This is part of a series of articles that looks at ideas ground through crowdfunding. At the time of writing, each of these innovations is currently seeking funding.
In the run up to elections, political figures often turn to statistics and ‘facts’ to persuade the public of their policies. However, with opposing parties often proclaiming completely contradictory ‘truths’, it is no wonder a general sense of distrust and suspicion abounds. Full Fact are an independent charity, looking to fact check the statistics being thrown around by politicians in the run-up to the UK general election, which takes places on May 7th. Full Fact are non-partisan and committed to obtaining and distributing truthful information about the claims of all parties, to enable citizens to make informed decisions.
The non-profit is currently crowdfunding on Crowdfunder in order to finance a temporary fact checking hub in Central London, which has been donated to them by Springwise-featured 3Space for the six weeks leading up to the election. They hope to raise GBP 40,000 to fund volunteer expenses and daily resources, such as newspapers and transport costs. They will be working daily from 6am until midnight to ensure that no claims go unchallenged.
Since launching in 2010, Full Fact have monitored newspapers and broadcast programmes, parties’ websites, social media and Parliamentary debates. They have undertaken independent research into political and journalistic ‘factual’ claims, with the help of many of the country’s best research organizations — such as The Migration Observatory, The Health Foundation and NatCen Social Research. All of their findings are published publicly with links to their sources, and a large number of media institutions and politicians have gone on to issue corrections at Full Fact’s request. Are there other ways of making political claims more trustworthy and comprehensive for their constituents?
Website: www.fullfact.org
Contact: team@fullfact.org
