Google News Initiative (GNI) will be hosting free University Verification Workshops from 24 May 2021 to 09 June 2021 for students, journalists, and fact-checkers. If you are interested in joining the online workshops, please register via this form.
GNI is a Google program that aims to help journalism to thrive in the digital age by strengthening and elevating quality journalism and empowering news organizations to leverage technology for newsroom innovation. The University Verification Workshops will focus on verification principles including the misinformation landscape, geolocation, examining sources, and fact-checking ethics.
The workshops will be run jointly with partners across Asia featuring certified GNI trainers, and open-source investigation specialist Eoghan Sweeney who prepared the workshop materials.
Eoghan Sweeney is a Berlin-based digital media consultant who has helped establish and develop verification and fact-checking operations for media companies including Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post and Germany’s Deutsche Presse-Agentur.
The University Verification Workshops is part of the APAC Trusted Media Summit which is an annual year-long conference that brings together journalists, academics, and NGOs involved in fact-checking and fighting misinformation across the Asia Pacific. Now in its fourth year, the summit is co-hosted by First Draft, the International Fact-Checking Network at Poynter, and GNI. Various boot camps and workshops will be held throughout the year.
The sessions of the University Verification Workshops will be held on the following dates at 6:00 PM Manila time:
- May 24, 2021: Online info 101
The anatomy of false information online, the techniques used to create and spread it, and the motivations of those doing so
- May 26, 2021: Confirm or debunk
Checking for context, corroboration, and visual clues
- May 31, 2021: Digging deep for info
Techniques and workflows to search effectively for information while conducting fact checks
- June 2, 2021: Source analysis
Examining sources for analysis and investigation, and for obtaining contact details
- June 7, 2021: Where and when
Essentials of geolocation through mapping platforms, and determining dates and times through visual clues
- June 9, 2021: Ethics of online investigation
Avoiding pitfalls in gathering and using information
Registration is ongoing until 21 May 2021. Interested participants may sign up here.