Fact-checking within journalism, on Internet and in the public space – VIJIE

PROJECT 'VIJIE': FACT-CHECKING WITHIN JOURNALISM, ON INTERNET AND IN THE PUBLIC SPACE

Fake news have recently raised renewed issues, related to their impact within digital networks. They are a societal challenge for both information professionals and the public. Who checks and how? Whom to believe? Who is authoritative and what makes a reference on the internet? Which reservations are expressed, and which limits? Verification/fact-checking takes place in a context of struggle about legitimate information. Our research is unprecedented in France and it will use scientific mixed methods focused on practices and uses of information (focus groups, qualitative interviews, online questionnaire, monitoring and analysis of fake news, experimental requests on search engines, among others). It aims at scrutinizing the extent to which the journalists, via the collaboration with —and despite the commercial and ideological purposes of— digital giants, can be a ‘watchdog’ (in French, a vigie), that is, taking the role of reference towards doubtful contents, ensuring the authenticity of information heritage, and enhancing media literacy for citizens.