News Detective

Making the truth transparent

What if we could fight misinformation and teach media literacy at the same time?

News Detective was a fact-checking and media literacy initiative that brought together university students, professional fact-checkers, and social media platforms to investigate misinformation at scale.

Founded in 2020 by a journalist who had worked as a fact-checker for Tiktok and Facebook, News Detective developed a model that combined the power of crowdsourcing with professional editorial oversight.

The goal: make fact-checking more scalable and transparent while teaching people how to evaluate information for themselves.

Our Impact

2,000 students trained

Approximately 2,000 students participated in News Detective's hands-on fact-checking program through university partnerships.

92% reported improved media literacy

In post-assignment surveys, 92% of responding students said participating in News Detective made them better at spotting misinformation.

Hundreds of fact-checks per week

During a typical week, a professional fact-checker working five hours reviewed and approved approximately 250 student-submitted fact-checks.

The project demonstrated how students could contribute to fact-checking efforts while developing practical skills in research, source evaluation, and evidence-based reasoning.

How It Worked

Learning to fact-check by actually fact-checking.

Traditional fact-checking relies heavily on professional journalists investigating claims one by one. News Detective tested a different approach: training university students to participate in the process.

Here's how it worked:

Identify a claim. Social media users and students submitted claims circulating online.
Investigate the evidence. Students researched the claims, traced information to its original sources, evaluated credibility, and wrote fact-checks.
Professional review. Experienced fact-checkers moderated the submissions, provided feedback, and selected accurate, well-supported responses.
Share the results. Approved fact-checks could be distributed through participating social media platforms.

News Detective also developed a Bluesky integration that allowed users to request fact-checks and view ratings, explanations, and sources alongside social media posts.

The model combined fact-checking, education, and community participation in a single system.

University Partnerships

Bringing real-world fact-checking into the classroom.

News Detective collaborated with university instructors to incorporate fact-checking into their courses. Students investigated real claims circulating online, received feedback from professional moderators, and learned through practice.

University partners included:

University of Illinois
Howard University
University of Oregon

The program was designed to require minimal additional classroom time, making it possible to integrate fact-checking into existing journalism and media studies courses.

News Detective's work was also presented at the College Media Association and the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication.

Recognition, Funding & Support

News Detective received grants, startup incubation, and institutional support from organizations working at the intersection of journalism, technology, and education.

MITdesignX

Selected for the MITdesignX startup accelerator, receiving incubation support and grant funding.

Honorable Mention — MITdesignX Pitch Day, 2022.

MIT Sandbox

Received grant funding, mentorship, and startup incubation support through MIT's entrepreneurship program.

MIT Solve

2023 Semifinalist — Learning for Civic Action Challenge.

International Fact-Checking Network

Awarded a grant through the Global Fact Check Fund's 2024 BUILD program, administered by the International Fact-Checking Network at the Poynter Institute and funded by Google and YouTube.

Hacks/Hackers

Received grant and incubation support from Hacks/Hackers, an international organization connecting journalists and technologists.

Bluesky

Selected as one of the first three recipients of Bluesky's labeling-services microgrants in 2024.

News Detective collaborated with Bluesky to pilot a system connecting community fact-checking with professional editorial review.

In the News & Publications

News Detective's model and development were documented by journalism, technology, and academic organizations.

MIT News — August 2022

Passion Projects Prepare to Launch

Coverage of MITdesignX's 2022 accelerator cohort, including News Detective's honorable mention at Pitch Day.

Hacks/Hackers / MisinfoCon — 2024

Brace Yourself. The First AI Elections Are Here.

An interview with founder Ilana Strauss about misinformation, crowdsourcing, and the development of News Detective.

University of Oregon — October 2024

Using News Detective to Fight Misinformation Online with Ilana Strauss

An invited presentation at the School of Journalism and Communication.

Tech Policy Press — 2025

Meta Is Ditching Fact-Checkers. That Doesn't Have to Be a Disaster.

An article by Ilana Strauss examining the News Detective model, its educational outcomes, and the potential for combining professional fact-checking with crowdsourcing.

About Us

News Detective was founded by Ilana E. Strauss, a journalist and filmmaker whose work has appeared in The Atlantic, National Geographic, The Economist, and other publications.

Drawing on her experience working in professional fact-checking, Strauss founded News Detective to explore how crowdsourcing, journalism, and education could work together to address misinformation.

The interactive platform is being retired, but this website remains as a record of the project and its work.

Interested in learning more about News Detective or its research and educational model? Contact.