AP to enhance fact checks with $245,000 from Knight

The Associated Press has announced an effort to enhance its fact-checking and ability to debunk misinformation with $245,000 from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

With the funding, AP will add additional full-time journalists dedicated to fact-checking and integrate local news fact checks into APNews.com and the AP News app. The local news fact checks will be distributed to AP's member news organizations and customers.

AP will also experiment with new ways to present fact checks for social media and mobile platforms, as well as use data and automation to better analyze and understand how consumers make decisions about what kinds of news and information to trust. 

Working closely with Associated Press Media Editors, AP will offer training, best practices and support for local or regional fact-checkers aiming to build trust at the local level.

"Fact-checking gets to the heart of AP's news values, and we are more committed than ever to objective, fact-based reporting," said AP Managing Editor Brian Carovillano. "Knight Foundation clearly shares this commitment and we are thrilled to be working closely with them again on such an important initiative."

Historically, AP has done some of the most thorough fact-checking in the news industry, holding the powerful to account. Since December AP has been working with Facebook to debunk false stories trending online. 

"Quality journalism is challenged with the spread of false news. A healthy democracy relies on a fact-based debate to reach an informed consensus," said Jennifer Preston, Knight Foundation vice president for journalism. "More than half the world's population sees content from The Associated Press daily. With its reach and reputation for objective journalism, there is an opportunity for the organization to help build a long-term solution to improve trust in news and prevent the spread of misinformation."

Karen Mahabir will lead AP's global fact check team. Mahabir rejoins AP from HuffPost, where she led breaking news coverage as Managing Editor for News. 

AP's member news organizations and customers will be offered access to training on best practices for fact checks though AP's Definitive Source webinars. 

Read what AP fact-checks and why: http://apne.ws/t6oyA2C