The Evens Foundation is supporting the European Journalism Training Association in a project designed to build a methodical fact-checking curriculum implementable in Journalism schools across Europe.
The Evens Foundation has regularly engaged in initiatives that bolster journalists and the media community in their professional growth. This support derives from the conviction that a free and responsible media is fundamental for democracy and the values it carries. Something we all observe now as one of the major challenges – both for the media and its audience – is the overflow of mis- and disinformation that very often leads to deepening social divisions and tensions. Within the Foundation’s strategic focus on ethical issues, norms and values in the European reality, we support actions and good practices that contribute to challenging this dangerous trend.
Fact-checking approaches are increasingly popular but are also becoming contested. External fact-checkers that flag content as potentially dubious can lead communities that mistrust institutions, such as the traditional media, to put even more faith in these labelled messages. Fact-checking as an internalised approach, is a much more sustainable bulwark against misinformation, and follows in the footsteps of a long tradition of media education and empowerment.
EUfactcheck is a project of the European Journalism Training Association building a sustainable curriculum unit on fact-checking in (so far) 20 Journalism schools across Europe, with students producing fact-checks based on using a common methodology to deal with misinformation.
EUfactcheck’s overall goal is to improve the quality of journalism through education and to foster a fact-based public debate through the growth of democratic awareness of EU voters and European citizens. Through fact-checking European political claims and trying to tackle misinformation, the students and their public grow a deeper insight and interest in democratic processes, both on national and European level. For the pedagogical process a specific methodology has been developed: the EUfactcheck flowchart.
The Evens Foundation joined EUfactcheck to secure the further impact of the project. We contributed to a work on introducing the teaching of fact-checking to a wider range of journalism schools through launching and supporting fact-checking education approaches for journalism education. We focused on the Balkans and Central East European countries.
All insights and feedback on the fact-checking experience of the project participants – the team, academic teachers and students – resulted in a common manual and didactic guidelines for journalism students dealing with misinformation. It offers the unique perspective of journalists coming from different national contexts but trained in the same methodology.
Despite the challenging circumstances, the international collaboration between schools continues and new fact checks are being regularly published on the dedicated project website.
