Volunteer Fact-Checkers & Verification Researchers — Rock & Art | Remote, Worldwide

Rock & Art is an independent cultural journalism and knowledge platform exploring art, music, literature, identity, bodies, sexuality, politics, and subcultures through critical, intersectional perspectives. We practice slow journalism: research-driven, long-form, and contextual work that seeks to understand culture rather than simply report on it. Our editorial practice is guided by intellectual curiosity, evidence, context, editorial independence, and a commitment to complexity and responsible representation.

About the role

We are looking for Volunteer Fact-Checkers & Verification Researchers to help ensure that Rock & Art’s journalism is supported by evidence and that factual claims are presented accurately and responsibly. Fact-checking at Rock & Art is not about trying to prove that every article is “right.” It is about asking whether the article’s claims can be supported, whether the sources actually establish what the writer says they establish, whether context has been omitted, and whether the wording accurately reflects the available evidence.

Responsibilities

• Review articles for factual claims requiring verification.
• Identify claims that need supporting evidence.
• Check names, dates, places, figures, quotations, and historical details.
• Verify quotations against original sources where possible.
• Trace claims back to primary or authoritative sources.
• Check whether secondary sources accurately represent their cited material.
• Identify outdated, misleading, or insufficient sources.
• Distinguish documented fact from interpretation, opinion, and inference.
• Identify claims that are technically accurate but misleading without additional context.
• Flag unsupported generalizations or categorical statements.
• Check whether statistics and numerical claims are correctly represented.
• Verify references to academic studies, legal matters, institutions, organizations, and historical events.
• Document verification findings clearly for editors and writers.
• Recommend corrections, qualifications, or additional sourcing where necessary.
• Escalate unresolved or high-risk claims to the appropriate editorial review.
• Follow Rock & Art Editorial System (RAES) verification standards and workflows.

Requirements

You do not need to have worked as a professional fact-checker. Relevant backgrounds may include: journalism, research, academia, history, law, political science, social sciences, library and information science, archival research, investigative research, publishing, or professional editing. We are particularly interested in people who naturally ask: “How do we know this?”

Skills

• Excellent attention to detail.
• Strong research skills.
• Critical source evaluation.
• Excellent written English.
• Familiarity with primary and secondary sources.
• Careful documentation habits.
• Intellectual independence.
• The ability to recognize uncertainty.
• Willingness to challenge unsupported claims.
• Ability to distinguish factual disagreement from interpretive disagreement.
• Patience with complex or contradictory evidence.
• Respect for attribution and source integrity.

What Fact-checking Means At Rock & Art

Our verification practice is based on a simple principle: Claims must be verifiable. But verification is not mechanical. A source may exist without actually supporting the claim being made. A statistic may be accurate but misleading without its denominator or historical context. A quotation may be genuine but presented in a way that changes its meaning. A widely repeated story may have no reliable primary source. A secondary source may contain an error that has subsequently been repeated by dozens of other publications. Our fact-checkers help identify these problems before publication.

We also recognize that not every cultural claim can be reduced to a binary true/false judgment. Interpretation, criticism, and analysis have their own standards. The role of verification is to make the boundary between evidence, interpretation, and assertion visible.

Editorial principles

• Claims must be verifiable.
• Sources must be attributed.
• Evidence must be distinguished from interpretation.
• Context matters.
• Uncertainty should be acknowledged.
• Corrections are part of responsible journalism, not an embarrassment.

We do not expect fact-checkers to act as ideological gatekeepers. Your role is not to determine whether you personally agree with a writer’s argument. Your role is to determine whether the factual foundations of that argument are adequately supported and honestly represented.

What You Can Expect From Rock & Art

• Clear verification assignments.
• Access to relevant RAES standards and workflows.
• Collaboration with writers and editors.
• Opportunities to develop advanced research and verification skills.
• Exposure to complex cultural and interdisciplinary subjects.
• Recognition of verification contributions where appropriate.
• The opportunity to contribute to a rigorous independent journalism project.
• The possibility of developing into senior verification, editorial, or research responsibilities.

Time commitment

This is a flexible volunteer role. Fact-checking assignments will vary depending on the length and complexity of the article. Some assignments may involve checking a limited number of claims. Others may require extensive source tracing and documentation. The scope and deadline will be agreed upon before you take on an assignment. We value careful work over speed.

Location: Remote — worldwide
Position type: Volunteer
Compensation: Unpaid / no financial compensation
Employment status: This is not an employment position
Commitment: Flexible, agreed according to availability
Language: English
Experience: Open to emerging and experienced researchers and fact-checkers