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About

About

Polygraph.info is produced by the fact-checking team of the Voice of America’s News Center.

VOA is a multimedia, nonpartisan, international broadcaster providing accurate news and information.

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., VOA broadcasts in 48 languages to more than 326 million people around the world each week.

VOA is funded by the United States government through the U.S. Agency for Global Media.

Editorial Policy

The U.S. law known as the VOA Charter explains VOA’s independent editorial policy and mission to provide reliable and authoritative news.

Polygraph.info adheres to the VOA Best Standards and Practices, which defines the news agency’s journalistic standards and outlines its policies over neutrality, fairness and balance, bias, plagiarism and other issues.

Methodology

Polygraph.info serves as a resource for verifying the increasing volume of global disinformation and misinformation, promoting accuracy, and fostering an informed public.

Polygraph.info’s journalists adhere to the Code of Principles of the International Fact-Checking Network and structure content in accordance with Google Claim Review and Verification.

Claim selection claims criteria

  • Claim’s significance and influence

  • Claim author’s political, international or/and social status

  • Claim’s importance for the public interest

  • Claim cannot be an opinion


Rating System

Polygraph.info uses a transparent rating system for evaluating a claim’s veracity without political or ideological bias.

  • True – Fact Checks rate a claim True and give it a dark green checkmark when establishing beyond reasonable doubt that the claim is accurate and factual.

  • False – Fact Checks rate a claim False and give it a red cross mark when establishing beyond reasonable doubt that the claim consists any of the following: an honest error, an intentional manipulation of facts or an outright lie/fiction.

  • Misleading – Fact Checks rate a claim Misleading and give it an orange exclamation mark when the claim ignores essential context, mixes facts with fiction, or provides inaccurate information in a way that is not wholly false.

  • Unsubstantiated – Fact Checks rate a claim Unsubstantiated and give it a blue cross mark when the claim author does not back up their statement with verifiable proof or there is not enough verifiable data in the public domain to determine that it is either true or false.

  • Partly True – Fact Checks rate a claim Partly True and give it a light green checkmark when establishing that although parts of a claim may be inaccurate, other parts are able to be verified as accurate facts.

  • Partly False -- Fact Checks rate a claim Partly False and give it an orange cross mark when establishing that although parts of a claim may be accurate, its key parts are able to be verified as manipulation of facts or fiction.

Team Structure

Researchers are international journalists with decades of experience in field reporting, multi-language skills, regional and subject matter knowledge.

Editors are experienced in reviewing and validating fact checks and analysis, ensuring consistency, and maintaining editorial standards.

Fact-Checking Process

Polygraph.info journalists monitor government websites, legacy news media and social media platforms globally to identify claims.

Journalists and editors determine if a claim meets Polygraph.info’s criteria (see above).
Once approved, journalists and editors determine the fact check platform, structure, focus and the verification process for the story examining it.

Journalists investigate the claim using reputable sources for verification, consulting experts and fact-checking databases.

Each fact check and disinformation analysis is reviewed by three editors, and approved by the author before publication.

Fact checks are published on Polygraph.info and VOANews.com websites, distributed via social media, and shared with VOA language services for translation.

Countries, Languages and Formats

Polygraph.info fact checks claims globally, but focuses on countries with limited press freedoms
Journalists produce three types of content: fact checks, disinformation analysis/ reviews and TV/Video fact checks in the English language, many of which are translated into other languages.

Corrections

Polygraph.info strives to provide accurate and comprehensive information. If you believe there is an error in our reporting, please alert us using the "Contact Us" form. We appreciate your input and will work to make any necessary corrections as quickly as possible.

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