Jose Zamora de Univision
Univision announced today that its fact-checking platform, elDetector has been certified as an official member of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN).
Univision’s elDetector was the first Spanish-language data-checking site in the U.S. with IFCN’s certification, Univision News joins the Poynter Institute’s fact-checking network, which includes 101 of the most respected fact-checking units in the world and one of only 12 certified units in the U.S.
The data-checking site was born to debunk the so-called “fake news” that misinforms the Hispanic community. In addition to doing it in Spanish, it prioritizes the issues that matter and impact Latinos most.
“Having Univision’s elDetector as a certified IFCN member is very important, due to its reach in Spanish-speaking communities in the United States,” said Ferdi Ferhat Özsoy, IFCN’s program manager.
“ElDetector’s team worked tirelessly during an unprecedented election campaign in 2020 and then in the midst of the pandemic. It was very challenging because of the amount of misinformation that was spreading in the United States and what that has meant when working to serve the Hispanic community and its information gaps during the pandemic. The world of ‘fact-checking’ in this country serves English-speaking audiences very well, but not Hispanics, and that is precisely the community for which we work at Univision News and, therefore, at elDetector,” said Tamoa Calzadilla, director of elDetector.
“ElDetector has allowed us to strengthen our public service journalism, verifying and explaining data on vaccines and COVID-19 when our community needs it most. As the main source of news and information for the Hispanic community, it has also allowed us to create important partnerships with the Google News Initiative, Factcheck.org, WhatsApp, and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to confront the misinformation that has invaded our communities in the midst of the pandemic to continue fulfilling our commitment of informing and empowering our audience through quality journalism,” said José Zamora, SVP of Communications and Strategy at Univision News.
