Editors-in-chief of all newsrooms report they have specific rules and checks for combatting misinformation. Additional care is taken in newsrooms if digital platforms are the source of news. All journalists explain they rely more on traditional means of checking facts – as well as the documentation department and their own experts, where available – than on algorithmic tools. The majority of the newsrooms have specialist, though small, teams for this task. Some newsrooms cooperate with external fact-checkers, and some have a special department searching for fake news on digital platforms and correcting them. One interviewee said, “We cooperate institutionally with Bellingcat for fact-checking, we have a picture documentation in house. We are also involved in international journalistic networks”. Algorithmic tools or other machine-based instruments are provided and in use in some cases, and not yet provided in others. In one case, software for qualitatively ranking user-comments is currently being tested. Training on how to distinguish facts from misinformation is provided regularly and is eagerly sought by journalists.
Some editorial news media have started to form content alliances with other media to expand their fact-checking competencies and resources. A preferred partner here is the research centre Correctiv. Public service media like ZDF and ARD have their own fact-checking units (ZDFheuteCheck & ARDFaktenfinder).
