Ukrainian news agency to integrate fact-check in its content with the help of AFP and APA
- Priority Area Boosting Fact-checking Activities in Europe
- Funding Round / Action Types Urgent Actions – Ukraine
- Year 2022, 2023
- Country France
- Project Status Completed
As Ukraine faces a steady stream of war-related disinformation campaigns, two highly recognised European news organisations, AFP news agency – which is a global leader in the field of digital verification – and the Austrian News agency APA, the leading information service provider for Austria, have trained a group of journalists from the Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform and helped them to immediately begin producing their own fact-checks over a six-month period. It is the first major Ukrainian media outlet to be trained in fact-checking, a crucial step as the war in Ukraine enters its second year. This project was designed to increase the awareness of the Ukrainian public against disinformation. The training was conducted between October and December 2022 by AFP and APA digital investigation experts. Topics covered during the training included sources and how to choose claims to debunk, geolocation, archiving and safety tips for journalists. Ukrinform has since published over 60 fact-checks on its website.