EIJC19 & Dataharvest

Facta is a newly founded nonprofit center that applies the scientific method to fact and data-driven journalism, innovating both the process and the final output. The methodology is based on five steps from the definition of clear hypotheses to research for data and publications from various sources, on-field interviews, assessment and feedback by scientists and other selected stakeholders up to the final publication. Each Facta story will published with the complete package of data, relevant documents and full interviews. All data are reusable, the entire process will be replicable. Facta focuses on the Mediterranean region where significant environmental, social and political problems have become real emergencies, media tend to be controlled by politics and there is a very scarce culture regarding digital innovation and transparency. Facta can help restoring trust in media involving stakeholders in different steps and not considering them only as final readers. Our project won’t develop a new set of tools or a platform but it will test and select the technologies appropriate to the process. We are currently working on few pilot cases, including the further steps development of a long term data investigative project on the agricultural market and the solutions small farmers are experimenting to maintain control of their seeds (sequel of seedversity.org and especially seedcontrol.eu), a project that has seen the involvement of farmers networks, agronomists and activists.