The quality of information consumed by citizens remains a crucial aspect of a working democracy. In recent years, fact-checking has emerged as an important safeguard against the spread of false and misleading content. This themed article offers an overview of notable recent studies on this topic published in Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly. Included works examine the practices and effects of fact-checking across diverse national contexts.
AmazeenM. A.ThorsonE.MuddimanA.GravesL. (2018). Correcting political and consumer misperceptions: The effectiveness and effects of rating scale versus contextual correction formats. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 95(1), 28–48. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077699016678186
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ChanM.-P. S.JonesC. R.Hall JamiesonK.AlbarracínD. (2017). Debunking: A meta-analysis of the psychological efficacy of messages countering misinformation. Psychological Science, 28(11), 1531–1546. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617714579
3.
EckerU. K. H.LewandowskyS.CookJ.SchmidP.FazioL. K.BrashierN.KendeouP.VragaE. K.AmazeenM. A. (2022). The psychological drivers of misinformation belief and its resistance to correction. Nature Reviews Psychology, 1(1), 13–29. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44159-021-00006-y
4.
EdgerlyS.MourãoR. R.ThorsonE.ThamS. M. (2019). When do audiences verify? How perceptions about message and source influence audience verification of news headlines. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 97(1), 52–71. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077699019864680
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HermidaA. (2020). Post-publication gatekeeping: The interplay of publics, platforms, paraphernalia, and practices in the circulation of news. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 97(2), 469–491. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077699020911882
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LeloT. (2023). Fostering artificial intelligence to face misinformation: Discourses and practices of automated fact-checking in Brazil. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly. 101(2), 320–345. https://doi.org/10.1177/10776990231207963
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LindgrenE.LindholmT.VliegenthartR.BoomgaardenH. G.DamstraA.StrömbäckJ.TsfatiY. (2022). Trusting the facts: The role of framing, news media as a (trusted) source, and opinion resonance for perceived truth in statistical statements. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/10776990221117117
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Martínez-GarcíaL.FerrerI. (2023). Fact-checking journalism: A palliative against the COVID-19 infodemic in Ibero-America. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 100(2), 264–285. https://doi.org/10.1177/10776990231164168
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MourãoR. R.ThorsonE.KrystonK.TunneyC. (2023). Predicting audience verification intention: The impact of partisanship, source, importance, and information familiarity on willingness to verify headlines. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 100(2), 308–331. https://doi.org/10.1177/10776990221130992
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PorterE.WoodT. J. (2021). The global effectiveness of fact-checking: Evidence from simultaneous experiments in Argentina, Nigeria, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(37), Article e2104235118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2104235118
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SingerJ. B. (2023). Closing the barn door? Fact-checkers as retroactive gatekeepers of the covid-19 “infodemic.” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 100(2), 332–353. https://doi.org/10.1177/10776990231168599
StubenvollM.MatthesJ. (2022). Why retractions of numerical misinformation fail: The anchoring effect of inaccurate numbers in the news. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 99(2), 368–389. https://doi.org/10.1177/10776990211021800
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VuH. T.BainesA.NguyenN. (2023). Fact-checking climate change: An analysis of claims and verification practices by fact-checkers in four countries. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 100(2), 286–307. https://doi.org/10.1177/10776990221138058
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YoungD. G.JamiesonK. H.PoulsenS.GoldringA. (2018). Fact-checking effectiveness as a function of format and tone: Evaluating FactCheck.org and FlackCheck.org. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 95(1), 49–75. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077699017710453
