ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (March 21, 2019) – The Poynter Institute, a nonprofit global leader in journalism, is pleased to announce an exclusive partnership between its own fact-checking news organization, PolitiFact, and Noticias Telemundo, a leading news provider for 58 million Hispanic people in the United States.
PolitiFact reporters and editors will be made available to Telemundo for on-air interviews, and Noticias Telemundo will be able to send statements for PolitiFact to fact-check for Spanish-language audiences. The two organizations also will collaborate to translate PolitiFact fact-checks into Spanish for use both online and on TV, including Noticias Telemundo and the broader NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises.
“When politicians are making statements about critical issues like health care, education, immigration and the economy, especially ahead of major elections, the voting public needs a trusted place they can go to find the truth,” said Neil Brown, president of the Poynter Institute, which acquired the nonprofit PolitiFact in 2018. “For millions of Spanish-language news consumers, that place is Telemundo. Our collaboration means that a huge contingent of the U.S. population can now determine the accuracy of information in their native language.”
PolitiFact is the largest political fact-checking news organization in the United States and won the Pulitzer Prize in 2009. National PolitiFact reporters are based in St. Petersburg and Washington D.C., while news partnerships expand PolitiFact reporting into 13 states, including those with more than one million Hispanic residents like California, Texas, New York, Florida and Illinois.
“Hispanic issues are at the center of the political conversation, which is becoming increasingly polarized,” said Luis Fernández, executive vice president of Noticias Telemundo. “Offering PolitiFact’s unique form of accountability journalism to our audience helps strengthen political discourse by centering it on the facts and adding context for the decisions people make every day. The stakes are incredibly high going into the next electoral cycle and we want to make sure our audience has the right information.”
Noticias Telemundo’s award-winning television news broadcasts include the daily newscast “Noticias Telemundo” with José Díaz Balart, among others. In addition, Noticias Telemundo produces award-winning news specials, documentaries, investigative reports and news events such as political debates, forums and town halls.
“PolitiFact’s independent reporting and analysis both provide explanations for voters and hold political candidates accountable,” said Angie Drobnic Holan, PolitiFact editor. “Because the Hispanic electorate is a critical target for politicians campaigning in 2020 — and therefore a target for political misinformation and spin — PolitiFact wants to reach this audience as well. With Telemundo as a partner, PolitiFact will be a go-to source for authoritative, vetted information Hispanic voters can trust during the election and beyond.”
About The Poynter Institute:
The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is a global leader in journalism education and a strategy center that stands for uncompromising excellence in journalism, media and 21st-century public discourse. Poynter faculty teach seminars and workshops at the Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, and at conferences and organizations around the world. Its e-learning division, News University, offers the world’s largest online journalism curriculum, with hundreds of interactive courses and tens of thousands of registered international users. The Institute’s website, poynter.org, produces 24-hour coverage about media, ethics, technology and the business of news. Poynter is the home of the Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership, the Pulitzer Prize-winning PolitiFact, the International Fact-Checking Network and MediaWise, a teen digital information literacy project. The world’s top journalists and media innovators come to Poynter to learn and teach new generations of reporters, storytellers, media inventors, designers, visual journalists, documentarians and broadcasters. This work builds public awareness about journalism, media, the First Amendment and discourse that serves democracy and the public good.
About NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises:
NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises is a world-class media company leading the industry in the production and distribution of high-quality Spanish-language content to U.S. Hispanics and audiences around the world. This fast-growing multiplatform portfolio is comprised of the Telemundo Network and Station Group, Telemundo Deportes, Telemundo Noticias, Telemundo Global Studios, Universo and a Digital Enterprises & Emerging Business unit. Telemundo Network features original Spanish-language entertainment, news and sports content reaching 94% of U.S. Hispanic TV households in 210 markets through 28 local stations, 51 affiliates and its national feed. Telemundo also owns WKAQ, a television station that serves viewers in Puerto Rico. Telemundo Deportes is the designated Spanish-language home of two of the world’s most popular sporting events: FIFA World Cup™ through 2026 and the Summer Olympic Games through 2032. Telemundo Global Studios is the company’s domestic and international scripted production unit including Telemundo Studios, Telemundo International Studios, Telemundo International, as well as all of the company’s co-production partnerships. As the #1 media company reaching Hispanics and millennials online, the Digital Enterprises & Emerging Business unit distributes original content across multiple platforms, maximizing its exclusive partnerships with properties such as BuzzFeed, Vox, and Snapchat. Through Telemundo Internacional, the largest U.S.-based distributor of Spanish-language content in the world; and Universo, the fastest growing Hispanic entertainment cable network, the company reflects the diverse lifestyle, cultural experience and language of its expanding audience.
Contact: Tina Dyakon
Director of Advertising and Marketing
The Poynter Institute
727-553-4343
