Fact-checking at TBIJ

Here at TBIJ, we believe the purpose of investigative journalism is to keep democracy strong by holding power in check. This means giving people like you the information you need to spark positive change in the world.

But our reporting has to be true for that to work – and you need to know you can trust what we say. This is one of the many reasons we take fact-checking so seriously at TBIJ.

When investigating, we ask reporters and editors to pay close attention to the sources and information they use for every story. It means reporters aren’t the only ones looking at the material, and any potential problems can be discussed early in the reporting process (after all, two sets of eyes are better than one!)

Before any story is published, it is fact-checked by a team member who wasn’t involved in any of the reporting or editing of that investigation. It could be done by our in-house fact checker or by another member of staff – we are all trained to be detailed and rigorous each time.

The fact-checker asks the reporter to look at their sources again and to show how they know the information is accurate and true for every fact in the story.

What happens if errors are found during the fact-check? It rarely happens, but a story could be scrapped or handed back to the reporter to do more research.

We’re committed in our approach to fact-checking because it’s the key to accurate and trusted investigative reporting.