When VERA Files lost funding last year, the Manila-based newsroom had no choice but to overhaul its staffing plans.
Five reporters left by the end of the year, and nobody replaced them. A fact-checker took over the tip line and newsletters, the tech team volunteered to transcribe three-hour International Criminal Court hearings on a former Philippine president, and editors went out to report. Ellen Tordesillas, who co-founded the nonprofit 18 years ago, was back in the field herself, reporting stories because there was no one else to send.
In January 2025, Meta announced the end of its U.S. fact-checking program, creating uncertainty throughout the global fact-checking network. Meta’s partnership in Asia, including with VERA Files, continued through 2025, but the announcement unsettled partners who depended on the program. Then the National Endowment for Democracy suspended its grants.
“It gave us a deep sense of uncertainty,” Tordesillas said in an interview. “It’s not a very healthy feeling.”
Tordesillas has faced political harassment and government pressure for nearly two decades. “Financial survival — it’s really the most challenging for us,” she said.
And yet, the audience grew.
VERA Files was not alone. Among 141 fact-checking organizations surveyed across 71 countries for the International Fact-Checking Network’s 2025 State of the Fact-Checkers report, 62% said their audience grew in 2025, even as 76% described their finances as vulnerable or in crisis.
Meta’s share of fact-checking funding dropped from 45.5% to 34.3% over the year. Staff cuts more than doubled, rising from 14.9% to 38.3% of organizations.
Coverage shrank, too. Every topic category the survey tracked declined, with climate science falling from 75.2% to 55.5%.
Schools in the provinces asked VERA Files to train them to spot misinformation. The organization had to say no. “Everybody should be a fact-checker,” Tordesillas said. “And we cannot put that in practice as much as we want to these days.”
In the United States, where the fallout was immediate, Factchequeado lost two staffers and couldn’t replace them. The Trump administration’s targeting of migrants and Latinos drove demand for the Spanish-language organization’s work, co-founder Laura Zommer said. Its reach grew 60%, and it produced 20 to 25 original pieces a week for 146 media partners across 27 states.
Factchequeado won the IFCN’s Global Collaboration Award, and Zommer won the 2025 Gabo Award for Journalistic Excellence. Its AI-powered immigration chatbot, ChatMigrante, was also a finalist in the 2025 Online Journalism Awards for Excellence in AI Innovation, Small Newsroom. But recognition did not ease the organization’s financial strain. “I don’t want more prizes,” she said. “We need funds.”
More than half of organizations used AI tools in 2025, and the share collaborating monthly nearly doubled, from 35.3% to 58.4%.
Larger audiences did not bring financial stability. A majority of organizations still depended on a single funder for at least half their income.
Back in Manila, Tordesillas said VERA Files is applying for every grant it can find, large and small. When the team sends an application, it has a ritual.
“We pray a lot,” she said.
Read the full State of the Fact-Checkers report. The author wrote it.