170 journalists participate in workshop on fact checking news during crises, spread of rumors
Some 170 media professionals from 33 countries, alongside a number of permanent representatives to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) participated in the workshop that was administered by Dr. Sadok El-Hamami, Associate Professor of Media at the Institute of Press and Information Sciences, University of Manouba Tunisian.
At the outset of the workshop held in partnership with the OIC Information Department and the Islamic Broadcasting Union (IBU), UNA Assistant Director Zayed Sultan Abdullah thanked the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, led by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, for its unlimited support to the efforts of joint Islamic action institutions in serving the causes of the Islamic Ummah.
He also expressed appreciation to Acting Saudi Minister of Media, Chairman of the Union Executive Council Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi for his kind patronage of the Union's first forum, held on 16 May 2020 (23 Ramadan 1441 AH) and for his constant support to UNA activities.
For his part, IBU Director General Mohamed Salem Ould Bouka welcomed the participants in the workshop and expressed his hope they would benefit from the programs and professional courses aimed at developing the skills and capabilities of media workers in the OIC member states.
In turn, Director of the OIC Department of Information Dr. Abdelhamid Salhi stressed the importance of continuous training and joint work to serve the media and media professionals in the OIC countries for the benefit of the causes of the Islamic Ummah on all levels.
Sadok El-Hamami highlighted the conditions allowing the emergence and spread of false news, misleading information and rumors, as well as the tools used by false newsmakers to mislead the public opinion. He affirmed that media professionals should be fully aware of their role that they are not only conveyors of information, but also investigators and fact-checkers who vet the information they receive before processing and disseminating it through their media outs to the public.
Hamami indicated that journalism is a profession based on investigation, and journalists should only convey the information they have thoroughly verified. He insisted that professional and ethical journalism represents the alternative to all false information, and the press reports produced by journalists should always be a good source of reliable information.
The associate professor went on to say that the term investigative journalism has begun to be used widely since 2006, and that the some media institutions embarked on establishing specialized departments for investigative journalism to verify the information produced by journalists in the institution, as per an in-house fact-checking methodology. He explained that during crises, the media should be instructed and informed to play an awareness-raising and explanatory role that depends on reliable and knowledgeable sources, stressing that the media in general has both news explanatory and investigative functions before publishing to the audience.
Hamami also gave an explanation about the methods for fact-checking photos by using Google Image Search, which provides reverse image searching to identify fake photos, in addition to other websites that can help users verify videos. He said it was imperative that journalists turn to their colleagues at the IT section for help with verifying videos before dealing with their contents.
The participants were from 33 countries, namely Saudi Arabia, Jordan, UAE, Morocco, Somalia, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Nigeria, Poland, Malaysia, Senegal, Tunisia, Britain, Bahrain, Algeria, Mauritania, Lebanon, Palestine, Côte d'Ivoire, Kuwait, Oman, Turkey, Sudan, Philippines, Iraq, Pakistan, Gambia, Sierra Leone.