How it works?

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How do we evaluate articles and news papers?
Download our news report today.
Below you can download AkhbarMeter's handbook for reviewing news articles. The handbook illustrates the methodology in full details with examples that helps to understand each question and its answers
Frequently asked questions
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How are articles rated on AkhbarMeter
The team evaluate news articles by answering a series of questions (19 questions) that are available here. These questions are derived from international and local media code of ethics and professional standards . The questions are categorized into three sections, the first section is concerned with violations of law conduct and human rights. The second section is concerned with manipulation techniques used by media channels, whereas the third section is concerned with professionalism in news reporting and content writing. For more information click here.
What does the rating percentage refer to?
All rated articles get a score from 0 to 100%. This score reflects the degree to which the news article aligns with professional standards and code of ethics. The score is calculated automatically after each article is rated by one of our reviewers.
What is the fact checking unit?
AkhbarMeter team believes that professional and ethical violations are not the only threat to public awareness and societal peace, and that fake news and rumors have a significant impact on social peace and cause confusion among the public. Accordingly, the team established a special unit to monitor fake news and rumors spread on social media and other news sites starting in 2020 under the name "Unreal News". The unit consists of two fact-checkers to verify successive news and rumors online and is supervised by the observatory's chief news evaluator. For more information about the methodology, click here

Do all criteria have the same influence on the final rating score?

The three different categories of questions (professionalism, violations of law conduct and human rights, and manipulation) do not equally influence the public.

Professionalism
The extent to which the question damages public opinion determines its weight in the score.
Credibility
The questions in the category of legal and human rights violations have the highest weight among all the questions, and then come the questions related to manipulation and propaganda
Human Rights
finally the questions of professionalism and code of ethics, which AkhbarMeter team is keen on promoting.
What are the questions that we base our rating on?
Does the author refer to the source when quoting or paraphrasing?
Is there any false information in the article?
Did the editor balance between different point of views?
Did the editor present sufficient information about the topic?
Is there any tampering with information or its context in the article?
Is there any insult, defamation or slandering for individuals or groups in the article?
Does the author refer to the source of the images used in the article clearly?
Is there a violation of privacy in the article?
Is there a conformoty with the right of presumption of innocence in the article?
Is there any hate speech in the article?
Is there any violence-instigation message in the article?
Is there any discrimination or/and stereotyping against individuals or groups in the article?
Did the editor refer to the sources of the information used in the article?
Do the sources represent more than one point of view?
Did the editor use relevant sources in the article?
Did the editor mix between facts and his/her personal opinion?
Did the editor get a permission from the owners of the visual/written content before publishing?
Is the headline objective and precise?
Does the visual content match with the article?
How are articles rated on AkhbarMeter
The Akhbar Meter team makes its methodology available to journalists, academic researchers, and audiences to rely on in identifying concepts and standards related to media ethics, as well as measuring the degree of media professionals’ commitment to media ethics.
“Akhbar Meter” is the first digital media observatory in Egypt and the world, evaluating the content of media sites according to their credibility and commitment to professional and ethical standards since 2014. The observatory is an initiative founded by a group of young Egyptians in response to the spread of unprofessional and unethical professional practices in the media scene, which seeks to identify unprofessional and unprofessional coverage; which in turn affects the integrity and accuracy of the information provided to the public, and its freedom from misleading, propaganda, and human rights violations.
The “Akhbar Meter” team monitors and evaluates the credibility and professionalism of the most prominent news that deals with issues of interest to the public within the content issued by the ten most widely read news sites in Egypt; According to the websites "Similar Web" and "Alexa", which specialize in website statistics, these websites are updated once a year in January.
The team selects content based on its importance and relevance to readers' daily lives, or with the aim of pointing out professional errors that readers are accustomed to reading without paying attention to because they are not specialized in that, and the fallacies and errors in it that may reach the level of human rights violations or going out of context; accordingly, followers of "Akhbar Meter" find that the content varies among all types of journalism, including politics, economics, local, art and culture; in an attempt to get closer to readers' interests.
The work team evaluates the content based on a scientific methodology that was developed based on local and international media codes of honor, and under the supervision of academics and practitioners in the field of media work. The team extracted a number of questions that determine the extent of the news editor's commitment to three criteria: "professionalism, professionalism, credibility and respect for human rights."
The team answers these questions by commenting on the mistakes made by the content writers, and each piece of content earns a number of points for each question, and based on that, the site automatically calculates the percentage of the digital newspaper's commitment to professional and ethical standards.
If the news contains incorrect information, the site places a warning sign that highlights the presence of some incorrect information in the news content so that the "AkhbarMeter" reader is aware of it, and the site guarantees the right to respond to journalists whose content on the site has been evaluated by the team, and publishes those responses on the evaluation page itself.
The "AkhbarMeter" team issues a monthly analysis of the performance of each media site; based on the average news ratings, in addition to three in-depth reports representing the best, worst and average performing news content; with the aim of detailing professional and ethical practices and identifying the sources of the rise or fall of news content.
What is the fact checking unit?
AkhbarMeter team believes that professional and ethical violations are not the only threat to public awareness and societal peace, and that fake news and rumors have a significant impact on social peace and create confusion among the public. Accordingly, the team established a special unit to monitor fake news and rumors spread on social media and other news sites starting in 2020 under the name “Unreal News”. The unit consists of two fact-checkers to verify successive news and rumors online and is supervised by the observatory’s senior news evaluator.
Publication Policies:
AkhbarMeter Observatory has no political or ideological orientations of any kind and its sole allegiance is to support professional and ethical practices in the field of media based on local, regional, and international media work charters. The observatory does not support any parties or candidates in any elections or politicians. It also adheres to neutrality and does not adopt any political positions on any issues. It declares its commitment to the principles of transparency and accuracy in presenting information and facts in any public debate. The observatory team maintains an equal distance from the state and all political players and influencers and seeks to achieve balance in presenting facts to all concerned parties. The same policies apply in news evaluations and/or debunking fake news and rumors.
AkhbarMeter Observatory adheres to the codes of principles of both the Arab Fact-Checkers Network (AFCN) and the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN).
Transparency:
The team clarifies its sources of information and provides links to relevant sources, whether official or from individuals related to the spread of news and rumors. The team aims to explain the fake news and how the fact-checker reached reliable information from various sources. The team also aims to present simple steps that the public can repeat to verify the accuracy of information. The team commits to making corrections to verified news if there is evidence of some unintentional errors in the evaluation or verification process.
The team presents the results of news evaluations and information verification without bias or deliberate defense or attack or promotion of specific ideas within its work in verifying the accuracy of information. All team members adhere to the policies of transparency and impartiality, and the observatory management does not allow the personal orientations or opinions of employees to influence their work in news evaluation and/or information verification. Everyone adheres to specific standards based on professional and ethical standards that regulate media work and news formulation.
The site welcomes audience suggestions for evaluating news or fact-checking news, rumors, or information they want to verify. These suggestions are received on the site’s email and our social media pages. Individuals can request the evaluation of media content by adding its link from the site's homepage.
The team does not verify the accuracy of individuals' personal opinions.
Correction Policies:
AkhbarMeter team provides an appropriate space for individuals and the public to respond to the information presented in the fact-checking process by correcting or rejecting it with complete transparency. You can contact us via the site's email or our social media pages. The team also undertakes to make the necessary corrections as soon as the information is verified and accepted.
AkhbarMeter Observatory is owned by E.Citizen for Digital Services, a company registered with the Egyptian Investment Authority with commercial registration number (123546). The company is responsible for developing the observatory’s website. The observatory is managed by a group of journalists and media experts independently who believe in the observatory’s role in educating the public about unprofessional and unethical media practices. The team enjoys a high degree of neutrality and objectivity in evaluating media content, exposing fake news, and rumors without being influenced by any political or ideological affiliations. The primary reference for the team is the scientific methodology developed in cooperation with a group of media experts, based on local, regional, and international media honor charters.
The observatory is funded by its founder, Mr. Haytham Atef. The team does not accept donations or support from unknown sources or any other sources that may lead to a conflict of interest with the team’s professional work and commitment to neutrality and objectivity.
AkhbarMeter Observatory holds the copyright for all corrected news published in the "Unreal News" section, which results from the verification efforts made by team members to enlighten the public about the practices of media institutions, individuals, and groups in spreading fake news and misleading the public.
News and Information Verification Methodology:
How We Select News:
The team has set criteria for selecting fake news and rumors in the "Unreal News" section:
  • Importance of the news to users and its impact on the public's lives.
  • Its rapid spread among users on a wide scale or the likelihood of its spread due to its importance to the public.
  • The team excludes debunking limited-spread news to avoid contributing to its further dissemination among the public.
  • The presence of reliable sources to verify the information contained in the news or to refute it.
Sources of Information:
The team seeks to ensure accuracy by verifying information from primary sources such as official statements, statements from officials, public figures, and individuals mentioned in events. This information can be searched for on personal pages, written or televised statements, with related links added so that the public can verify them. Sometimes, when primary sources cannot be reached, the team attributes the information to secondary sources, such as news websites. The AkhbarMeter team also tracks information sources and tries to link the interests associated with their statements about the verified information.
Steps to Verify Information:
  • Using various tools for reverse image and video searches to verify their usage dates and presence in the news.
  • Using keywords on search engines, using dates and publication times, and geographical locations to reach the initial publication places and track the accuracy of the information and its manipulation.
  • Monitoring official websites such as ministries, agencies, civil society organizations, and local and international organizations, to refer to official news and statements.
  • Following news sources and concerned individuals and closely related sources to events and eyewitnesses through their official social media pages.
  • Returning to original images and watching video clips of statements (talk shows and interviews) to ensure proper transmission and avoid quotes being taken out of context.
  • Following the official pages of concerned institutions and individuals on social media.
Writing and Publishing Verified Information:
  • The team writes the fake news or information, followed by the facts, and then the sources that enable the reader to learn the verification process and repeat the search themselves.
  • The team explains the steps taken to verify the different sources while writing the facts.
  • The team adds links to primary and secondary sources to support and confirm the verified information.
  • The team looks for other sources such as news published in newspapers with considerable credibility to support and confirm the information, giving the reader a clearer picture of the events.
  • The team presents the verified information and the opposing narrative of events to achieve the highest degree of reader persuasion.
  • The team seeks to contact news sources and concerned individuals whenever possible.
  • An attractive headline and a special design with the "Unreal" tag used on the site and social media pages are chosen.
  • The team interacts with audience messages on our email and social media pages after publication.
AkhbarMeter Observatory adheres to its methodology in selecting news for verification, verification steps, writing, and publishing, alongside the codes of principles of both the Arab Fact-Checkers Network (AFCN) and the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN).