Fact checking is the foundation stone of news publication and now Google has brought more focus on the subject with its new fact checking tag. This has been done with the ongoing US Presidential election in mind and thus, the onus has increased on news publications.
Google recently announced a new label that will appear in Google News on topics that have been properly verified with facts, reports Digital Trends. The new label will appear in the extended details box on Google news app (iOS and Android) as well as news.google.com. To get the label in their stories, news publishers will have to follow the instructions of the internet company.
According to the keyword blog on Google, the publishers need to add a new line of code to the articles that have been factually verified. They also have to adhere to the new set of guidelines that have been issued by the company. Detailing the intent and purpose of the guidelines, the blog states that the measure has been brought in with the interest of readers in mind.
They should be able to understand what was checked and what conclusions were reached. The analysis drawn by the reporters must be based on transparent sources and methods. There should also be citations and references to primary sources. The organizations must be nonpartisan and should be getting transparent funding and affiliations.
The good news is that some of the sites have also adopted the new markup and they include UK-based Full fact and US-based politics site Politifact. Others are also expected to follow up and it is hoped that the tags will start appearing to Google News readers when the final debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton takes off on October 19.
When either of the two makes any claim in their debate, PolitiFact will present the fact-checked article and it will very likely appear in the Google News listings. The new measure is surely a laudable step by the technology giant, but it is, by no means, a restrictive measure for those who do not follow the rule and will not disqualify stories that are not fact-checked.
Google News will only discredit them when the topic appears on the news aggregator.
