Code for Africa (CfA), Fact-checking Fellowship in Somalia 2024

Join Code for Africa (CfA) Fact-checking Fellowship 2024 to debunk conspiracy claims and misinformation in indigenous languages in Somalia.

Code for Africa (CfA), through its African Fact-Checking Alliance (AFCA), is offering an intensive five-month incubation programme for Somalia-based media organisations. The initiative is premised on helping new organisations establish their CheckDesks and grow the local fact-checking ecosystem, as a way to deepen their monitoring/debunking activities.

A CheckDesk is a dedicated fact-checking/verification unit within a news organisation, fact-checking organisation or Civil Society Organisations (CSOs). Successful organisations will receive support grants to establish fact-checking desks or products. Additionally, they will benefit from hands-on technical training and support to develop economically viable models and set up editorial production systems for their CheckDesks.

 Programme Details 

The incubation programme seeks to build a diversified ecosystem of local fact-checking champions to aid in the fight against misinformation and disinformation. The programme will consist of:

1. Financial support: The chosen organisation(s) will receive a modest grant to cover eligible activities and costs.
2. Technical support: CfA will offer hands-on technical training, followed by one-on-one project mentorship, along with support from CfA’s staff technologists, data analysts, multimedia producers and editors.
3. Publishing support: The newsrooms will publish their fact-checking products generated under the project on their respective media platforms, and will additionally receive support to publish internationally.
4. Organisation building: The selected organisation(s) will receive online consultations with CfA to assist them in better understanding their audience, refining their fact-checking offering and developing potential revenue models.
5. Growing reach: CfA will offer amplification/growth support, including scaling/syndication support.

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Eligibility for (CfA) Fact-checking Fellowship 2024

• You must not work for government institutions, state-funded media or any paramilitary or security organisation.
• The newsroom or media organisation must be based in Somalia.
• You must be an established journalist/researcher/editor/manager in a newsroom or media-focused watchdog civil social organisation, social enterprise, or research/policy institute with a verifiable publishing history.
• The organisation must have an existing online presence, including an actively maintained website and/or social media profiles, or a substantive commitment to establish an online presence at the beginning of the programme.
• The media organisation or newsroom must be a member of the AFCA network. If it is not at the time of application, fill out this form to become an AFCA member, before applying.
• The participants designated by the newsroom must commit to using their new skills and tools to produce regular fact-checks, and must publish/broadcast the debunks on the newsroom’s platform or an appropriate public platform.
• The participants must be fluent in either the language of tuition and mentorship: English and Somali/Arabic.
• The fact-checks must be produced/published in English. Somali is optional.
• The participants must have access to a home laptop/computer with internet connection, to participate in online classes and benefit from the digital mentorship and electronic resources.
• The organisation must have skilled and available editorial staff (journalists and supervising editors) or managerial staff committed to participating in the period agreed upon.
• The organisation must commit to timely and open communication from the management and seconded team members.
• The seconded trainees must commit to agreed-upon weekly online training and task-based class assignments.
• The organisation must commit to broadcasting or publishing content produced through the programme in the specified cadence and driving engagement on an appropriate public platform.
• Participants must commit to sharing their new skills and insights within their organisation and wider journalistic/research fraternity, by demonstrating their projects and techniques to peers.

Application Deadline : 12 April 2024