CFI, French media development agency, offers to train and coach 10 fact-checker journalists in order to strengthen their abilities to fight against fake-news proliferation and to produce reliable and checked information.
Apply to this call and take advantage of a 2-and-a-half-year long program
made to strengthen your fact-checking editorial program!
Presentation
CFI Desinfox Africa project aims to fight against the proliferation of “infox”, a term coined from the words information and intoxication which mean deliberate misinformation published with the aim of manipulating or deceiving the audience. This world phenomenon which doesn’t exclude Africa is not new but has taken an unusual magnitude in a rapidly growing digitally connected world with increasing information exchanges on social media. The substantial number of information approximation erroneous and fallacious, pose serious challenges to citizens to access quality information just as on democratic practices.
Goals
For a period of 3 years the project Desinfox Africa has as objective to sensitize and reinforce fact-checking capacities of media actors in 3 countries; Senegal, a media hub that irrigates a great part of West Africa; Cameroon, one of the principle pivots in Francophone Africa and Anglophone Africa; and the Central African Republic. CFI, from 2022, will integrate 30 journalists already trained in fact-checking and accompanied by CFI in Cote-d’Ivoire, Benin and Burkina Faso. In each of these countries, the project reinforces the skills of 5 pairs of journalists from all media branches (written press, Online and audio visual) with prior knowledge in fact-checking.
Progress of the project
Desinfox Africa will coach five (5) cameroonian medias, of all types (radio, TV, newspaper, pure player). Each chosen media will have to propose a duo (2) of fact-checker journalists, who will be required to have a previous fact-checking experience, and who will have to propose a fact-checking editorial project. CFI will coach these 10 journalists altogether from July 2021 to December 2023, following the program below:
Activity 1: National forums for consultation and fluctuation of infox
Date envisaged for the forum: Autumn 2021 or Spring 2022 (depending on the sanitary restrictions)
Duration of forum: 3 days
Activity 2. Fact-checking online training with the “Luttons contre les infox mobile application”
Trainers will draw partially from the E-learning module “lutte contre les infox”, developed by CFI. The contents of this module will enable beneficiary journalists to familiarize themselves with verification techniques of visual contents (photos) and audio visuals (videos), and facilitate first hand use of visual tools: Yandex, Invid, YouTube, Data viewer, etc.
Activity 3. Training on the fundamentals of fact-checking
Participants : the media journalists selected for the purpose of the project
Date: Summer 2021
Duration of activities: 5 days
Activity 4. Training on fund-raising and on economic viability of a fact-checking editorial model
Participants : 2 participants for each selected media (media manager, financial manager, etc.)
Date : Summer / Autumn 2021
Duration of activities : 2 days of trainings + 1 day/media of coaching
Activity 5. Dramatization of fact-checking and production of its contents (training and in-situ coaching)
Participants: Ten journalists of selected Media as part of the project
Estimated date of activity: Autumn / Winter 2021
Duration: 3 days of training and 3 days of media coaching in situ
Activity 6. Training on International Fact-checking Network’s criteria and medias’ audit (online training and online coaching)
Participants : the journalists from selected media for the project and their manager
Date : Spring 2022
Duration of activity: 2 days of training, 3 coaching days/média
Activity 7: Training and support in taking control of social media and in the widening of the audience of supported media (distance training and coaching)
Participants: the journalists from selected media for the project
Date: Summer 2022
Duration of activity: 5 days of training followed by coaching.
Activity 8: Advance training in fact-checking techniques
Participants: the journalists from selected Medias for the project
Date: Autumn 2022
Duration: 5 days of training
Activity 9: Training a new format of fact-checking
Participants: The 10 journalists from selected media for the project
Date: Spring 2023
Duration: 5 days of training
Activity 10. Ending regional forum
Participants : the 60 journalists and their managers
Date: Autumn 2023
Location : Dakar
Duration : 3 jours
Evaluation criteria
- CFI is looking for a Cameroonian media with a fact-checking editorial project:
All types of media are welcome: radio, TV, newspapers, pure players.
CFI is looking as a priority for medias and journalists who already practice fact-checking in their editorial board.
- The applicants will have to describe the fact-checking column’s project or their fact-checking media’s project: which topics do they want to address, why do they want to develop a fact-checking column or media, who are their audience, how many articles do they want to produce a month, how often do they want to publish them, etc.
- If this media or column already exists, the applicants to propose an evolution or a new concept in terms of fact-checking (to produce more articles, to add multimedia contents, to develop collaboration with other fact-checking medias, etc.)
This new media or column must have been planned to be sustainable, and the applicants will have to show in which manners they already thought about.
Besides, the applicant medias must meet the following criteria:
- To be a Cameroonian media
- To have an independent editorial policy
- The editorial board must count at least 4 journalists
- The media must be 3-year-old at least
- The media must have a stable audience
- It would be an asset if the media is present online (social media pages, online media)
- The media must have a good understanding on fact-checking and be eager to produce and broadcast fact-checking articles on a regular basis
- The media must appoint two (2) fact-checking journalists who will be trained and who will work as a duo. It will be considered as an asset for the application if the media propose 1 man and 1 woman. They must be able to attend all the training and coaching during the whole project (2021-2023).
- Each media must appoint a complementary duo of fact-checker journalists:
- Both journalists must have had a first experience on the field of fact-checking journalism, or at least having benefited from a first fact-checking training.
- The medias will propose, as much as possible, a duo of journalists with complementary skills: one non-specialist fact-checking journalist, and one more-specialized journalist (investigation journalist) or more-technical journalist (data journalist, computer graphic designer, etc.) or one “community manager” journalist at ease on social network.
- Applicant medias who propose a woman journalist (or a media with a woman manager) will be examined carefully.
- Application from English speaking medias or North-West / South-West region-based media will be examined carefully.
- The media’s manager must be involved in developing a sustainable fact-checking project:
- Selected medias managers will attend the national forum for consultation on the issues of fake news which will be organized during the project.
- They will attend the professional coaching that will be organized into their medias
- They will attend, with the media financial manager, a specific training that deals with investigation for fundings and economic sustainability of a fact-checking editorial project.
Practical arrangements
Training sessions last between 3 and 5 full days. They are led by experienced fact-checking trainers who have good knowledge of national media context.
The journalists are required to be available and freed from professional obligation during the whole training. Their managers must agree to free them from their professional obligations during the training days.
Most of the trainings will be conducted in Dakar for Senegal, Douala or Yaoundé for Cameroon and Bangui for Centrafrica. They will take place in a calm and secured hall, located in the centre town. The journalists will benefit from a good internet connection. The teaching aid will be projected on a screen and the journalists will receive all needed documentation during the trainings. They are asked to bring their personal laptop.
Some trainings will be conducted remotely. In these cases, the journalists will have the possibility to attend it at home. It will be possible for them to receive a flat fee to buy internet credits if necessary.
Coffee breaks and lunches during the trainings will be taken in charge by CFI.
Transportation:
- For the medias located in the training sessions’ cities: journalists’ urban transportation from their home to the training places will be taken in charge by CFI (the journalists will receive a flat fee to cover the cost)
- CFI will reimburse the costs for transportations for the journalists who will come from other cities than the training place’s city.
- CFI will reimburse the costs for transportations occurring during the trainings (for exercises or meetings)
For these journalists above, CFI will also take in charge the accommodation and diners.
The 10 journalists will receive additional professional coaching that will be conducted inside their media by experienced trainers between each training. The journalists are required to be available during the coaching period.
A program will be sent to the selected journalists before the starting of the training program. Please note it may evolve following the evolutions of security context.
Each file will be examined by a jury who will assess it following the criteria below (on 100 points).
If two medias reach the same note, the team who includes a woman journalist or a woman manager will be given an advantage.
| Criterium | Number of points | |
| File | The file is complete | Eliminatory criteria |
| Media | 45 | |
| Accuracy of the fact-checking editorial project | 13 | |
| Media’s professionalism and capacity to produce, edit and promote fact-checking articles | 12 | |
| Complementarity of professional profiles beneath the journalists duo | 10 | |
| Accurate consistency between the media’s editorial policy and its fact-checking editorial project | 10 | |
| Journalists duo | 40 | |
| Skills and experience in journalism | 15 | |
| Skills and experience in fact-checking | 15 | |
| Motivation and availability to attend the trainings during “Désinfox Afrique” project | 10 | |
| Manager | 15 | |
| proposals to promote the fact-checking articles that will be made by his journalists inside his media and beyond. | 8 | |
| Motivation | 7 | |
| Total | 100 | |
Key dates
Wednesday May 11: opening of the call for applications
Monday June 14: deadline to send the application files (6 pm UT) by email at: brieuc.lahellec@cfi.fr
June: selection phase
July – August: starting of the trainings
Categories :
Fight against infox, Strengthening fact-checking skillsMedia Types :
Online media, Pure players, Radio, TV, Written pressCountry : Cameroun