“Edit and Verify” first intensive Lab organised by the “Arab Fact-Checkers Network”
(
AFCN
)led by
ARIJ
in partnership with
META Journalism Project
,
finalized its 8 sessions that took place between May and July 2022, in which 39 journalists and fact-checkers from 12 Arab countries (Jordan, Yemen, Egypt, lebanon, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, Sudan, Iraq and Libya) took part.
In the first five sessions, the lecturer at American University in Cairo
Ahmed Esmat
trained the participants on the methodology of pre- and post-publication fact-checking, gave them a brief about media and information literacy and familiarised them with information disorder in the Arab World.
The last three sessions of the Lab 1, focused on the fact-checking tools as trainer and ARIJ Community Manager
Samya Ayish
took the participants through the videos and photos verification tools, the schemas of searching in social media accounts, and geolocation techniques.
Lebanese fact-checker
Mahmoud Ghazayel
led the participants to select an idea that can be actualized to be an in-depth fact-checking report. The participants are working on accomplishing the reports which are supposed to be published next August.
The Yemeni fact-checker
Mohamed Ali Mahroos
said about his experience with the lab: “the Edit and Verify lab which comes to the end today after two months of rich benefits, adds value for me as a fact-checker and journalist”.
The Palestinian journalist
Maha Shahwan
said “Distinctive and first experience with ARIJ. While the technology improves, we should keep up with digital journalism”.
After the first lab comes to the end, Edit and Verify Lab 2 will take place between July and September 2022. 39 journalists and fact-checkers will participate in it. Within Lab 2, they will also carry out fact-checking stories.
Edit and Verify labs are part of the “Edit and Verify” project launched in October 2021 by AFCN led by ARIJ in partnership with META Journalism Project, and it consists of three tracks which aim to enhance the fact-checking skills of journalists, fact-checkers and media students.