When a Journalistic Truth-Seeking Tradition Thrives

Examining the Rise of the Brazilian Fact-Checking Movement

Bibliographic Data

ID12909643
AuthorsThales Vilela Lelo (0000-0002-6070-9332, Universidade de São Paulo, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume18
Issue6
Pages1442-1460
Publication date2022-06-16
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournalism Practice (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1751-2786 • E-ISSN: 1751-2794
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17512786.2022.2088603
OpenAlexW4283025496
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited45

This study addresses socio-political and professional factors driving the surge of the Brazilian fact-checking venture in the last years. Drawing on a set of 16 semi-structured interviews with fact-checkers from 13 active initiatives, it delves into motivations that led journalists to put in motion their fact-checking firms. Based on the existing literature on structural dynamics and professional incentives for fact-checking, the paper suggests that these two instances concur with the advancement of that journalistic subgenre. Research findings show that the last two electoral cycles (2014–2018) created a thriving landscape for fact-checking due to growing political turmoil in Brazil. Besides, there is also an isomorphic tendency in the development of new fact-checking initiatives. Pioneer American and Argentinean fact-checking firms inspired first projects. Nevertheless, motivations for fact-checking have been increasingly diverse over the years, including training workshops, successful coalitions, and grants from foreign investors. This study contributes to the growing scholarship on an emerging journalistic subfield showing the context-sensitive nature of the expansion of the fact-checking enterprise in a milieu distinct from the US-European landscape. Furthermore, it stresses how structural and professional factors act as field-configuring instances of new journalistic ventures

Context (archaeology · Economics · Field (mathematics · Incentive · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Scholarship · Social science · Sociology · Thriving · History · Law · Media Influence and Politics · Media Studies and Communication · Misinformation and Its Impacts

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