March 19, 2012—The Society of Environmental Journalists has submitted a proposal, EnviroFact, to the Knight News Challenge's "Networks" round.
EnviroFact will provide fact-based evidence to verify environmental news claims by leveraging SEJ's international expertise and reach. It matters to the Knight Foundation how well an entry's "network" rallies around their idea. Therefore, we need YOUR help to improve our chances of winning — please check out the idea, comment (important!), give us a heart (also important!!), a "like" and tweet about it (all important!!!). Time is of the essence, so taking action at your earliest convenience will be most appreciated and will serve all our members — and the public — when we succeed in getting this funding.
This is how it will work: SEJ members can submit potential inaccuracies and a fact-checking trail to counter them. EnviroFact researchers independently research those claims and more. Findings will be rebroadcast to journalists, their networks and the public via social media. Truth Goggles, software that flags suspect news claims, will reference and amplify our work.