RTÉ Launches new Clarity Mark to help counter Misinformation & Disinformation

Clarity is RTÉ’s focus on disinformation, discourse, and democracy. On many issues, it is increasingly hard to tell whether something is fair opinion or a false ‘fact’. In articles published with the Clarity mark, RTÉ will look to demystify complicated issues, debunk deliberate attempts to distort reality, detail how online discourse impacts democracy, and explain exactly how RTÉ verifies its quality journalism. It will also ask the difficult questions, even when it is uncomfortable to do so.

New research conducted for RTÉ in recent weeks (surveying approx 1000 people) shows that over 84% of respondents are worried about disinformation, and 90% are worried specifically about its impact on young people.

And one in four people under 30 believe that RTÉ, compared to other media outlets, bears the most responsibility in addressing that.

Clarity will primarily focus on RTÉ’s digital and social platforms. Articles within this online strand will check and explain information and video content and aim to give audiences the tools to navigate this noisy space.

The problem posed by disinformation and misinformation is increasingly challenging and becoming ever more serious. Its persistence continues to erode trust in the media and, even more worryingly, the democratic process itself.

Deirdre McCarthy, Managing Director of RTÉ News & Current Affairs said: “In a changing world, people are facing a barrage of claims and counter-claims. RTÉ Clarity will help to equip the reader, the listener, the follower, the viewer, with accurate and impartial facts so you can judge for yourselves where the real story is.

We want the public to understand how we stand over our stories as well as hold ourselves and others to account. There is no room for complacency, and we do not take the public’s trust for granted. If we are to continue to maintain and grow trust levels then we must also clearly demonstrate how we do what we do every day. It is why the sourcing and verifying of stories, as well as providing context to public announcements and claims, is so important. It is also essential to challenging the ongoing battle to separate fact from fiction and in highlighting false and misleading information.”

In research by Coimisiún na Meán 64% of Irish people told how they were concerned about being able to spot what is real or fake. That anxiety was conveyed in 2023 – and can only have intensified following recent waves of AI development, deepfakes and the dismantling of moderation on influential social media platforms. 

Clarity is part of RTÉ’s New Direction strategy in which the organisation committed to enhance media literacy, essential to countering mis and dis-information, by launching a visual mark to assist audiences to confidentially navigate the information they encounter on current events, demystify complicated issues and debunk deliberate attempts to misinform or disinform.