How to Start a Fact Checking Business

Part 1 - How to start a Fact Checking business - Background

Fact-checking organizations research the accuracy of claims of interest to the general public, including claims related to political discourse, health, and other topics found in the news and on social media platforms. Many of these businesses are part of larger media organizations, but others work independently. Some operate as nonprofits while others are for-profit enterprises. Growing concerns about public misinformation help to explain why at least 188 fact-checking outlets already operate in more than 60 countries.

Our guide is in 3 parts:

• Part 1 - How to start a Fact Checking business - Background
• Part 2 - Our planner tool to see if this idea is the right fit for you
• Part 3 - Action plan to get started

What are the costs involved in opening a fact checking business?

Opening a fact-checking business doesn’t require a large initial investment — at least if you plan to do the work yourself. You just need a phone and a computer to get started. But, if you want to make more rapid progress, you may find it helpful to have skilled employees and/or partners to cover areas in which you lack expertise. You can only do so much on your own.

Keep in mind that while you may only need $2,000 or so to purchase your basic equipment like a laptop and phone, you’ll need a way to pay your bills while fact-checking. You can certainly work another job while you get started, but your progress will be slow.

What are the ongoing expenses for a fact checking business?

Fact-checking businesses’ ongoing expenses can vary considerably, depending on each organization’s size and structure. If you and your employees all work from home, for example, you won’t need to pay for office space. Even if you do rent office space, you can expect your biggest costs to be labor-related. The average salary of an entry-level fact-checker is $30,000 to $35,000 per year.

Who is the target market?

Some fact-checking businesses seek to partner with media organizations, social media platforms, or government entities. Others aim for a direct relationship with the public. Before you get started, you’ll need to create a detailed business plan that establishes how you’ll fund your organization and make a profit if you plan to run a for-profit business. While fact-checking businesses can target multiple potential markets, it’s usually best to focus on just one as you get your business off of the ground.

How does a fact checking business make money?

Many fact-checking businesses operate as nonprofits and fund their operations through grants, endowments, and similar funding sources. But, some fact-checking organizations do operate as for-profit enterprises like Snopes and PolitiFact. Businesses like Snopes make much of their money from ad revenue generated by their websites. Because everyone knows they can go to Snopes to check facts, the business gets plenty of online traffic. That makes Snopes’ ad revenue a significant income generator. One other common way for fact-checking businesses to generate revenue is to partner with larger businesses interested in checking facts – like social media outlets.

How much can you charge customers?

There’s very little information available online about what smaller fact-checking organizations charge their customers. But, the larger organizations publish their earnings from one of the biggest customers in the industry: Facebook. According to the Columbia Journalism Review, Facebook paid Snopes $100,000 in 2017 and $406,000 in 2018. Facebook also paid $188,881 to FactCheck.org in 2018 and another $242,400 in 2019. While these figures may not help you determine what to charge your first client, they do give you an idea of what organizations at the top of this industry can earn.

How much profit can a fact checking business make?

Most fact-checking organizations operate as nonprofits because it’s difficult to make a lot of money fact-checking. If you choose to start a nonprofit because you have a passion for finding the truth, your main focus will involve finding funding for your work from various sources. As long as you can pay yourself and your team a living wage and keep the lights on, you’ll be doing well.

If you instead want to start a for-profit, fact-checking business, it’ll likely take time to start turning a profit. As noted above, the biggest names in fact-checking earn $100,000 to $400,000 per year from large, corporate clients.

How can you make your business more profitable?

The most direct way to boost the profitability of a fact-checking business is to build a stellar reputation. If your target market can identify you as a shining star of fact-checking, you’ll be much more likely to secure clients and/or funding. Your target market also can have a significant impact on your profitability. Large corporate clients often pay more than you’d earn from advertising revenue, for example.

Day-to-Day and Growth

What happens during a typical day at a fact checking business?

A typical day at a fact-checking business primarily focuses on research. Getting the facts straight takes considerable time and energy because you must identify potentially false claims, determine a plan of action to discover the truth, and then do the legwork to execute that plan. This may involve making multiple phone calls, conducting interviews with experts, pouring over data, and more. Then, once you have all of your information ready, you must write your argument for your readers.

What are some skills and experiences that will help you build a successful fact checking business?

Several skills can help you build a successful business as a fact-checker. First, you’ll need solid research skills — something an academic background or journalism experience can help provide. Strong interviewing skills also can prove useful. Thoroughly verifying facts on complex subjects often requires talking to experts so you’ll need to excel at finding and interviewing those experts. Finally, writing skills will help you present your arguments effectively in your writing.

What is the growth potential for a fact checking business?

While growth potential does exist for fact-checking businesses, the exact potential remains unclear. The number of fact-checking organizations grew by 26 percent from 2018 to 2019, according to Poynter. But, the rising number of these businesses doesn’t tell the whole story. While their number continues to increase, it’s still unclear how many will be able to fund their operations in the long term. Most operate as nonprofits because it’s challenging to generate significant revenue from fact-checking. It is possible, as Snopes and PolitiFact demonstrate, but not necessarily easy.

What are some insider tips for jump starting a fact checking business?

You only have to spend a few minutes on social media to recognize that a fact checker’s work  never ends. The number of potentially false claims always will outstrip your fact-checking efforts, which is why you need to establish some criteria for how you’ll choose your tasks. If you simply log onto Facebook and plan to pick the first thing that catches your eye, you may soon feel overwhelmed. Instead, determine the mission of your organization before you get started. Are you going to focus on political discourse, health claims, or another topic? Create a plan so you stay on track.

Reputation represents another important factor for a fact-checking business. It’s very important to set the right foundation for you and your team. This foundation might include a set of rules by which you operate that you publish on your business website for anyone to see. You can research other fact-checking organizations to learn how they maintain a respectable public image and model your business after them or create your own methods from scratch.

How and when to build a team

Some businesses are easier to run solo than others. Fact-checking isn’t particularly well-suited to a solo operation. This type of business just involves too many tasks, and there’s not enough time in the day for one person to complete them all. Going it alone, you also may quickly run into difficulties due to your lack of experience or expertise in much-needed areas. Fact-checking businesses often employ journalists, social scientists, and other experts so they can complete their work as quickly and as accurately as possible.

If possible, aim to start your business with at least one or two other people who have strengths in areas you need. If that’s not going to work, then make it your goal to get to the point where you can hire help as soon as possible.

Part 2 - Is a Fact Checking business the right fit for you?

Part 3 - Action plan to launch your Fact Checking business in 90 days