Happy International Fact-Checking Week!

Farewell, April Fools' Day. Today is International Fact-Checking Day, and the Poynter Institute’s International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) is once again coordinating activities and amplifying resources that empower global citizens of all ages to sort fact from fiction.

“In our interconnected society, misinformation knows no borders,” said Baybars Örsek, the new director of the IFCN. “International Fact-Checking Day is all about teaching the tools and methods that fact-checkers use to fight for the truth to the average person so they can be more critical consumers of information.”

The hub for International Fact-Checking Day activities is FactCheckingDay.com, with more than 170 fact-checking resources in 15 languages. Poynter's two other fact-checking organizations — PolitiFact and MediaWise — will celebrate with special fact-checking content on Reddit, YouTube, Snapchat and Facebook. Follow along using #factcheckingday.

TIME: “In 1965, as he neared completion on the first part of a corporate history of Time Inc., the writer Robert Elson showed a draft of his work to Patty Divver, who had started as a researcher at TIME in the early 1930s. She had a fairly major complaint: “I have one thing to say about that — and this as been my war with Time Incorporated — or was my war at Time Incorporated for 25 years. There is absolutely no awareness in the whole damned volume that women had anything to do with Time Incorporated!” In fact, as Divver knew well, women had a lot to do with the company’s history. Notably, in the publication’s first decades, as TIME was creating the concept of the modern magazine fact-checker, women were almost exclusively responsible for that crucial work. At a moment when the fight against false information is a matter of global importance — so much so that the work now has its own annual observance, International Fact-Checking Day, marked on April 2 — it’s clearer than ever that the work fact-checkers do matters greatly.

UK MPs' disinformation sub-committee is sure tobring Facebook chief to heel (in Opposites Land)

Damian Collins' band just can't quit fake news, babe

For our 30th anniversary year at the Center, we are spreading our wings in the nation's capital and beyond!

• We dig deep to decipher false claims by politicians.
• We deliver the facts wherever they might take us.
• We uncover the truth no matter the risk.

And today, we are excited to take part in the International Fact-Checking Network's International Fact-Checking Day on April 2. Since fact-checking started in the United States with the launch of Factcheck.org in 2003, there are now more than 100 fact-checking projects active in approximately 40 countries.

The Center for Public Integrity distinguishes itself in the fact-checking arena with some of the highest honors in the field of investigative journalism. Our reporting teams in collaboration with our research editor have earned 125+ awards including two Pulitzer prizes.

A day just for facts

Today is the third annual International Fact-Checking Day. The IFCN launched the holiday in 2016 to be a rallying cry for more facts in politics, journalism and everyday life.

We’re sending you a special edition of this newsletter in honor of International Fact-Checking Day. We believe that anyone can be a fact-checker, so learn more about the day here and connect with fact-checkers around the world through the new, interactive EduCheckMap. Visit Factcheckingday.com for tip sheets, articles, lesson plans and quizzes.

Also: Don’t forget to use #FactCheckIt and #FactCheckingDay today to join in the conversation!

Fact-Checking Day resources

• Download our gamified lesson plan in four languages and discover 200 ways to teach about fact-checking.
• Polish your digital verification skills through our Hands-On Fact-Checking Short Course — or send it to your family and friends. It’s free and only takes about 90 minutes!
• Read our tip sheets and learn how to do everything from verifying social media videos to geolocating images.

Fact-Checking Day fun

• Take our quiz to test your knowledge of misinformation. Are you an old pro? Try your hand at this year’s updated version.
• Chequeado built this map of more than 200 activities, resources, videos, games and research related to misinformation around the world.
• Watch NBC’s “Stay Tuned” daily news show on Snapchat as it features a special guest, “NBC Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt – the first MediaWise Ambassador – sharing MediaWise fact-checking tips with host Savannah Sellers.

Fact-Checking Day celebrations

• Fact-checking and digital literacy videos have taken over the YouTube Learning channel’s guest picks playlist for the day.
• Participate in a Reddit AMA with PolitiFact at noon EST on April 2.
• Go behind the scenes with Poynter’s fact-checkers on Facebook Live at 2 p.m. EST on April 2. Ask us your questions here.

Fact-Checking Day worldwide

• VoxCheck in Ukraine published a special Fact-Checking Day page and passed out a newspaper dedicated to fact-checking in Kyiv.
• In Italy, LaPresse published five special fact-checking articles.
• France 24 Observers took its nine-minute media literacy video to a high school in the Paris suburbs to show it to students. It streamed the session on Facebook Live at 10 a.m. local time.

via Daniel and Susan