The Making of Channel 4’s ‘We Fact Check The Zuck Out Of Our News’
On January 7th, Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, announced a move to end fact-checking on its social media platforms in the US, calling Donald Trump’s imminent second presidential term a “cultural tipping point” towards free speech over moderation.
For the rest of us, the decision portends a much gloomier future and political landscape.
Only a day later, Channel 4 and 4creative – its in-house agency – launched a campaign to spotlight Meta’s shock decision and to stress Channel 4’s commitment to providing truthful, fact-based information. Titled ‘We Fact Check The Zuck Out of Our News’, the print campaign also appeared on a van that was driven by Meta’s offices and the Houses of Parliament.
LBB’s Zhenya Tsenzharyk spoke to Channel 4’s CMO, Katie Jackson, to learn about how the campaign came together in record time and why reminding people about the sources they can trust is so needed today.
LBB> How quickly did you decide that Channel 4 needed to say something about Meta's decision to remove fact-checking from its social media platforms? What drove the decision, and how did you land on 'We Fact Check The Zuck Out of Our News’?
Katie> Last year I introduced the concept of ‘what If…’ thinking to the teams. It’s as simple as it sounds; if anyone has an idea (and I don’t just mean a communications or advertising idea – it could be about how we work with each other, where we sit, what we might want to do differently), come and tell me about it or send it through.
So when an email landed in my inbox at 11.09am on the 9th January from one of the brilliant CDs in 4creative, with the subject line ‘WHAT IF…’, I was delighted. And to open that email and see the proof of concept, I knew we needed to make it happen, quickly. Trusting your gut, when you see a copy line crafted like that is incredibly important – it’s a great bit of writing, 10/10 no notes.
LBB> What are the goals of the campaign? What kind of feedback have you had about it?
Katie> The goals are two-fold. First, to make it clear to audiences – whether they are Channel 4 loyalists or otherwise – that we are a brand that really stands by our purpose, to create change through entertainment. In simple terms, we will step forward and engage in cultural conversation, not step back or stay quiet. Second, to remind people of the quality of, and trust in, Channel 4 news. We’re incredibly proud of our independent, fact-checked and duly impartial news at Channel 4, and we should be celebrating that.
LBB> The campaign was out really quickly after the news broke. How important was it to be hyper-reactive?
Katie> Timing is everything. If we’d waited another 24 hours, I don’t think we would have had the same impact. All credit to the brilliant teams across Channel 4 Marketing and 4creative, as well as our colleagues across Commissioning and Legal and our media partners at OMD, for turning it around so quickly. You won’t be surprised to hear that there are a number of stakeholders to bring on side for something like this, and the teams navigated that superbly.
LBB> As well as print ads, the van with the statement was driven by Meta’s offices and the Houses of Parliament. Tell us a little bit about this decision.
Katie> We wanted as broad an audience as possible, and from a talkability perspective – creating video content of an advan driving past Meta’s offices creates opportunity for deeper engagement online.
LBB> Did you run into any challenges during the creation of the campaign? How did you overcome them?
Katie> Not really. It’s important to make sure we still follow the right processes and frameworks to create something like this, no matter how compressed the timeline. That can sometimes slow things down, but in this instance the idea was powerful and simple enough to speak for itself.
LBB> Is there anything else you would like to share about the campaign?
Katie> I feel incredibly proud of the teams involved, it’s exactly the type of work I want us to be doing more of – bang on brand, challenging with purpose, and timely AF.
