Thirty-five fact-check organizations in 44 countries, including Nigeria, have been awarded $875,000 in grants for new projects.
– Key points to note
The Global Fact Check Fund is run by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) at the non-profit Poynter Institute and supported by a $13.2 million grant from Google and YouTube.
Nigeria-based Dubawa and FactCheck Hub (International Centre for Investigative Reporting) are amongst the recipients.
The were awarded $25,000 each for projects that will modernize websites, hire staff, train people to identify misinformation and many other initiatives to build their capacity.
Recipients span Africa, South America, Asia, Europe and Oceania, with projects to be completed in a nine- to 12-month time frame. Some of the awards are preliminary pending the submission of additional information.
“Misinformation is on the march in many parts of the world. This important funding will enable fact-checking organizations to become better at their work, stronger in their capabilities and wider in their reach,” said Angie Drobnic Holan, director of the IFCN.
“That will pay dividends for the citizens of their countries by helping to support free and accurate expression and providing tools to critically assess the information they consume.”
From the total grant, $12 million will be disbursed over the course of three years to fact-checkers and the remainder supports the grants and monitoring process.
– Some of the projects
MediaNet International Centre for Journalism Public Foundation in Kazakhstan: Fact-checking and misinformation about the war in Ukraine. It plans to create 32 short training videos to help educate audiences and prepare a misinformation toolkit with practical guides to fact-checking in two languages, Kazakh and Russian.
Pravda Association Poland: Investing in new fact-checking formats such as short-form content that is easy to understand as well as infographics and videos to reach a wider audience and present complex information in an engaging way.
Vishvas News of India: Creating a “Misleading Data Detector,” which involves building an open-access platform that will automate the process of fact-checking information and make it accessible to citizens, fact-checkers and marginalized communities.
DUBAWA/Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development: Hiring fact-checkers in Sierra Leone, Liberia and The Gambia. It will also scale the reach of its content by hiring a videographer and developing the operational, production and engagement capabilities of its entire workforce.
Myth Detector in Georgia: Boosting the search-engine optimization on its website with the goal of expanding its reach.
MindaNews in the Philippines: Expanding its fact-checking staff and improving its social media presence to combat fake news and misinformation in Muslim Mindanao.
– More grants coming
IFCN said a million dollars will be shared in the second phase, GROW and applications will start August 1. A third phase, ENGAGE, will open for applications in November.
– Full list of all the BUILD grant recipients:
First Check, India
Digiteye India, India
MindaNews, Philippines
Vishvas News, India
Fundacja “Przeciwdziałamy Dezinformacji”, Poland
The Civilitas Foundation, Armenia
211 Check, South Sudan
Bolivia Verifica (Fundación para el Periodismo), Bolivia
MediaNet International Centre for Journalism Public Foundation, Kazakhstan
Media Development Foundation (MDF)/ Myth Detector, Georgia
FactCheck.lk by Verité Research, Sri Lanka
Pravda Association, Poland
DUBAWA/ Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development, Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia and The Gambia
Faktoje Albania, Albania
factcheck.vlaanderen, Belgium
NewsMeter (Fifth Estate Digital Private Ltd.), India
Lupa, Brazil
NewsMobile, India
Fatabyyano Fact-checking LLC, Jordan, serving the MENA region (Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Syrian Arab Republic, Libya, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Palestinian Territory, Yemen, Iraq, Egypt, Sudan, Lebanon and Western Sahara)
Fact-Check Ghana, Ghana
AAP FactCheck, Australia
Dogrula, Turkey
Technology Organization for Peace (Tech4Peace), Iraq
Taiwan FactCheck Center, Taiwan
NGO VoxUkraine, Ukraine
The Journal FactCheck (Journal Media), Ireland
Digital Forensic, Research and Analytics Center, India *
Prova dos Factos @ Público, Portugal *
Action for Democratic Society (ADS)/hibrid.info, Kosovo *
Mala Espina Check, Chile *
ChequeaBolivia, Bolivia *
Viral Check, Portugal *
Soch Fact Check, Pakistan *
5W1H MEDIA PRIVATE LTD. (TheLogicalIndian), India *
FactCheck Hub (International Centre for Investigative Reporting, Nigeria *
*Preliminary awards
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