Full Fact launches online fact-finding tool

The UK-based fact-checking website Full Fact has launched an online finder which journalists can use to track down accurate information.

The Full Fact Finder covers information relating to five topics: economy, health, crime and the law, immigration and education.

Search results offer users general background information, as well as details on the sort of data available in the area and links to statistics from official bodies.

Director of Full Fact Will Moy told Journalism.co.uk that producing the tool involved working "through hundreds of sources of information, both official statistics, and independent analysis".

"We provided a tool that lets you find the [fact] you want in seconds, from A&E waiting times through to unemployment.

"We think that's going to be something that's really useful. Not just for us as we're trying to fact-check things faster and faster, but also for the public and especially, we hope, for journalists."

He added that the aim of the tool is to assist the public in quickly finding accurate information for themselves.

And "this is a big part of what we want to do in the future", he added.

As well as the finder tool, Full Fact's website features regular reports by the research team on specific claims they have looked into.

Moy added that the overall aim of Full Fact, which operates as a non-profit organisation, is "to make it much easier for people to check claims for themselves".

"Whether that's politicians and journalists before they make those claims in public, or members of the public after those claims have been made, or indeed journalists after those claims have been made."

He also hopes that the work of Full Fact will help limit the movement of incorrect information.

"It's so easy for things to become one of those things that everybody knows, even when there's no real basis for it.

"We want to challenge that and make it a bit harder for people to just say things with no basis whatsoever, and for that to go on and have a knock on effect on policy making, or what people think about big issues."

The website is preparing for a relaunch later this year, which has involved reassessing the way it delivers its findings online.

"Presenting results in a clear way is something we're completely overhauling at the moment," Moy told Journalism.co.uk.

Free daily newsletter

If you like our news and feature articles, you can sign up to receive our free daily (Mon-Fri) email newsletter (mobile friendly).