August 9, 2022

The Arab Fact-Checkers Network (AFCN) led by  ARIJ, held its third regional meeting for 2022, within “SA7” project of “Qarib” program which implemented by the French Media Development Agency (CFI), with the support of the French Development Agency(AFD). 

This meeting has gathered fact-checking organisations/initiatives as well as independent fact-checkers, with media organisations, from 12 Arab countries, to discuss future cooperation, and the importance of including fact-checking units within the structure of Arab media organisations.

Representatives of fact-checking organisations/initiatives and media organisations have stressed during the meeting the importance of cooperation and coordination, and they all agreed that despite the importance of including fact-checking units within media organisations, the latter should rely on fact-checking organisations/initiatives and the content they produce.

The participants also stressed the need for media organisations to realize the importance of pre- and post-publication fact-checking, and to start instilling the concept of fact-checking in their newsrooms.

The meeting came out with a wide range of recommendations, including the importance of strengthening dialogue between the two parties, clarifying the role of fact-checkers for journalists and media organisations as an integrative role rather than competitive, the need to train journalists within media organisations on fact-checking, and to make agreements between fact-checking organisations and media organisations on providing fact-checking services.

It is noteworthy that the Arab Fact-Checkers Network previously held two regional meetings, the first meeting discussed the network’s code of principles and guidelines, and the second meeting, which brought together fact-checking initiatives/organisations with Arab Universities, and discussed the importance of cooperation and establishing curriculum of fact-checking in Arab Media faculties.