Live Verification: 250 statements and collaboration from 3 newsrooms

COLLABORATION: We were not alone. In both debates, we worked alongside the team from eldiario.es, with whom we regularly collaborate for the publication of our verifications in ‘El Detector de Mentiras’. In addition, in the first of the debates, which took place on RTVE, Maldita.es also collaborated with the RTVE team, and in the post-debate, we shared verifications made to all candidates.

Preparation for each debate

The colleagues from Maldito Dato, experts in political verification, led the team both nights. They are the ones who listen to the politicians’ interventions daily, so they are the ones who best know the topics the candidates usually talk about and the data they use—false or not—and have databases ready to expedite the verification as much as possible.

Days before the two debates, we contacted the press offices of all four political parties to tell them what we were going to do and invite them to clarify or give their points of view on the candidate’s statements during the debate. The only party that agreed to our request was Unidas Podemos.

How did we do the verification?

First of all, as always, we listen carefully to what the politicians say in order to catch their statements on the fly. If we notice a figure or a statement that seems strange to us or that we have heard before, Maldito Dato‘s coordinator assigns the statement to an editor who literally transcribes it into a spreadsheet and we check if it is verifiable.

Between the two debates we have identified more than 250 verifiable statements made by the candidates. We are still working on some of them to check for lies that may have slipped through, and this takes more time, so we cannot yet give you a statistic of how many lies each candidate told.

Once the phrase has been transcribed verbatim and we see that it can be checked, we begin the verification process. A team member investigates the potential misinformation. With data, facts, and arguments, they prove the falsehood or truth of the candidate’s statement. During the process, we consult primary sources, verify the origin of the information, and cross-reference with official databases. If necessary, we also contact experts on the topic in question to clarify any doubts that may arise and with the political parties to understand their approach or viewpoint.

If the data and facts prove that the candidate’s statement is false or needs context, the writer writes the information providing all the sources and as much detail as possible. Once it is considered that the falsehood or need for context of the candidate’s statement has been demonstrated, the writer assigns one of the three possible categories that Maldito Dato works with: «false,» «false but…» or «true but…» as defined in our methodology.

This verification is sent to the coordinator of Maldito Dato, who performs a second verification, requests the appropriate clarifications, and modifies whatever is necessary, even the category of the fact. After that, this piece is sent to the chief editor who performs a third and final verification with the same characteristics as the previous one.

When the three levels of verification are completed and the team is satisfied, the fact is ready to be published.

If we detect a statement that is true during this process without the need to provide context or additional information, all the details are sent to the coordinator of Maldito Dato who, if there are no errors, internally assigns the category of «true» and we continue with listening to the debate because we do not publish statements that are true as we presume that politicians, as a rule, must tell us the truth.

In addition, the social media team at Maldita.es was very attentive during the two nights. Through @MalditoDato and the Maldita App, thousands of people followed our verification of the candidates, and not just from Spain!

Two very intense nights of teamwork during the electoral debates. Two nights of collaboration; with other media, with fellow journalists who wrote to us warning of possible falsehoods, and most importantly with you, malditos and malditas, going viral and giving us encouragement; because only together, we make it harder for them to deceive us.