Wrote: Etrit Rexhepi
A piece of content has been published claiming that according to the latest research conducted by the "prestigious IDE Institute", the three best mayors in Kosovo are Gazmend Muhaxheri (Peja), Bali Muharremaj (Suhareka) and Agim Aliu (Ferizaj).
allegation was published yesterday (April 28) on the portal's Facebook page, "informim.net".
What is the truth?
Hibrid.info confirmed that there is no such report officially published by any renowned institute in the field of municipal performance measurement.
The same claim has not been published in Web-site of this portal, while it was found published on the portal's website, "ballkani.info" (see here).
Hibrid.info has conducted a manual search on the search engine, “Google”, to verify the existence of the “IDE Institute”. The search results have not shown any data proving that there is such an institute that deals with measuring the performance of mayors in Kosovo or that is known in the field of public research (see here).
The content of the publication does not cite the title of the report to which it refers, its publication date, nor its link.
Hibrid.info has also sought to find information about the publisher of the claim. The Facebook page of the portal, “Informim.net” displays information such as the address, phone number and website (see here). Also, in the Kosovo Business Registration Agency (KBRA), an entity named “informim.net” appears registered as a business.
However, the same portal does not appear as a member of the Kosovo Press Council (CPMC) (see here). Hibrid.info has not noticed that the same claim has been published by media members of the PCK.
To further verify the veracity of the claim, hibrid.info has researched the Facebook accounts of the people mentioned in the claim. None of them have found anything that would confirm the claim (see here, here and here).
A public document found that assesses the performance of mayors based on the fulfillment of promises is the report "Identity Card of Municipalities", published by the non-governmental organization GAP Institute (see here).
Analyze:
The claim that a report by the "IDE Institute" has rated Gazmend Muhaxheri, Bali Muharremaj, and Agim Aliu as the best mayors in Kosovo is unfounded.
Hibrid.info found that no such verifiable report exists, nor does any institute with this name known in the field of public research.
Based on its work methodology, hibrid.info assesses the content as "Fake News".
Reasoning:
The “Fake News” rating is given to informational content that is entirely fabricated or that contains factually incorrect claims or information. Content that is rated as fake news can be defined as having been created and distributed with the intent to misinform the public, i.e., to present a claim that is completely false as fact.