St. PETERSBURG, Fla. (Oct. 21, 2024) – The Worldwide Reality-Checking Community on the Poynter Institute, a worldwide chief in journalism, introduced as we speak that 20 fact-checking initiatives worldwide have been awarded GROW 2024 grants, every receiving as much as $50,000 to counter misinformation.
The winners symbolize 19 nations — together with India, Zimbabwe, Portugal, the Philippines, Brazil, and Iraq — and have proposed initiatives aiming to fight misinformation. Their initiatives give attention to empowering native communities, creating sustainable fact-checking strategies, and utilizing AI, movies, and social media to succeed in wider audiences.
They had been chosen from an preliminary pool of 109 functions by a panel of impartial reviewers, who assessed proposals based mostly on innovation, sustainability, and their potential to scale fact-checking operations.
“These initiatives mirror the varied methods fact-checkers are tackling misinformation,” mentioned Angie Drobnic Holan, IFCN director. “Some are harnessing AI, others are increasing into new languages, and plenty of are strengthening present approaches. With these grants, fact-checkers can increase their attain and make an even bigger distinction of their communities.”
A few of the successful initiatives embrace an AI-powered device from Jordan to trace misinformation tendencies in Arabic; the enlargement of fact-checking movies into 5 South Indian languages; and efforts in Zimbabwe to translate reality checks into indigenous languages whereas creating income diversification methods. Every recipient has 12 months to implement their initiatives, with progress studies due on the midway mark.
The GROW 2024 grants are a part of the $12 million International Reality Test Fund, backed by Google and YouTube to assist fact-checking initiatives worldwide and cut back the hurt of misinformation. The fund allocates grants yearly in three phases: BUILD, GROW, and ENGAGE.
GROW focuses on serving to organizations scale their fact-checking efforts, whereas ENGAGE 2024 goals to foster collaboration and public engagement.
For the reason that fund’s launch in 2023, the IFCN has awarded practically $6 million to 134 organizations in 67 nations.
Learn beneath about every grant winner and their venture.
Synthetic Intelligence
Fatabyyano – Jordan
Challenge: TrendCheck.AI: AI Device for Arabic Misinformation Traits and Narrative Evaluation
Fatabyyano intends to additional develop TrendCheck.AI, an AI-powered device for real-time fact-checking and pattern evaluation in Arabic. The venture focuses on combating misinformation in key matters comparable to well being pandemics, local weather change, pure disasters, and elections.
By using superior AI instruments throughout a number of platforms, Fatabyyano will accumulate information, analyze misinformation tendencies, and supply real-time studies to the general public, well being care professionals, and policymakers. This strategy will allow sooner and extra correct responses to misinformation throughout the Center East-North Africa (MENA) area.
La Silla Vacía – Colombia
Challenge: AI to Free Up Time for Hispanic Reality-Checkers
This venture will practice generative AI and create a set of prompts to facilitate the writing of quick and preliminary verification articles in Spanish. With the optimized time, fact-checkers will be capable of disseminate studies not solely in written language but in addition in audiovisual codecs.
Particularly, it’ll cut back writing time, making certain that every fact-checking staff member can dedicate further hours to provide video codecs for YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and TikTok. The venture intends to optimize newsroom time and aligns with the pattern of quick video consumption, which will likely be shared with the Spanish-speaking fact-checking group to strengthen the regional verification ecosystem.
Influence and Sustainability
FactCheckZW – Zimbabwe
Challenge: In the direction of Sustainable Reality Checking
FactCheckZW seeks to extend content material visibility by translating fact-checks from English into Shona and Ndebele, reaching Zimbabwe’s numerous communities. A WhatsApp chatbot will assist this effort, providing a direct approach for customers to entry verified data. Moreover, FactCheckZW will introduce pre-bunking providers, together with monitoring on-line misinformation and creating custom-made content material, comparable to explainer movies, tailor-made to handle particular business threats.
Challenge: Kurdish Reality-Checkers Progress
Tech4Peace – Iraq
Tech4Peace goals to considerably increase fact-checking efforts within the Kurdistan Area of Iraq, specializing in Kurdish-speaking communities. The venture will practice 10 new Kurdish-speaking volunteers in fact-checking and digital safety, overseen by a devoted coordinator. An consciousness marketing campaign in Sorani Kurdish will elevate public understanding of misinformation.
Tech4Peace will even translate its Arabic Large On-line Programs on fact-checking into Kurdish, positioning itself as a key useful resource for combating misinformation within the area. These efforts will improve the attain and impression of fact-checking in Kurdish and should place the group as a third-party fact-checker for platforms like Meta.
Verificat – Spain
Challenge: Diversificat
In search of methods to extend the monetary sustainability of fact-checking organizations is the purpose of Verificat’s “Diversificat” venture. The venture seeks to professionally commercialize a set of providers to shoppers on the native and regional stage and to extend income from media literacy and fact-checking providers. Verificat is already creating tailor-made providers to companies that embrace fact-checking coaching, methods to reinforce transparency, and combating misinformation inside company social accountability (CSR) initiatives. The brand new funds will likely be focused at making a structured enterprise growth and gross sales technique with a view to improve income and retain clients.
Aos Fatos – Brazil
Challenge: Aos Fatos 10+
Aos Fatos goals to boost public consciousness across the evolution of disinformation in Brazil and globally by way of a documentary movie. Utilizing a chapter format, Aos Fatos will pursue a cross-media technique that distributes content material throughout platforms like YouTube and Instagram and permits the creation of quick clips for platforms like TikTok and Shorts.
The group additionally plans to license the documentary to streaming platforms comparable to Amazon Prime and Netflix, aiming to broaden its attain and generate revenue. Tied to the tenth anniversary of Aos Fatos in July 2025, the venture goals to focus on and promote fact-checking as integral to Brazilian life, fostering a tradition of verification that didn’t exist earlier than.
Mafindo – Indonesia
Challenge: Capability Constructing for Volunteer-Primarily based Reality-Checkers
Not like different fact-checking organizations based mostly on journalists and professionals, Mafindo has over 1,000 volunteers from numerous occupational backgrounds who care about making a digital ecosystem that’s secure from misinformation and disinformation. These volunteers assist fact-check digital content material or refer it to Mafindo for extra in-depth checking in order to succeed in IFCN fact-checking requirements.
Mafindo seeks to strengthen the capability of the volunteer fact-checkers via coaching in the usage of storytelling and synthetic intelligence, and it seeks to diversify its fact-checking content material into quick movies, interactive infographics, comics, and information journalism.
Pravda – Poland
Challenge: Influence Past Views: Introducing an Influence Editor Position to Improve the Attain and Affect of Reality-Checking Articles at Pravda
Pravda will use funds to create an Influence Editor position, a strategic place designed to increase the affect of fact-checks past conventional metrics. This position will give attention to partaking with claimants, collaborating with civil society, influencing policymakers, and dealing with authorized entities to make sure fact-checks turn out to be catalysts for knowledgeable debate and coverage change.
This modern strategy intends to set new inner processes at Pravda, however will even set a brand new commonplace for measuring success within the fact-checking group. A pilot program will set up new workflows and metrics, examined on chosen fact-checking articles for 11 months. By sharing the outcomes of this initiative with the IFCN group, Pravda hopes to spark a broader dialogue on redefining impression within the digital age.
Press Belief of India – India
Challenge: Develop By Rising Others
Press Belief of India (PTI) goals to counter cross-border misinformation that impacts India by constructing fact-checking capabilities in neighboring nations like Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bangladesh. The venture will practice native information organizations to determine their very own fact-checking operations, serving to them obtain IFCN certification. This initiative creates a regional community of fact-checkers, sharing verified data throughout borders.
The long-term purpose is to equip these organizations to fact-check a whole bunch of tales, reaching over 200 million individuals throughout South Asia.
Data Entry
Probe – Philippines
Challenge: Probe Archives: Safeguarding Historical past on Reel
Probe Archives will leverage its position as a guardian of the Philippines’ audiovisual heritage to strengthen fact-checking efforts. The venture will digitize historic footage and improve digital infrastructure to make these archives extra accessible to journalists, educators, and the general public. By preserving and offering correct historic data, Probe will fight misinformation and provide verifiable details that bridge the previous and current, empowering truth-seekers within the digital age.
Delusion Detector – Georgia
Challenge: Search Engine Optimization (search engine optimisation) for Delusion Detector’s Web site
Delusion Detector plans to increase its search engine optimisation methods to enhance on-line visibility and guarantee its reality checks seem extra prominently in search outcomes. By refining off-page search engine optimisation, comparable to constructing high-quality backlinks and optimizing for native search engine optimisation, the platform goals to succeed in broader audiences, together with ethnic minorities. This effort is particularly essential with the upcoming parliamentary elections in Georgia, the place misinformation is widespread.
Enhancing search engine optimisation will assist Delusion Detector present correct data to numerous communities and counter disinformation successfully.
New Codecs in Reality-Checking
Taiwan FactCheck Heart – Taiwan
Challenge: Combating Misinfo with Reality-Checks in Varied Codecs
This venture goals to speed up the transition of primarily text-based fact-checking studies into audio and video studies applicable for social media platforms comparable to TikTok, YouTube, and LINE. The venture will provoke a variety of report codecs to make them extra accessible and fascinating, enabling numerous platform customers to come across verified data extra simply and share it extra broadly.
The grant will allow the staff so as to add workers and buy tools to enact this system. Creating extra reality checks in video format is anticipated to extend the impression of the studies, and to reinforce the competitiveness of fact-checking in Taiwan and within the Chinese language-speaking world.
Zašto ne – Bosnia and Herzegovina
Challenge: Hacking Viewers Bubbles by Empowering Younger Content material Creators
Reaching younger audiences has been difficult for fact-checking platforms Raskrinkavanje and Istinomjer, limiting their affect amongst youth uncovered to disinformation on social networks like TikTok and Instagram. This venture goals to create quick, partaking TikTok movies which are adaptable for Instagram, focusing on younger individuals.
The initiative will practice 15 younger content material creators to know the digital data panorama and produce fact-checking content material. The very best concepts will likely be integrated into manufacturing, with educated youth serving to to develop and preserve this content material. The venture seeks to extend the variety of younger individuals outfitted to fight disinformation, enhancing outreach and engagement with the youth of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Newsmeter – India
Challenge: Increasing Multilingual Reality-Checking: Constructing Full-Fledged Video Items Throughout South Indian Languages
Newsmeter will increase its fact-checking video manufacturing into 5 South Indian languages—Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, and Tamil—and English, focusing on well being misinformation by collaborating with hospitals and docs.
Utilizing modern content material like short-form reels and explainer movies, Newsmeter goals to spice up engagement and fight false data throughout numerous linguistic communities, making fact-checking extra accessible and impactful.
Metamorphosis Basis – North Macedonia
Challenge: Growing Reality-Checker Capacities for Video Podcast Manufacturing
Metamorphosis Basis will improve the video manufacturing capabilities of its fact-checking platform, Vistinomer.mk, by launching a brand new video podcast. This initiative will contain hiring technical workers, upgrading studio tools, and partnering with consultants to coach the staff in video content material creation.
The podcast will function discussions on data integrity and showcase reality checks, increasing Vistinomer.mk’s attain to youthful, video-centric audiences in North Macedonia.
DELFI – Lithuania
Challenge: DELFI “Lie Detector” Growing Content material Visibility for Youth Viewers
DELFI plans to spice up its fact-checking impression amongst under-35 audiences by scaling video manufacturing. The venture will rent a full-time video content material producer and supply coaching for workers to create partaking movies tailor-made to youthful viewers.
By leveraging DELFI’s in depth regional attain, the venture will produce content material particularly for platforms like TikTok and Instagram, addressing the rising affect of AI-enhanced disinformation. These efforts will bridge the hole between younger audiences and reliable data.
Polígrafo – Portugal
Challenge: LOCAL: Regional Reality-Checking
Polígrafo will strengthen fact-checking efforts past Lisbon and Porto by partnering with 5 regional newspapers. This venture will create a devoted “LOCAL” part, publishing 5 reality checks per week on regional points that always go unnoticed by nationwide media.
The group will even provide free content material to associate newspapers and run workshops to assist native communities spot misinformation. A brand new fact-checker will likely be employed to assist this initiative, bringing fact-checking nearer to Portugal’s rural and fewer urbanized areas.
Hibrid.information – Kosovo
Challenge: Empowering Reality-Checking in Kosovo II
Constructing on the success of a earlier grant, Hibrid.information will strengthen its fact-checking and media literacy efforts by retaining expert workers and transitioning key roles to full-time positions. The venture additionally consists of rebranding and upgrading their Hibrid.information and KosovoFacts web sites to enhance consumer expertise. With further coaching and digital enhancements, the group goals to reinforce its capability to fight misinformation, making certain a higher impression throughout Kosovo.
Local weather Change
Faktoje – Albania
Challenge: Reality-checking Reporting on Local weather Change and Environmental Injury in Albania
Faktoje plans a complete initiative to sort out environmental points in Albania via fact-checked journalism and public engagement. The venture will embrace in-depth investigative articles, pictures and translations to create journalism that covers important environmental challenges like deforestation, coastal erosion, and air pollution. Moreover, Faktoje will use the work to coach journalism college students on environmental journalism and fact-checking, with an emphasis on AI-based fact-checking methods and gender-sensitive reporting.
Ellinika Hoaxes – Greece
Challenge: ClimateCheck Develop
Ellinika Hoaxes will dramatically improve its local weather change protection with the addition of specialised workers to give attention to this work. The initiative goals to place Ellinika Hoaxes as a key reference level within the nation for combating local weather disinformation and sparking dialogue on the problem. Along with elevated reporting, the group will scale up a public Fb group to function a platform for customers to counsel claims they’ve encountered for debunking and for fact-checkers to share their findings and disseminate the outcomes of this program. Stand-alone complete studies over the 12 months of the venture will element the panorama of local weather disinformation in Greece.
Media Contact:
Angie Drobnic Holan
Director, Worldwide Reality-Checking Community
[email protected]
+1-727-410-1770
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The Craig Newmark Heart for Ethics and Management, the Worldwide Reality-Checking Community (IFCN), MediaWise and PolitiFact are all members of the Poynter group.
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In regards to the Worldwide Reality-Checking Community
The Worldwide Reality-Checking Community (IFCN) at Poynter was launched in 2015 to deliver collectively the rising group of fact-checkers all over the world and advocates of factual data within the world struggle in opposition to misinformation. We allow fact-checkers via networking, capability constructing and collaboration. IFCN promotes the excellence of fact-checking to greater than 100 organizations worldwide via advocacy, coaching and world occasions. Our staff displays tendencies within the fact-checking area to supply sources to fact-checkers, contribute to public discourse and supply assist for brand spanking new initiatives and initiatives that advance accountability in journalism. We consider reality and transparency will help individuals be higher knowledgeable and outfitted to navigate dangerous misinformation.
