August 24, 2022

The Arab Fact-Checkers Network (AFCN) led by ARIJ concluded the “Data Journalism for Fact-Checkers” workshop, within “Sa7” project. This project is part of the regional program “Qarib”, which is implemented by the French Media Development Agency  (CFI) and funded by the French Development Agency (AFD).

The trainer in the data journalism workshop was  the journalist Ethar Al-Azem. holding a master’s degree from the Jordan Media Institute in journalism and modern media.

12 trainees from fact-checking organisations/initiatives in Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and Iraq participated in the workshop, which took three days, from 22 to 24 August 2022. 

On the first day, Al-Azem provided an introduction to data types, sources and quality, and methods for examining and extracting Data from databases.

On the second day of the workshop, participants learned ways to analyse data and build conclusions about numbers and ratios, and on the third and final day of the workshop, participants learned visualisation tools such as Flourish to display data and how to use it in creating stories.

“The workshop was excellent and the technical support was great, thank you,” says Samir Nazim, a fact-checker from the “Tech 4 Peace” platform in Iraq.

For his part, the Jordanian fact-checker Baraa Osama, from “Saheh Khabarak” platform, commenting on the valuability of the workshop and wish for more such workshops to enhance his skills in data journalism.

It is noteworthy that the “Sa7” project aims to promote best practices, methodologies and fact-checking tools in the Arab region, in order to counter the spread of misinformation and disinformation in countries facing political and economical instability like Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and Iraq.