Investigates how political reporting can more effectively counter misinformation in order to enhance the public legitimacy of journalism • Informed by one of the largest studies to date on fact-checking and misinformation reporting • Includes original interviews with senior journalists and editors, analysis of online and broadcast news, and online diaries, surveys and focus groups with news audiences • Explores misinformation from an international perspective, with a particular focus on the UK and the US • Draws on comparisons with a range of national contexts – including non-Western countries - to explore debates and issues surrounding misinformation • Goes beyond studies that focus exclusively on disinformation solely emanating from social media and identifies where misinformation can spread through mainstream media This book examines how journalists should deal with the growing tide of political disinformation and public scepticism towards news media. Informed by the latest research from the UK and around the world, the book draws on a series of UK-based studies over a six-year period between 2019-2024, systematically analysing over 4000 news items and sources across fact-checking sites and broadcast programming. It examines audiences through a survey of more than 1,000 people, a news diary study of 200 participants, and fourteen focus groups, in addition to interviewing some of the most prominent news editors and journalists in broadcast news. The authors look beyond disinformation emanating from online and social media platforms to identify where and how misinformation can spread across mainstream media. To enhance the legitimacy of journalism and better serve the public, they argue that news reporting should more regularly and robustly confront false and misleading information from politicians.