THE BBC has launched a new investigative journalism team tasked with “countering disinformation” and fact checking.
BBC Verify will contribute to broadcast and online reporting and the team will include analysis editor Ros Atkins and disinformation correspondent Marianna Spring.
Introducing the new brand on BBC Breakfast on Monday, Spring said: “The point of the team […] is to verify video, to fact-check, to counter disinformation and to analyse really complex stories so we can get to the truth of what’s going on.”
Its first investigation was released on Monday to coincide with the unveiling of the new team and used satellite images to identify the locations of Russian fortifications in Ukraine.
Welcome to BBC Verify! I chatted to BBC Breakfast about it. Everything from interrogating social media feeds using undercover accounts and investigating real-world impact of mistruths, hate and conspiracy movements to piecing together what’s happening with satellite imagery. pic.twitter.com/4OoaiCd4ah
— Marianna Spring (@mariannaspring) May 22, 2023
Writing on the BBC’s website, the CEO of the broadcaster’s news operation Deborah Turness said: “We've brought together forensic journalists and expert talent from across the BBC, including our analysis editor Ros Atkins and disinformation correspondent Marianna Spring and their teams.
“In all, BBC Verify comprises about 60 journalists who will form a highly specialised operation with a range of forensic investigative skills and open source intelligence (Osint) capabilities at their fingertips.
“They'll be fact-checking, verifying video, countering disinformation, analysing data and - crucially - explaining complex stories in the pursuit of truth.
“This is a different way of doing our journalism. We've built a physical space in the London newsroom, with a studio that BBC Verify correspondents and experts will report from, transparently sharing their evidence-gathering with our audiences.
“They will contribute to news online, radio and TV, including the news channel and our live and breaking streaming operation, both in the UK and internationally.
“BBC Verify will be home to specific expertise and technology. But I want the principle of transparently explaining the "how" behind our journalism to be shared by every journalist in the BBC – and thank you to those who are experimenting with new ways to do that.”
