Pagella Politica

In 2012, a group of friends opened a blog devoted to fact-checking the statements of Italian politicians, drawing on foreign examples such as Full Fact in the United Kingdom. The blog soon gained an audience and, in 2013, turned into a registered publication called Pagella Politica, i.e. "Politics report card", as it used to rank the politicians according to the number of falsities said.

Pagella Politica aims to provide readers with a tool to understand politics. Fact-based and data-driven, it wants to help readers go beyond rhetoric: a media-literacy mission. In 2018 it started a new section to explain political affairs using an easy-to-read language and avoiding rumours to achieve this goal. Since 2017, it has been a member of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), complying with the standards, the transparency of sources, methodology, and content corrections established in its Code of Principles.

The newsroom consists of two full-time people and one part-time employee managing the daily releases, three newsletters, one weekly podcast and four social media channels.

The outlet's mission is to become a benchmark among the Italian media dealing with political affairs. A wide share of its audience consists of journalists, who increasingly use Pagella Politica as a source.

The editor-in-chief Carlo Canepa said: "Our greatest satisfaction so far is having contributed with one of our articles to the resignation of Alberto Gerli, a member of the scientific, technical committee during the pandemic." In September 2022, the organisation launched a membership programme to increase its revenues further. Pagella Politica is ad-free.

Last updated: January 2023