Verificação de factos na era da pós-verdade

: um estudo comparativo entre Observador, Polígrafo e Prova dos Factos

Abstract

Fact-checking, as it is widely recognized today, encompasses the verification of political statements as well as viral content circulating on social media platforms. The verification process is based on factual evidence and generally delivers a verdict on the information analysed using a truthfulness scale. However, the rise of this journalistic practice coincides with the adverse conditions of post-truth and the current discrediting of factual truth. The primary aim of this research is, therefore, to examine how fact-checking constructs factual truth at a time when other social processes constitute a consciousness of truth that is detached from the factuality of things. To explore this, we analyzed the editorials and articles of the three leading fact-checking initiatives in Portugal: Observador, Polígrafo, and Prova dos Factos (Público), with the methodological support of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The analysis of the editorials revealed the discursive construction of fact-checking’s authoritative identity, which is crucial for legitimizing its social role as referees in the public sphere. Another finding is the discursive strategy of normalizing the use of truthfulness scales and verdicts within the methods and assumptions of fact-checking, without addressing, however, the limitations of these two tools in interpreting the complexity of facts and reality. In the analysis of the articles, we observed the regular use of modal adjectives (“true”, “truthful”) and modal adverbs (“in fact”) to represent the speakers’ discourse as either true or false. In addition, we found rhetorical questions that simulate the reader’s doubts, while simultaneously positioning the fact-checker as the one who knows how to answer them based on factual evidence. These are, therefore, enunciative strategies that help the fact-checker persuade readers that the verdict presented is true, that is, the factual truth, while also giving the fact-checking genre a distinctive feature.

Date of Award	5 Feb 2026
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Nelson Ribeiro (Supervisor)