Faktabaari addresses false facts during the Parliamentary election campaign

The fact checking project Faktabaari (direct translation: Fact bar) will reopen for business in the beginning of 2015 when it starts to review and if necessary correct claims made during the run-up to the Finnish Parliamentary election. This relaunch has been made possible by a €59,000 grant awarded to Faktabaari by the Helsingin Sanomat Foundation in September 2014.

The preparatory phase will start immediately so that Faktabaari can assemble as varied a network of experts as possible. The project website will also be stocked with general information about the Finnish Parliament and the election. Citizens can start to ask questions and request checking for claims they have come across once the political parties have kicked off their election campaigns in early 2015.

Faktabaari will again offer verified information addressing false facts put forward in the Parliamentary election discussion, just like it did during the European elections project. In spring 2014 the web-based Faktbaari monitored the European elections discussion and by the eve of the polling day had checked more than 60 claims about the European Union and corrected over 40 of them.

Faktabaari creates conditions for a fact-based public election debate and high quality journalism. This service works with social media, crowd sourcing and an open source code and is primarily targeted at the media and opinion leaders. Faktabaari is also involved in organising a training project on fact verification together with universities than offer courses in communications.

Faktabaari has already gained international recognition as it has been chosen to run in the competition for the European Public Communications Award as one of two Finnish entrants among a total of 28 candidates. The awards will be presented after the public sector communications final organised during the EuroPCom conference in Brussels on October 15th 2014. Faktabaari has been invited to present the project there.

Faktabaari is a politically neutral open to all citizens’ service. It positions itself neither for nor against any political party. Faktabaari is run by Avoin yhteiskunta ry (direct translation: Open Society association), a Finnish non-governmental organisation. The purpose of the association is to promote openness as a fundamental societal value, to bring societal decision making closer to the citizens and to offer them better opportunities to participate in decision making.

More information is available from Faktabaari manager Mikko Salo, tel.+358405565050 toimitus@faktabaari.fi www.faktabaari.fi Twitter: @Faktabaari FB: facebook.com/faktabaari

info@faktabaari.fi

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