Editorial: Fact-Checkers Around the World: Regional, Comparative, and Institutional Perspectives

Abstract

This thematic issue explores the global fact-checking field, focusing on its organizations, practices, and institutional dynamics. Over the past decade, fact-checking has expanded to over 400 organizations, with approximately half operating in the Global South. Fact-checkers have built a solid institutional framework featuring annual conferences, regulatory bodies, and partnerships with big techs and public organizations. Even with this cohesion, the fact-checking movement remains deeply heterogeneous. Organizations range from small local outlets to global media giants, operating within varied media and political systems. These differences shape how fact-checkers define their mission and approach misinformation, and offer a valuable lens for journalism and political communication studies to analyze evolving media systems and digitalization effects worldwide. Given such diversity, our issue addresses the need for research to observe regional and comparative perspectives on fact-checking alongside studies of broader global trends. Recent scholarship has focused on how fact-checkers adapt to diverse environments, particularly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and how the field is evolving. It also examines fact-checkers' relationships with platform companies, policymakers, and transnational institutions combating misinformation. Contributions employing diverse methodologies, from case studies to large-scale content analyses, are included, with a particular emphasis on understanding organizational and contextual specificities in this crucial area of media and political communication.