The IFJ Regional Fact Checking Forum will bring together fact-checkers and fact-checking experts from Asia to discuss the status and challenges of fact-checking in the region. This forum will see speakers from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal and Sri Lanka sharing country-specific approaches, experiences and lessons learnt in fact checking and how journalism can play a role to promote this. The discussion aims to provide opportunities for participants from other nations to share their experiences and initiatives. The forum will outline best practices in fact checking and recommendations for a way forward to combat misinformation effectively.
This forum will be held on 11th February 2023,at 11am via zoom.
SPEAKERS
Ujjwal Acharya is the Director of the CMR Nepal Journalism Academy in Kathmandu and the project head of NepalFactCheck – a fact-checking initiative by CMR Nepal and Mysansar.com started as an urgent response to Covid-19 misinformation. He was the digital consultant for South Asia Check – Nepal’s first fact-check initiative, during its first couple of years of operation. A former senior journalist of BBC News Nepali, he had experience of working in various media in Nepal who also served IFJ as the South Asia Coordinator. His research interest lies in the intersection of journalism, communication and internet-based technology.
Deepanjalie has extensive experience in media ethics, media behaviour as well as media and
women. She also trains journalists on media ethics and has taken part in several fellowships and programs on media studies abroad. Additionally, she has experience in conflict resolution and human rights through her studies at University of Oslo, Norway and the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. Deepanjalie received a BA in International Relations from the University of Colombo and a MA in South Asian Studies from Pondicherry University, India where she was selected as one of the first two Sri Lankans to undertake the MA on a Madanjeet Singh Scholarship. Deepanjalie has worked with a wide range of local and international stakeholders and media practitioners on understanding the Sri Lankan media, media ownership and media’s role in fostering reconciliation.
Hesthi Murthi is an Indonesian journalist and fact-checking trainer. She served as the Executive Director of the Independent Journalists Alliance (AJI) and program manager at the Indonesian Cyber Media Association. She also led and contributed to set-up and develop jurnalimedata.id the first online learning platform on data journalism for Indonesian journalists.
Qadaruddin Shishir is a pioneering fact checker in Bangladesh and currently he is the angladesh Editor for AFP Fact Check. In his six years of fact checking career, Shishir was the key person in founding three different fact checking initiatives in the country. Before assuming the role of Bangladesh Editor at AFP Fact Check in 2021, he was the Editor of Boom Bangladesh, Facebook’s third-party fact-checking partner in Bangladesh. Shishir is also a cofounder and was the Editor in-Chief of BD FactCheck, Bangladesh’s first fact checking organization. Previously he worked as the Bangladesh Officer for the UK based Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI). Shishir authored (2022) ‘The Fact Checking and Verification Handbook’ in Bengali. He is a fact checking and verification trainer of Google News Initiative in Bangladesh and also works for the Press Institute of Bangladesh (PIB) and the MRDI.
Vineetha Venugopal is a consultant with Digital Empowerment Foundation. Her expertise lies in participatory action research, fundraising and policy analysis. Her research at DEF mostly focuses on misinformation and disinformation ecosystems. Vineetha is particularly interested in research and advocacy on commons – be it forest, coastal or digital.
