(Republicaninformer.com)- The International Fact-Checking Network of the Poynter Institute received a $13.2 million grant from Google and YouTube intending to establish a global “fact-checking” fund.
The award will assist 135 Poynter Institute member fact-checking organizations.
To establish a new “Global Fact Check Fund,” scheduled to debut in early 2023, Google and YouTube said on Tuesday that they would give a $13.2 million donation to the nonprofit Poynter Institute’s International Fact-Checking Network.
The decision, which represents the most considerable fact-checking funding given by the businesses to date, comes as they continue to step up their campaign against internet “misinformation.”
The donation will help the Poynter Institute’s network of 135 fact-checking organizations from 65 countries encompassing more than 80 languages.
The businesses cited that helping consumers spot misinformation is a “global concern” as justification for their choice.
The Poynter Institute is situated in Florida’s St. Petersburg. The Open Society Foundation and the Koch Foundation, both founded by George Soros, fund it.
The Institute also includes PolitiFact, which has come under fire for being biased against conservatives.
The Poynter Institute, a non-profit journalism school with offices in St. Petersburg, Florida, is where the IFCN is housed. Poynter, which calls itself a “global leader in journalism” and a “thought leader,” is supported by the libertarian-conservative Charles Koch Foundation and many liberal organizations, including the George Soros-founded Open Society Foundations.
PolitiFact, a well-known fact-checking source in the US, is also housed at Poynter. PolitiFact, a Pulitzer Prize winner notable for giving the “You Can Keep Your Health Care Plan” pledge of then-Illinois Senator Barack Obama a “True” rating, has long come under fire for having biases in favor of the political left and against the political right.
Recent research by the conservative media watchdog Media Research Center (MRC) suggests that Politifact is “far more sensitive” when someone makes false statements about Biden than when Biden himself does it.
The right needs funding to fact-check the fact-checkers.