New Era

P A G E 2 6 | N E W E R A
M U H A M M E T C A N O T S A Y
T H E A R T O F F A C T - C H E C K I N G :
S E P A R A T I N G T R U T H F R O M F I C T I O N I N
T H E D I G I T A L A G E
In the post-truth era, we live in days where the truth is no longer real.
Despite this, we must pursue the truth in order to have more democratic
societies, a fairer order and learn the facts. Fact-checking guides us on
this journey. In this article, we will try to understand what fact-checking
is, its effects and how it is done.
What is fact-checking?
Fact-checking is the process of verifying a truth-based information
within the correct content integrity and context.
Fact-checking is the practice of verifying whether an information is
correct after or before it is published.
For example, If I write in one of my articles “Beykent University was
established in 1998.”. I will be giving false information. The person doing
the fact-checking on my article should double-check this date. The
person who double-checked learns that Beykent University was
established in 1997 and reports this situation to the author of the article.
The author corrects the date by taking the necessary actions.
This process can be done in-house or outsourced as a service.
Now let's talk about a simple distinction. Fact means indisputable
knowledge. For example, when water boils at 100 degrees Celsius at
sea level. Truth means putting the facts together by giving it a context.
People doing fact-checking need to both verify the facts and provide
the truth by presenting them from a proper perspective.