On February 25th, the session “Methodology and Verification Ecosystem” was held, led by Raquel Godos, editor of EFE Verifica and president of the Editorial Board of the EFE Agency. She was EFE's correspondent in Washington for 8 years.

The talk focused on the methodology and impact of fact-checking in the contemporary information ecosystem. The speaker drew an epistemological distinction between traditional journalism, centered on reporting events, and fact-checking, whose purpose is to refute false viral narratives through a reverse investigation process. The asymmetry of resources in this field was emphasized: the creation of a hoax is immediate, while its technical debunking can require days of investigation.

From a sociopolitical perspective, disinformation is categorized as a "hybrid threat" aimed at institutional destabilization and the manipulation of cognitive biases. To counter it, EFE Verifica implements rigorous protocols based on the principles of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), prioritizing content based on its virality and social impact under impartial criteria. The technical process integrates reverse image search tools and metadata analysis, structuring communication using the "truth sandwich" to ensure the effectiveness of the debunking. Finally, the discussion addressed the regulatory challenges of the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the collaboration of fact-checking agencies with platforms like Meta to mitigate the spread of false content in the public sphere.

The session was given to third-year students of the Bachelor's Degree in Digital Communication, as part of the course "Management and Verification of Digital Information," taught by Professor David García Marín. This course is offered within the framework of DIGICOMLAB: Professional Laboratory of Digital Communication, an educational innovation space of the Bachelor's Degree in Digital Communication at the Faculty of Communication Sciences of the URJC (King Juan Carlos University).