NMG editor Churchill Otieno joins anti-fake news global panel
Nation Media Group's (NMG) Digital Editor Churchill Otieno, who has been named to a global panel leading a search for ways to counter fake news. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The contest, dubbed “TruthBuzz: The viral fact-checking contest”, comes at a time of rising concerns over fake news and increasing focus on fact checking in newsrooms around the world.
- According to Oren Levine, the director of innovation at the International Centre for Journalists, fake news moves quickly on social media while fact-checking is slower and not as exciting.
A Nation Media Group editor has been named to a global panel leading a search for ways to counter fake news.
Churchill Otieno, Nation Media Group’s editor for Digital, will participate in judging a global competition of innovative ways to counter fake news, coordinated by the International Centre for Journalists based in Washington, DC.
The contest, dubbed “TruthBuzz: The viral fact-checking contest”, comes at a time of rising concerns over fake news and increasing focus on fact checking in newsrooms around the world.
US President Donald Trump has been particularly aggressive in calling the mainstream media fake news and media outlets in Kenya are increasingly focused on fact checking as the general election approaches.
According to Oren Levine, the director of innovation at the International Centre for Journalists and one of the competition’s judges, fake news moves quickly on social media while fact-checking is slower and not as exciting.
“We want your creative solutions for taking fact-checking beyond long-form explanations and bullet points,” he said.
INNOVATIVE APPROACHES
Entries can be submitted in any language, and in any digital format, although the application form must be filled out in English.
Applicants should explain how their entry corrects a falsehood and show which sources facts were derived from.
In addition, they should demonstrate how their entry uses innovative approaches to spread the truth quickly and include a sample social media post that uses their checking invention.
Other judges include including Olivia Ma, head of partnerships at Google News Lab, Andrew Anka from Facebook, Aimee Reinhart from First Draft News, and Maria Resser of Rappler.
The TruthBuzz contest is supported by the Craig Newmark Foundation and the top three entries will be awarded $10,000 (Sh1 million), $5,000 (Sh500,000) and $2,500 (Sh250,000). The deadline for applications, which should be submitted online, is June 30, 2017.
