Fact-checking, a public service value in the face of the hoaxes of the healthcare crisis

Abstract

The dissemination of fake news is an increasing issue in the media ecosystem, which has worsened with the current healthcare crisis. Pandemic-related hoaxes challenge media, which have not hesitated to implement different plans to combat these contents. The objective of this research is to analyse the structure, make-up and procedures of fact-checking units that have been created in the newsrooms of the public service media (PSM) in Spain to refute false and unreliable information related to coronavirus. Two initiatives were studied: RTVE Verifica, belonging to the Spanish Radio and Television Corporation, and Coronabulos, from the public entity of the Basque government, EiTB. The method used is based on case studies, web content analysis and in-depth semi-structured interviews with those responsible for these departments. Such a triangulation of techniques has allowed us to draw conclusions and provide interesting examples to the research. The results reveal that these sections use traditional techniques and technological applications to verify content related mainly to healthcare and pseudoscientific information, which are published on corporate websites and social media.