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AFP selected to help develop fact-checking in Hungary
Agence France-Presse, a global leader in digital investigation, has been selected in an open tender by the European Commission to help in the fight against disinformation in Hungary, which to date has no other recognised organisation in this field.
As part of a 15-month-long pilot project starting November 1, AFP will cooperate with the award-winning independent news site 444.hu, as well as Media Universalis Foundation — a Hungarian university foundation linked to the Budapest-based Lorand Eotvos University.
AFP will bring its know-how to train journalists at 444.hu, helping them to develop their own digital verification production.
It will also contribute to fact-check production in Hungary that will feed into a common website dedicated to the project. The public can also access this site that will allow them to familiarise themselves with digital verification.
“This project co-funded by the European Commission constitutes a new recognition of AFP’s qualities in the area of digital verification in the world globally. We are proud to be participating in this innovative initiative to help fight against disinformation in Europe, a major challenge for our democracies” said AFP Global News Director Phil Chetwynd.
AFP and 444.hu will work closely with their university partner, which will handle research work on the issue of disinformation and the ways to respond to it.
The main idea will be to allow media practitioners and researchers to tap on their respective experiences to develop a culture of combating disinformation in the country.
To this end, a conference on the subject in Hungary as well as several activities aimed at the Hungarian public are also planned.
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