figures 4 and 9 are compared, both of which refer to the percent
ual
weights of the
different types of
association
, it can be seen that while in number of
agencie
s those
ti
ed
to the media represented 54%, in t
erms
of personnel they represent
only
44%;
Independent
agencie
s represent 33% of the total of agencies and 34% of the staff. NGOs
accounted for 9% of the number of agencies and represented 14% of staff, academic
institutions,
6%
of agencies, accounted for 8% of staff. This may be due, as mentioned
previously
, to the fact that in
agencie
s associated with corporations, certain jobs, such as
organis
ation or administration, are carried out by personnel from the general structure of
the corporation, not
assigned
, therefore,
to
fact-
checking
data.
In all cases the number of women is higher than that of men,
over
20 percent
higher
for
the media, 8% more for independent
agencie
s, there are no differences in the case of
NGOs and 30
%
for academic institutions.
To systemati
s
e the tasks performed by people working
for
fact-
checking
agencie
s, three
categories have been established: production/administration, writing
/editorial,
and
technical support.
44%
34%
14%
8%
Staff of fact
-
checking agencies by association
Media
Independent
NGO
Academic Institution
Source: Duke Reporters’ Lab (2023). Fact-checking agency websites. Created by the authors
If Figures 4 and 9 are compared, both of which refer to the percentual weights of the dierent types of association, it can
be seen that while in number of agencies those tied to the media represented 54%, in terms of personnel they represent
only 44%; Independent agencies represent 33% of the total of agencies and 34% of the sta. NGOs accounted for 9% of the
number of agencies and represented 14% of sta, academic institutions, 6% of agencies, accounted for 8% of sta. is may
be due, as mentioned previously, to the fact that in agencies associated with corporations, certain jobs, such as organisation
or administration, are carried out by personnel from the general structure of the corporation, not assigned, therefore, to fact-
checking data.
In all cases the number of women is higher than that of men, over 20 percent higher for the media, 8% more for independent
agencies, there are no dierences in the case of NGOs and 30% for academic institutions.
doxa.comunicación |
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| 139
January-June of 2024
María Francisca Montiel Torres and Laura Teruel Rodríguez
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
To systematise the tasks performed by people working for fact-checking agencies, three categories have been established:
production/administration, writing/editorial, and technical support.
e rst category includes tasks such as executive and journalistic management, senior management, heads of media, press,
communication, training, coordination, human resources, middle management, accounting, etc. As previously mentioned,
such tasks are present above all in independent or NGO agencies since those linked to the media or academic institutions
use the resources of their parent institutions. Classied as editorial sta are editors, journalists, reporters, fact-checkers, etc.
Finally, grouped as technical support sta, are those who carry out tasks related to audiovisual media, graphics, web editing or
technological infrastructure (Table 8 and Figure 10).
Table 8. Personnel in active fact-checking agencies by task and sex (2023)
Task
NumberPercentage
MenWomenTotal%Men%Women
Number
Production/administration416610738.32%61.68%
Writing/editorial14120234341.11%58.89%
Technical support
28134168.29%31.71%
Total21028149142.77%57.23%
Percentage
Production/administration19.52%23.49%21.79%
Writing/editorial67.14%71.89%69.86%
Technical support
13.33%4.63%8.35%
Source: Fact-checking agency websites. Created by the authors
140 |
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|
January-June of 2024
Fact-checking in Iberoamerica. A sex/gender analysis
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
doxa.comunicación
Figure 10. Personnel in active fact-checking agencies by task and gender (2023)
T
he first category
includes
tasks such as executive and journalistic management,
senior
management, head
s
of media, press, communication, training, coordination, human
resources, middle management, accounting, etc.
A
s
previously
mentioned,
such
tasks are
present above all in independent or NGO
agencie
s since those linked to the media or
academic institutions use the resources of the
ir
parent institutions.
C
lassified as editorial
staff
are
editors, journalists, reporters,
fact-checkers,
etc.
Finally,
grouped as technical
suppo
rt
staff
, are those who carry out tasks related to audiovisual media, graphics, web
editing or technological infrastructure (Table 8 and Figure 10).
Table 8. Personnel in active fact
-
checking
agencie
s by task and sex (2023)
Task
Number
Percentage
Men
Women
Total
%Men
%Women
Number
Production/administration
41
66
107
38.32%
61.68%
Writing/editorial
141
202
343
41.11%
58.89%
Technical support
28
13
41
68.29%
31.71%
Total
210
281
491
42.77%
57.23%
Percentage
Production/administration
19.52%
23.49%
21.79%
Writing/editorial
67.14%
71.89%
69.86%
Technical support
13.33%
4.63%
8.35%
Source: Fact
-
checking
agency
websites.
Created by the authors
Figure 10: Personnel in active fact
-
checking
agencie
s by task and gender (2023)
Source: Fact
-
checking
agency
websites.
Created by the authors
The largest number of people is dedicated to writing tasks, 70%, both
among
men, 67%,
and women, 72%; 22%
are
dedicated to
p
roduction/administration tasks, while 8%
perform technical tasks. The generali
s
ed bias of a greater number of men dedicated to
technical
tasks
raises its head again here, as well as the greater number of women
dedicated to production/administration jobs, which shows a certain horizontal
segregation.
One of the occupations specified in many
agencie
s as a key task is that of training. Of the
people analy
s
ed, 23 were specifically assigned as
trainers,
training coordinators or
training directors, of
these,
17 are women and 6 men. Although the number of cases is
small and it would be
dangerous
to draw general conclusions, the data
would
seem to
confirm
the dedication of women to teaching (Figure 11).
41
141
28
66
202
13
0
50
100
150
200
250
Prod/AdminWrite/editTechnical
Staff in fact
-
checking agencies by tasks
Men
Women
Source: Fact-checking agency websites. Created by the authors
e largest number of people is dedicated to writing tasks, 70%, both among men, 67%, and women, 72%; 22% are dedicated to
production/administration tasks, while 8% perform technical tasks. e generalised bias of a greater number of men dedicated
to technical tasks raises its head again here, as well as the greater number of women dedicated to production/administration
jobs, which shows a certain horizontal segregation.
One of the occupations specied in many agencies as a key task is that of training. Of the people analysed, 23 were specically
assigned as trainers, training coordinators or training directors, of these, 17 are women and 6 men. Although the number
of cases is small and it would be dangerous to draw general conclusions, the data would seem to conrm the dedication of
women to teaching (Figure 11).
Figure 11. Personnel in active fact-checking agencies in training tasks (2023)
Figure 11: Personnel in active fact
-
checking
agencie
s in training tasks
(2023)
Source: Fact
-
checking
agency
websites.
Created by the authors
M
anagerial responsibility of different employees has also been established
by
defining
two categories: managers and non
-
managers. The category of
manage
rs includes all those
persons thus designated, such as Executive
Management
,
Senior
Management
,
Management of New Technologies, or who hold a relevant position of leadership,
coordination or responsibility, Presidency, Vice
-Presidency,
or as General Secretary.
Table 9 and Figure 12 show the results obtained, which, although they
coincide
, reveal
the vertical segregation by sex that takes place in this as in other activities since 54% of
the managers are women, while
among
the
total
staff women make up 57%. Analy
s
ing
by sex, 21% of men deal with managerial tasks as opposed to 19% of
women.
Table 9. Personnel in active fact
-
checking agencies by responsibility and sex (2023)
Responsibility
Number
Percentage
Men
Women
Total
%Men
%Women
Number
Executive
44
51
95
46.32%
53.68%
Non-directive
166
230
396
41.92%
58.08%
Total
210
281
491
42.77%
57.23%
Percentage
Executive
20.95%
18.15%
19.35%
Non-directive
79.05%
81.85%
80.65%
Source: Fact
-
checking
agency
websites.
Created by the authors
Figure 12: Personnel in active fact
-
checking
agencie
s by responsibility and gender
(2023)
Source: Fact
-
checking
agency
websites.
26%
74%
Personnel in fact
-
checking agencies in training tasks
Men
Women
0
50
100
150
200
250
ManagerNon-manager
Personnel in fact
-
checking agencies by responsibility
Men
Women
Source: Fact-checking agency websites. Created by the authors
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Managerial responsibility of dierent employees has also been established by dening two categories: managers and non-
managers. e category of managers includes all those persons thus designated, such as Executive Management, Senior
Management, Management of New Technologies, or who hold a relevant position of leadership, coordination or responsibility,
Presidency, Vice-Presidency, or as General Secretary.
Table 9 and Figure 12 show the results obtained, which, although they coincide, reveal the vertical segregation by sex that takes
place in this as in other activities since 54% of the managers are women, while among the total sta women make up 57%.
Analysing by sex, 21% of men deal with managerial tasks as opposed to 19% of women.
Table 9. Personnel in active fact-checking agencies by responsibility and sex (2023)
Responsibility
NumberPercentage
MenWomenTotal%Men%Women
Number
Executive44519546.32%53.68%
Non-directive16623039641.92%58.08%
Total21028149142.77%57.23%
Percentage
Executive20.95%18.15%19.35%
Non-directive79.05%81.85%80.65%
Source: Fact-checking agency websites. Created by the authors
Figure 12. Personnel in active fact-checking agencies by responsibility and gender
(2023)
Figure 11: Personnel in active fact
-
checking
agencie
s in training tasks
(2023)
Source: Fact
-
checking
agency
websites.
Created by the
authors
M
anagerial responsibility of different employees has also been established
by
defining
two categories: managers and non
-
managers. The category of
manage
rs includes all those
persons thus designated, such as Executive
Management
,
Senior
Management
,
Management of New Technologies, or who hold a relevant position of leadership,
coordination or responsibility, Presidency, Vice
-Presidency,
or as General Secretary.
Table 9 and Figure 12 show the results obtained, which, although they
coincide
, reveal
the vertical segregation by sex that takes place in this as in other activities since 54% of
the managers are women, while
among
the
total
staff women make up 57%. Analy
s
ing
by sex, 21% of men deal with managerial tasks as opposed to 19% of
women.
Table 9. Personnel in active fact
-
checking agencies by responsibility and sex (2023)
Responsibility
Number
Percentage
Men
Women
Total
%Men
%Women
Number
Executive
44
51
95
46.32%
53.68%
Non-directive
166
230
396
41.92%
58.08%
Total
210
281
491
42.77%
57.23%
Percentage
Executive
20.95%
18.15%
19.35%
Non-directive
79.05%
81.85%
80.65%
Source: Fact
-
checking
agency
websites.
Created by the authors
Figure 12: Personnel in active fact
-
checking
agencie
s by responsibility and gender
(2023)
Source: Fact
-
checking
agency
websites.
26%
74%
Personnel in fact
-
checking agencies in training tasks
Men
Women
0
50
100
150
200
250
ManagerNon-manager
Personnel in fact
-
checking agencies by responsibility
Men
Women
Comentado [EF4]:
Men
Women
Managerial
Non-managerial
Source: Fact-checking agency websites. Created by the authors
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To rene the result obtained, it is compared once again with the data that, at a general level, is provided by the statistics
system of the International Labor Organization, which provides the percentage of women in management positions (Portion
of women in managerial positions %) (International Labor Organization. ILOSTATS, 2023-3) which understands managerial
employment as that which falls into category 1 of the International Standard Classication of Occupations (ISCO), that is,
directors and managers, with the results shown in Table 10.
Table 10. Percentage of women in management positions
CountryYear%Men%Women
Argentina202167.3%32.7%
Bolivia202265.6%34.4%
Brazil202260.7%39.3%
Chile202270.4%29.6%
Colombia202256.5%43.5%
Costa Rica
202254.0%46.0%
Cuba201061.9%38.1%
Ecuador202261.2%38.8%
Spain202265.3%34.7%
Guatemala202264.7%35.3%
Mexico202260.8%39.2%
Peru202264.2%35.8%
Portugal202263.1%36.9%
Uruguay202264.0%36.0%
Venezuela201767.2%32.8%
Source: International Labor Organization. ILOSTATS (September 2023). Created by the authors
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An average dierence greater than 26% in favour of men can be estimated. e largest gender gap is in Chile, at 41 percent, and
the smallest in Costa Rica, 8%, but the majority are over 20%.
Among the total active and employed population one can estimate an average gender gap of 15 percentage points in favour
of men, while amongst those who work in fact-checking agencies this average gap would be 14% in favour of women. In the
case of management positions, this dierence reaches 26 percent among the total population, while in the case of personnel
counted in the fact-checking agencies analysed it is 8 percent in favour of women.
Reuters Institute has recently published the results of its study Women and Leadership in the News Media in 2023: Evidence
from 12 Markets (Reuters Institute, 2023). e sample includes South Africa, Kenya, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Finland,
Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, Mexico, and Brazil. Its conclusions highlight that barely 22% of the
180 hierarchical positions in the 240 media outlets analysed are held by women, despite the fact that, on average, women
represent 40% of the total number of journalists in the profession across the 12 markets. Last year this gure was 21%. e
percentage of women in management positions varies signicantly between the dierent markets, from 5% in Mexico to 44%
in the United States.
Although the geographical areas studied may dier, the greater presence of women in positions of responsibility within data
fact-checking agencies is apparent once again.
4. Discussion and conclusions
roughout this study, the main objective has been to analyse fact-checking agencies in the Ibero-American area, that is,
in Latin America, Spain and Portugal. Previous consideration showed a manifest interest amongst media organisations,
universities and in civil society for action of this type, this having been conrmed since the global census of the Duke Reporters’
Lab, composed in 2023 of 417 active agencies, showed 54 in this geographical region (Dafonte, Corbacho & García, 2021).
One of the most signicant ndings has been the degree of complementarity and shared work carried out by many of the
agencies, both within one country and among several, creating networks of cooperation, among which LatamChequea stands
out, including as it does 38 fact-checking organisations from 18 nations. is data conrms previous studies (omas, 2017;
Palomo, Teruel & Blanco, 2019) that showed how, due to the volume of data involved, the scarcity of resources or the weakness
of the business structure, many of these agencies in Latin America decided to operate jointly to optimise their work and achieve
results that they could not achieve utilising their resources alone. Such collaboration aims to consolidate large-scale public
service information activity that prioritises the societal agenda (Palau, 2018).
With reference to the above, Saldaña & Mourão (2018) had identied diculties in performing
watchdog journalism
in Latin
America due to the lack of a culture of investigative journalism, the high levels of crime and corruption, censorship, and media
ownership structure. is explains why the percentage of independent agencies is higher in the region than the global gures.
us, of the 54 agencies studied, 57%, are associated with the media, versus 59%, in the total census; 29% consider themselves
independent or unaliated, compared to 23% around the world; those associated with NGOs make up 9%, compared to 12%.
As Westlund and Ekström (2018) point out, research must pay attention to news platforms that operate independently on
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networks outside of mainstream media. Even more so since these agencies, despite their generally being quite small, are
pioneers in applying new technologies such as Articial Intelligence in daily journalistic work and this marks a way forward
for traditional media (Sánchez & Sánchez, 2022).
e second specic objective of this study was to address the sex-gender analysis of the employment structure of these fact-
checking companies. To this end, a specic categorisation has been established for the study and it has been compared with
the data provided by the agencies, contacting them on the many occasions where the data was not public.
Of the total number of sta analysed, 57% were women and 43% men, a dierence of 14 percentage points. In all countries,
with the exception of Chile, Ecuador and Venezuela, the number of female fact-checkers is greater than that of men. e gures
show a positive balance in terms of equality for this new journalistic business model. Something of particular value as it occurs
in a context of violence in which female journalists face additional diculties in the performance of their profession (Tejedor,
Cervi & Tusa, 2022). In fact-checking agencies, they manage to overcome the systematic exclusion in the public sphere and the
structural discrimination that characterises the region (De Frutos & Jorge, 2022).
However, the ne print of this data needs to be studied, here one nds that there are a greater number of men dedicated to
technical jobs and of women in production/ administration jobs. Training tasks usually fall to the women as well.
e fact that 54% of the executives in these companies are women - and that is a gure which is growing - is at least encouraging.
It is a gure that encourages one to consider that progress is being made in eliminating the glass ceiling, because they represent
57% of the workforce in the projects analysed. It can be concluded that, in the area studied, progress is being made to end the
vertical segregation present across a wide range of economic sectors.
ese gures bring to mind that fact-checking tasks were
women’s work
in the printed press during the rst half of the 20th
century and continue to be so on the new fact-checking platforms; and how women have traditionally been in charge of
meticulous tasks of recompiling and systematising data in science throughout the centuries. But now the concept has been
updated and means that women have made a place for themselves at the forefront of new journalistic initiatives that seek to
open up new markets and explore fresh ways of narrating information.
Finally, it should be noted that this work has been supported by the information published by the Duke Reporters’ Lab, in the
rst instance, and also by the dierent fact-checking agencies located in Latin America, Spain and Portugal, whose diculties
have already been listed. Regarding the limitations of this study, it is to be supposed that there are agencies not included in the
Duke Reporters’ Lab and that it is advisable to regularly corroborate the information which agencies publish on their websites
their personnel.
From this point on, it is proposed to compare the results obtained for these countries with dierent national settings, such as
Europe, in order to nd possible patterns or lines of rupture between the fact-checking agencies that have emerged with such
force over recent years. Consideration should also be given to seeing whether the presence of women fact-checkers in the
European media has gained the same weight as it has in Latin America, Spain, and Portugal.
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5. Acknowledgments
is paper is associated with the projects “Impact of disinformation in Andalusia: Cross-sectional analysis of audiences
and journalistic routines and agendas. “Desinfoand” from the call for Projects of Excellence, Andalusian Plan for Research,
Development and Innovation (PAIDI 2020) and the national project: “e impact of misinformation on journalism: content,
professional routines and audiences” (PID2019-108956RB- I00)” (Ministry of Science and Innovation, Challenges).
is article has been translated into English to Brian O’Halloran whom we are grateful for his work.
6. Specic contributions of each author
Name and Surname
Conception and design of the workLaura Teruel Rodríguez and M.ª Francisca Montiel Torres
Methodology
M.ª Francisca Montiel Torres
Data collection and analysisM.ª Francisca Montiel Torres
Discussion and conclusionsLaura Teruel Rodríguez and M.ª Francisca Montiel Torres
Drafting, formatting, version review and approvalLaura Teruel Rodríguez and M.ª Francisca Montiel Torres
7. Conict of interest
e authors declare that there is no conict of interest contained in this article.
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https://www.zippia.com/fact-checker-jobs/demographics/
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