February-May 2023

The Arab Fact-checkers Network (AFCN) led by ARIJ, supported 6 fact checking organisations/initiatives, to organise 6 post-publication fact-checking workshops in four Arab countries, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine. This comes under the SA7 project, which is a part of the regional program “Qarib”, implemented by the French Media Development Agency (CFI) and funded by the French Development Agency (AFD).

AFCN has supported the 6 fact-checking organisations after they have been participating in its activities in 2022, and developing their teams skills in fact-checking. Those organisations have organised 6 post-publication fact-checking workshops between February and May 2023, with a total 133 trainees among them are journalists from different media outlets and freelancers, in addition to media faculty students in the four mentioned countries. 

Organisations participated:

The Checker  – Iraq

Kashif – Palestine

Tahaqqaq – Palestine

Tayqan – Palestine

Saheh Khabarak – Jordan

Maharat Foundation– Lebanon

The workshops in Palestine focused on training participants to fact-check Hebrew news and rumours. The two workshops in Jordan and Iraq focused on defining the basics of fact-checking and introducing the most important tools for verification. The workshop in Lebanon has trained the participants on fact-checking political statements and promises.

It is worth mentioning that the “SA7” project aims to promote the best practices, methodologies, and tools for fact-checking in the Arab region, particularly in four countries facing political, economic, and security challenges and where public trust in the media is diminishing, which are; Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, and Iraq.