News

The latest news from the International Center for Journalists.

February
20
2020

Local Newsrooms Must Watch Out for False Claims, Fake Photos This U.S. Election Season

As the U.S. election season gears up, journalists at local news organizations should prepare for an onslaught of misinformation aimed at distorting polling results, says ICFJ TruthBuzz Fellow and fact-checking expert Matt Riley.

September
13
2019

To Prepare for Misinformation in U.S. Elections, Experts Urge Watching Trends in India and Brazil

Misinformation trends in countries like India and Brazil can be bellwethers for problems the United States is likely to experience in the 2020 elections and beyond. That was the warning from ICFJ-affiliated panelists at the opening session of the Online News Association’s conference in New Orleans.

September
2
2019

Dynamic Fact-Checking Strategy Boosts Audience Reach and Trust in Indonesia

In 2017, Indonesia held one of its most polarized regional elections ever and news outlets found themselves at a loss for ways to counter the wide circulation of false information. But by the 2019 presidential election, an Indonesian publisher had developed a dynamic platform to help citizens distinguish lies from truth with help from ICFJ Truthbuzz Fellow Astudestra Ajengrastri.

August
25
2019

Indonesian survey explores the spread of misinformation on WhatsApp

Misinformation is more common than ever in Indonesia today as its spread has become increasingly diversified and difficult to suppress. In April alone, when the country held its general election, Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Information Technology identified 486 pieces of misinformation shared across several online platforms — 209 of them politically-related. The ministry noted that this number surged leading up to the April 17 election, and has only continued to increase after. 

June
13
2019

How WhatsApp Could Collaborate with Journalists to Spread News — and Battle Misinformation

Things have changed since Facebook acquired WhatsApp for US$19 billion in 2014. The social network made the app free for everyone, and what was an already popular messaging tool became even more popular — active monthly users surged from 200 million in April 2013 to 1.5 billion in December 2017.

April
10
2019

To Reach a Wider Audience, Expand Fact-Checking to Broadcast News

Fact-checkers don’t just have a misinformation problem. They also have an audience engagement problem.

April
2
2019

Tackling a New Disinformation Threat on WhatsApp in Indonesia

Astudestra Ajengrastri, a Jakarta-based TruthBuzz Fellow with the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), has the difficult task of countering the plague of disinformation on social media in Indonesia. In the runup to the country’s presidential elections in April, she faced a particularly big challenge: a convincing audio message went viral on WhatsApp claiming that millions of fake ballots were about to be cast in favor of the incumbent president.

March
22
2019

Building a Bot to Monitor Politicians' Twitter Accounts

Given the relevance Twitter has gained in politics, it’s important we know what elected officials are publishing on the site, and that we keep a detailed, searchable record of their posts. This is why Aos Fatos, the Brazilian fact-checking organization, in partnership with the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), developed a bot to monitor Bolsonaro’s Twitter account.

March
7
2019

Three Key Strategies for Combating Disinformation

Looking for innovative solutions to fight the scourge of disinformation? Our ICFJ Fellows have come up with three strategies.

January
30
2019

What Misinformation Looks Like Across the Globe

Misinformation can spread fear and erode trust, affecting voter behavior and even inciting violence. To help verified facts reach the widest possible audience, ICFJ's TruthBuzz Fellows are working to bring new fact-checking formats and engagement strategies to newsrooms. Watch our videos to learn how the Fellows are countering misinformation in 2019.