The workshop “Fact-Checking and Countering Media Manipulations” was organized by CFC Big Ideas for the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) on September 5-7, 2022, in Belgrade, Serbia.
The three-day workshop was aimed at providing participants with the necessary knowledge and skills to recognize and deal with media manipulation, improving their skills in identifying and reporting facts and helping them tackle fake news.
At the program, journalists were trained to use the most essential publicly accessible databases, fact-checking tools, and visualization applications. Participants were also informed about advanced data journalism reporting, as well as official publicly accessible datasets and ways to use them to generate leads for news reporting. Attendees were also coached on vital elements of OSINT (Open-Source INTelligence) through practical examples.
In arranging the workshop, the CFC Big Ideas team ensured smooth communication between participants and trainers. As a result, workshop participants had the chance to identify their strengths, weaknesses and expectations for the program beforehand. Moreover, the CFC team was responsible for sourcing visual components for the training and designing, producing, and delivering training materials. The team also communicated with facilitators, experts and organizers. We secured a 5-star hotel in the center of Belgrade as a fully equipped venue and comfortable accommodation for out-of-town trainees. The team took care of all logistics to allow workshop trainers to focus on delivery of useful and relevant training programs.