Fact checkers have always existed. We used to call them journalists. The sudden emergence of the "fact checking" industry was simply the media's desperate response to their own cratering credibility. No one trusts journos anymore, so they created a new "super serious" class of journos who totally deserve your absolute reverence. It's all just coercive branding for Journalism version 2.0, which is even more corrupt and dishonest than Journalism Classic.