Climate Feedback (CF) is a web-based content annotation tool that allows qualified scientists to comment on stories online, adding context and noting inaccuracies.
It is one of three websites under the
Science Feedback parent organization that
fact-checks media coverage. Science Feedback is a non-profit organization registered in France.
The CF website asks
climate scientists in relevant fields to assess the credibility and accuracy of media stories related to climate change.
The website published its first review in 2015.
The website was founded by
Emmanuel Vincent, who has a
PhD in Oceanography & Climate from
Université Pierre et Marie Curie
Pierre and Marie Curie University (french: link=no, Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, UPMC), also known as Paris 6, was a public university, public research university in Paris, France, from 1971 to 2017. The university was located on the Jussi ...
.
Vincent partnered with the non-profit
Hypothes.is, who created a free Internet browser plug-in that allows users to make sentence-level comments on web pages, to create an evaluation of content. Climate Feedback, an application of the Hypothes.is platform to climate science communication, allows active climate scientists to add comments.
Process
Typically, a story will be reviewed for CF by five or six scientists, but on one story there were 17 reviewers.
According to Climate Feedback, each reviewer has to hold a PhD in a relevant discipline, and have at least one published article on climate science or climate change impacts in a top-tier
peer-reviewed scientific journal within the last three years.
However, summaries are written by an editor rather than by a reviewer.
The method was called "expert crowdsourcing" or a form of "elevated crowdsourcing" by
Poynter's International Fact-Check Network.
History
The website published its first review in March 2015.
In 2016, Climate Feedback raised about $30,000 with Indigogo crowdfunding, which bolstered one of the efforts to conduct fact-checking via web annotation. Others like PolitiFact have also been experimenting with annotation methods for politicians’ posts on the blogging platform Medium, using a $140,000 grant from the Knight Foundation.
In 2017 Dana Nuccitelli, in a ''
Guardian'' article on the role of denialist blogs in undermining public acceptance of anthropogenic global warming, described Climate Feedback as "a highly respected and influential resource."
The website has identified errors in content published by outlets, such as
Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
, ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', ''
The Mail on Sunday
''The Mail on Sunday'' is a British conservative newspaper, published in a tabloid format. It is the biggest-selling Sunday newspaper in the UK and was launched in 1982 by Lord Rothermere. Its sister paper, the ''Daily Mail'', was first pub ...
'' and ''
New York'' magazine.
The website is included in the database of global fact-checking sites by the Reporters' Lab at
Duke University. Currently, Emmanuel Vincent serves as director.
As a project of the Science Feedback non-profit organization, Climate Feedback reviews are used in
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
's fact-checking partnership to identify false news articles and show them lower in its
News Feed. Science Feedback is annually certified by the
International Fact Checking Network at the
Poynter Institute
The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is a non-profit journalism school and research organization in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. The school is the owner of the ''Tampa Bay Times'' newspaper and the International Fact-Checking Netw ...
.
In September 2021, journalist
John Stossel
John Frank Stossel (born March 6, 1947) is an American libertarian television presenter, author, consumer journalist, and pundit. He is known for his career as a host on ABC News, Fox Business Network, and Reason TV.
Stossel's style combines ...
filed a
libel lawsuit against Facebook, along with Climate Feedback and Science Feedback, for labeling two of his videos on climate change "misleading" and "partly false". Stossel's lawsuit said the labels misrepresented his views.
See also
*
Climate change denial
References
External links
Science Feedback Official website*Climate Feedback {{official website, https://climatefeedback.org
Health Feedback Official website
Environmental websites
Fact-checking websites
Internet properties established in 2015