Fact-checking initiatives as promoters of media and information literacy: The case of Poland

Abstract

The main purpose of the article is to present the role and importance of Polish fact-checking initiatives in context of their educational dimension. The central question that the authors will try to answer is: To what extent and in which way do the Polish fact-checking initiatives provide education as part of their activities? To answer this question, the authors implemented a two-step research design – starting from desk research concerning the development of Polish fact-checking scene and its social, political, economic and cultural background. The second step included in-depth, semi-structured interviews with five representatives of different types of Polish fact-checking initiatives. Considering a limited number of fact-checking organizations in Poland, the authors can assume a certain level of generalizability of the results of such qualitative research. The study shows that studied initiatives are occasionally active in the field of media and information literacy, and only some of them (i.e. mostly those related to civil society groups) treat their educational activities as a priority.