Facebook has launched a year-long fellowship to help newsrooms combat health-related misinformation. The Quint’s fact-checking initiative WebQoof has been shortlisted to be a part of the fellowship, along with nine other fact-checking organisations across the globe.
The announcement for the fellowship comes at a time when misinformation pertaining to COVID-19 has had serious repercussions. A study published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene had shown that at least 800 people died globally due to COVID-related misinformation. Other studies have shown how in the last few months fact-checks related to COVID-19 have shot up.
During this fellowship program, people representing their fact-checking organisations will take part in virtual training sessions by third-party experts and from CrowdTangle, a social analytics tool.
Later, the training modules will be made accessible to journalists, fact-checkers, students and everybody who is keen on debunking health misinformation.
Other organisations including Factly from India, Pagella Politica from Italy, Full Fact from United Kingdom, Teyit from Turkey, Tempo from Indonesia, Vera Files from Philippines, ColombiaCheck and La Silla Vacia from Colombia and Africa Check from South Africa are a part of the program.
(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9643651818, or e-mail it to us atwebqoof@thequint.com and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)
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