“Pre-publication fact-checking in media organisations: challenges & opportunities” meeting at ARIJ24 forum
December 8, 2024
Within the framework of the ARIJ24 forum in 2024, entitled “Journalism Unbound” held from December 6 to 8, 2024, ARIJ’s AFCN organised a meeting titled “Pre-publication fact-checking in media organisations: challenges and opportunities”, as part of “SA7” project supported by the French Media Development Agency (CFI).
The session brought together 13 media organizations and 10 freelance pre-publication fact-checkers from 9 Arab countries to discuss the challenges of integrating pre-publication fact-checking into the editorial process of media outlets and to explore innovative solutions to enhance this process. This effort aligns with the AFCN’s goal to combat mis/disinformation and contribute to building a more transparent and credible media ecosystem.
For two-hours, the session was moderated by AFCN fact-checker, Fatima Bani Ahmad and the professor in IPSI, Dr. Arwa Kooli. The main key challenges discussed are:
- Lack of constant methodology in media organizations regarding pre-publication fact-checking in the region.
- Lack of specialized expertise in fact-checking, especially in advanced open-source and scientific and geographical fact-checking.
- Limited human and financial resources allocated to this field.
- Limited time between production and publication.
At the end of the session, AFCN affirmed its commitment to working in the coming years to implement the recommendations made during the discussion, which include:
- Continuing to support media outlets in developing and improving pre-publication fact-checking and integrating it into their editorial processes.
- Training and raising capacity for more pre-publication fact-checkers.
- More collaboration between media organizations and fact-checkers.
Mohammed Mahrous, a freelance fact-checker from Yemen, highlighted the importance of the meeting, saying: “It is very important to establish continuous channels of communication and collaboration between fact-checkers and media outlets, as happened during this session.”
Yasser Al-Makhtoum, a journalist from Morocco representing Alyaoum24 newspaper, noted the importance of the session, saying: “The value of this meeting lies in networking with media outlets that have successful experiences in fact-checking to learn from and benefit from their practices.”
It is worth mentioning that this meeting was part of a series of sessions, workshops, and meetings held by the ARIJ’s AFCN during the ARIJ17th Forum in Jordan.
