PA Media Partners with The Journal FactCheck To Run Fact-Checking Service For Irish Election
London / Dublin, 8th October, 2024 – PA Media has announced a new partnership with The Journal FactCheck, supported by the Google News Initiative, aimed at tackling mis- and disinformation ahead of the next Irish general election.
Both organisations are accredited by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) and will collaborate in the coming months to examine and debunk false claims before they take hold. They will also make these checks available to news publishers for free via PA’s distribution network. This means the integrity of debates around key issues can be maintained, and the public can go to the polls armed with accurate information to make an informed decision on election day, which could take place later this year.
The threat posed by mis- and disinformation means newsrooms across Ireland are looking for ways to protect their operations, publications and readers in the run-up to the general election. To support this, as part of the new partnership, publishers will be offered free digital verification training sessions for their journalists, helping to upskill staff and providing the tools they need to identify and combat false information during the election campaigns.
Those journalists will also be invited to join the Election Check 24 communication channel, where they will be able to flag any potential concerns and work with the fact-checking team in real time.
Wesley Johnson, Head of Production at PA Media commented, “With the constant and growing threat from false and fake claims, we want to use our position at the heart of the media industry to strengthen our democracy and help voters to make well-informed decisions based on facts, not falsehoods.
“Giving journalists the skills and verification tools they need to tackle mis- and disinformation will help prepare them for key challenges in the future.”
Susan Daly, Managing Editor at Journal Media, said, “Citizens face a barrage of information in navigating everyday life and quality journalism has an ever-increasing role to play as a trustworthy resource and buttress against disinformation. The Journal FactCheck is delighted to partner with PA Media to strengthen our contribution to this effort. We hope that by distributing verified, factual and objective reporting to PA Media’s diverse clients and their audiences, we can support the Irish electorate in making informed decisions as they go to the polls in the upcoming general election.”
The project follows the success of PA Media’s Election Check 24 coalition, also supported by the Google News Initiative, which partnered with news outlets and fact-checkers around the UK’s general election earlier this year.
Notes to Editors:
About PA Media Group
PA Media Group is a diverse portfolio of specialist media companies spanning news & information, data, technology, marketing and communications. Our flagship brand, PA Media, is the UK and Ireland’s national news agency.
Alongside PA Media, the Group is also the parent company of Alamy, a stock imagery business; Sticky, a digital marketing agency; Hydrogen, a social media agency; the video streaming business, StreamAMG and iRace and PA Betting Services, specialist providers of data, content and related services to the betting sector. Other brands include PA TV Metadata, PA Mediapoint and the PA Media Academy. PA Media Group also owns stakes in the financial news provider, Alliance News, and automotive content business Baize Group.
PA Media Group has 20 shareholders, who are mainly UK news and media businesses. The largest shareholders include DMGT plc, Informa plc, News UK plc and Reach plc.
About Journal Media
Journal Media is an independent Irish online news organisation. It publishes one of Ireland’s market-leading online news sources, The Journal, and operates the award-winning The Journal FactCheck and The Journal Investigates units. It also publishes sportswriting and podcasting outlet, The42.
The Journal FactCheck was established in early 2016 in the run-up to that year’s general election, has been the only verified Irish signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) since 2017 and is the fact-check partner in the Ireland EDMO hub (European Digital Media Observatory).
Journal Media publications are fully-compliant members of the Press Council of Ireland.
Find more fact-checks at https://www.thejournal.ie/factcheck/news/ and our media literacy Knowledge Bank at https://www.factchecking.ie/
About the Google News Initiative
The Google News Initiative works with publishers and journalists to fight misinformation, share resources and build a diverse and innovative news ecosystem.