Less than a year after the ABC Fact Check unit was axed in the wake of Coalition budget cuts, the service is coming back as as a co-production between RMIT and the ABC.
The editor of the original ABC Fact Check, Russell Skelton, has breathed new life into the shelved project by teaming up with RMIT, which will provide researchers, premises and technical support.
Presenter John Barron, who is also a host of the Drum and Planet America, will remain the public face of the team.
A former deputy editor of the Age, Skelton will move on to RMIT’s payroll and head up the new unit RMIT ABC Fact Check to test and adjudicate on the accuracy of claims made by politicians, public figures, advocacy groups and institutions engaged in public debate.
“We are absolutely delighted to have it back,” Skelton told Guardian Australia. “We had a very strong and growing following when we went into hibernation. I think the demand for fact-checking as evidenced by the huge growth in it overseas – particularly in America – demonstrates the need for it.
“I think it’s interesting that since we haven’t been fact-checking, some of the old claims that we pinged are creeping back into the public debate again.
“Politicians breathed a sigh of relief when we disappeared. It’s not just the politicians but anything that will affect public policy.”
Early in her term, the ABC managing director, Michelle Guthrie, was criticised for closing the popular unit, although sources said the decision was made by her predecessor Mark Scott.
Along with the closure soon afterwards of the Drum opinion site, the ending of the fact-checking service generated considerable heat for the new managing director. But now with far less strain on the ABC’s coffers, the unit is returning with the support of Guthrie.
The unit closed in May last year. It had been funded in 2013 by the Rudd Labor government as part of a $60m injection of funds over three years to the ABC’s news division.
But the Coalition’s 2016 budget saw that funding trimmed to $41m and the ABC closed Fact Check – and made other cuts to news services.
The dean of the school of media and communication, Professor Martyn Hook, said the public broadcaster and the university would share resources to bring the badly needed service back to life.
“In a time of ‘post-truth’, ‘alternative facts’ and ‘fake news’, it is ever more critical to hold public figures to account and ensure that public discourse – the basis of democracy – is based in fact,” Hook said. “RMIT is thrilled to join with the ABC to relaunch Fact Check and support this crucial public service.”
Based in Melbourne at the university’s new media precinct, the ABC will retain final editorial control over all the content published.
The ABC’s director of news, Gaven Morris, said the innovative partnership would bring great value to audiences.
“ABC News is delighted to be able to work with the academic community, as well as other groups and institutions, in this way,” he said. “Sharing resources, and collaborating on analysis and original research, helps us better serve the broadest possible audience.
“Fact-check journalism is a great way of providing more of the essential context people need to help them fully understand the major stories and important issues of the day.”
RMIT ABC Fact Check will research and publish Fact Checks, Fact Files and restart the Promise Tracker. Content will be published through the ABC’s digital platforms and a dedicated RMIT portal.
RMIT will be hiring researchers and interns drawn from RMIT journalism students and alumni will have an opportunity to work on it.
- This story was amended on 15 February to clarify the funding given to the ABC’s news division in the Coalition’s 2016 budget.
